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[SenjutsuSage]

They are so financial successful, that they went full in on call of duty.
And for the last time, revenue=/=profit.

You're officially ignored. I just pointed to you that they made more profit than playstation in playstation's strongest ever year. I'm not referring to revenue. I'm referring to actual operating income and real profit.

Activision brought in $3.2 billion in operating income for the year ending December 2021. Playstation's operating income was $2.63 billion.

After interest and other expenses and income tax expense, that works out to $2.6 billion in net income aka profit for Activision.

Sony's operating income was $2.6 billion, meaning their actual net profit for their gaming division is almost certainly lower than what Activision brought it, but I don't have the time to go grab the exact number right this moment. The point is Activision brought in more profit than the Playstation business, so your claim they're in trouble or not financially sound is beyond foolish.

And since I now have you ignored, I won't have to read your nonsense anymore.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Know I know the Wall Street Journals Source. LMAOOO

 

[Sosokrates]

When Phil said he wanted to re-evaluate his relationship with activision he was not kidding.

 

[kingfey]

You're officially ignored. I just pointed to you that they made more profit than playstation in playstation's strongest ever year. I'm not referring to revenue. I'm referring to actual operating income and real profit.

Activision brought in $3.2 billion in operating income for the year ending December 2021. Playstation's operating income was $2.63 billion.

After interest and other expenses and income tax expense, that works out to $2.6 billion in net income aka profit for Activision.

Sony's operating income was $2.6 billion, meaning their actual net profit for their gaming division is almost certainly lower than what Activision brought it, but I don't have the time to go grab the exact number right this moment. The point is Activision brought in more profit than the Playstation business, so your claim they're in trouble or not financially sound is beyond foolish.

And since I now have you ignored, I won't have to read your nonsense anymore.

Which is thnx to their mobile division, and the yearly COD releases.
Then again, you wont bother reading this anyway.

 

[Tschumi]

All you can do in this case is look at the IPs they got for that price, that's what Phil did, forget the rest.. the IPs are orphans, anything new would be a fresh start without the same talent DNA. The onus is firmly on them to make 6bn-odd from those IPs.

They made infinite a viable release, but so far it has proven to be little more, wait and see how Microsoft can use these IPs before you draw any conclusions about this deal.

History suggests new devs taking over IPs developed elsewhere have a decided mixed track record.

 

[yurinka]

Buying Acti/Blizzard was probably the only way to get Kotick out, which everyone wants.

Both MS and himself confirmed that Kotick -now Billions richer- will continue as CEO of Acivision Blizzard. But now will have Phil Spencer, CEO of the MS Gaming Division, above him/them. Same as in Sony, where the Bungie bosses will continue but now having Jimbo, CEO of SIE, above them.

Nobody said that Kotick will leave.

 

[Diddy X]

Phil is the fuckin Boss, he outplayed all those other CEOs trying to acquire Activision, that's a significant achievement.

 

[Sosokrates]

They made infinite a viable release, but so far it has proven to be little more,

Please clarify what you mean by this?
Halo was well reviewed and relatively well recieved. Its not perfect, but what game is?

 

[Tschumi]

Please clarify what you mean by this?
Halo was well reviewed and relatively well recieved. Its not perfect, but what game is?

"well reviewed and relatively well recieved" = viable release

"Its not perfect," = little more

And then we hear of declining player numbers and a multiplayer that lacks features, i mean i didn't say it was shit, did i? Certainly better than it looked before Microsoft saved 343i after the reveal...

I even said "so far" you bloodhound, you

 

[Sosokrates]

"well reviewed and relatively well recieved" = viable release

"Its not perfect," = little more

And then we hear of declining player numbers and a multiplayer that lacks features, i mean i didn't say it was shit, did i? Certainly better than it looked before Microsoft saved 343i after the reveal...

I mean you could make very similar argumnets for most games.

Also its the 16th most played Xbox game at the moment which is not terrible.


"Viable release" is not a great way to describe a game, afterall COD Vanguard is more "viable" then a lot of better games.

 

[Tschumi]

I mean you could make very similar argumnets for most games.

Also its the 16th most played Xbox game at the moment which is not terrible.

This is a pointless rejoinder, i used halo as an example of Microsoft succeeding - to an extent - with an orphaned IP (after a few tries), which is what they will have to do with these new IPs, i never said it was the only such example, and it was not the main point of my post.

Anyway, I'm loathe to engage with your expedition into the wilderness away from my central point, but I don't think Xbox really wanted their flagship game to be the 16th most played.

 

[Hendrick's]

 

[M16]

They made infinite a viable release

viable.. lol. 20 million players in a month. more than most companies dream of

 

[DryvBy]

That conspiracy that Xbox pushed the rumors to buy low seems more legit than ever.

 

[Sosokrates]

This is a pointless rejoinder, i used halo as an example of Microsoft succeeding - to an extent - with an orphaned IP (after a few tries), which is what they will have to do with these new IPs, i never said it was the only such example, and it was not the main point of my post.

Anyway, I'm loathe to engage with your expedition into the wilderness away from my central point, but I don't think Xbox really wanted their flagship game to be the 16th most played.

Its the fact you choose to portray infinite negatively.

Im mean bouncing back from the bad PR it got, scoring an 87 meta and having a fun and polished campaign and MP is great.
If future MS games do as well, its good news.

But nooooo, its just viable and nothing more...

 

[kingfey]

we hear of declining player numbers

Campaign plus SP mode creates alot of players. Once SP guys done with the game, you are left with MP guys. Also, the game is 6th on xbox. Those articles on focuses solely on Steam.

multiplayer that lacks features

That is the sad part about MP mode these days. You dont get full releases. Devs withhold these features, to release it later. Its common tactics, to retain players, by providing artificial update, which was supposed to come out during the release window.

 

[jigglet]

I assume as the situation became worse, at one point Phil uttered these words:

https://media1.tenor.com/images/b7d4493e8a9eed72ba7666b8b75fef02/tenor.gif

 

[Tschumi]

Its the fact you choose to portray infinite negatively.

(...)

But nooooo, its just viable and nothing more...

I'm sorry, you're tilted, this thread is about Activision-Blizzard, i was speculating on how well Microsoft could make use of the IPs, i actually cited Halo as a positive - if qualified - case study in Microsoft's ability to do this.

You see my protrayal as negative. It wasn't. Hello, you're tilted, look in the mirror.

 

[Sosokrates]

I'm sorry, you're tilted, this thread is about Activision-Blizzard, i was speculating on how well Microsoft could make use of the IPs, i actually cited Halo as a positive - if qualified - case study in Microsoft's ability to do this.

You see my protrayal as negative. It wasn't. Hello, you're tilted, look in the mirror.

Saying a game is a viable release but little more, is not good praise of it.

Think about it, you're saying its 'viable' but thats it, like the actual game is not worth of any additional praise apart from its ability to make money.

 

[Tschumi]

Saying a game is a viable release but little more, is not good praise of it.

Think about it, you're saying its 'viable' but thats it, like the actual game is not worth of any additional praise apart from its ability to make money.

 

[Sosokrates]

 

[Tschumi]

 

[Sosokrates]

Sorry but my gif was way better

 

[Tschumi]

Sorry but my gif was way better

 

[kingfey]

 

[Tschumi]

 

[ParaSeoul]

But armchair business men told us that these deals take months to do.

"The full regulatory filing details the two months of negotiations that followed, eventually concluding with the deal’s announcement on January 18".

 

[kingfey]

One thing so far, which keeps Activision-Blizzard's afloat is the in-game transaction, as that makes up total of 61% of their 2022 net booking.

Activision made a record $5.1 billion from microtransactions in 2021

Activision-Blizzard reported a new record all-time high of $5.1 billion in microtransaction and subscription revenue in 2021.

www.tweaktown.com

The company generated a staggering $5.1 billion from in-game purchases across its live service titles, which includes DLC, World of Warcraft subscriptions, and of course lootboxes and cosmetics. These purchases made up 61% of Activision-Blizzard's total $8.354 billion net bookings.

As for King, In 2021, social gaming company King (also known as King.com and King Digital Entertainment) generated 1.43 billion U.S. dollars in IAP revenues.

Activision Blizzard's Q4 2021 earnings call revealed that COD Mobile made more than $1 billion in revenue through consumer spending.

While this is good on paper, it's mostly the mobile division and the microtransactions which keeps the business running. Once those fumes is exhausted, the company will report less and less money as times goes on. Not to mention, most of the studios were all working on call of duty recently, which meant troublesome production for other projects.

With MS purchase, this should ease up, which allows the company to diversify its assets, instead of fully focusing on its current live service games.


This also plays huge part on MS decision to buy them. With gamepass, the live service transaction should increase under Microsoft, which covers up the loss of the call of duty yearly releases, if MS chooses not to release the game yearly.

 

[Edgelord79]

Phil is the fuckin Boss, he outplayed all those other CEOs trying to acquire Activision, that's a significant achievement.

There were other CEO's trying to acquire Activision-Blizzard? Which ones?

 

[Thirty7ven]

Spending 70 billion is such a genius move, like wow, only big brain Phil could pull this off.

 

[KungFucius]

That is absurd to think they just decided to start talks 3 days after a scandal broke. A deal like this would have had internal discussions for some time so they had an idea of valuation and a strategy. The scandal just made the deal more palatable to AB's board.

 

[RPSleon]

Buying Acti/Blizzard was probably the only way to get Kotick out, which everyone wants. This is probably why most of the games are staying multiplat instead of going exclusive. Microsoft is kinda doing everyone a solid with this move.

It's like they're kicking Kotick out of the industry without kicking him out.

Its starting a new band with all the old members except for the singer.

 

[Sosokrates]

Spending 70 billion is such a genius move, like wow, only big brain Phil could pull this off.

If you say so.

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

Both MS and himself confirmed that Kotick -now Billions richer- will continue as CEO of Acivision Blizzard. But now will have Phil Spencer, CEO of the MS Gaming Division, above him/them. Same as in Sony, where the Bungie bosses will continue but now having Jimbo, CEO of SIE, above them.

Nobody said that Kotick will leave.

Dont be surprised if Kotick leaving after a determined amount of time is in the contract.

 

[Ozriel]

Which is thnx to their mobile division, and the yearly COD releases.
Then again, you wont bother reading this anyway.

Shows how little you know about their financials if you don’t know that Warzone generates a very decent portion of their revenue and profits.

And yes, while last year inputs was heavily dominated by COD and Mobile, they’ve got major tentpole releases coming up from Blizzard - Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4. Those will sell millions of copies, and Overwatch will continue to make lots of cash from MTX.

Plus Blizzard’s new survival IP that’s expected to launch in the next couple of years.

Bottom line is, they’re a healthy, thriving business, and there’s lots of stuff in the pipeline

 

[Ozriel]

Both MS and himself confirmed that Kotick -now Billions richer- will continue as CEO of Acivision Blizzard. But now will have Phil Spencer, CEO of the MS Gaming Division, above him/them. Same as in Sony, where the Bungie bosses will continue but now having Jimbo, CEO of SIE, above them.

Nobody said that Kotick will leave.

Every indication out there is that Kotick will leave as soon as the deal is concluded. You’re completely mistaken. There’s no official communication that Kotick will continue post-sale.

 

[SportsFan581]

Activision wasn't in any financial trouble whether Microsoft bough them or not. And, yes, you are trying to downplay the success and financial health of easily one of the most successful game publishers in all of gaming.

Let's not try to dance around what you're doing, and why you're trying so desperately to do it. The numbers speak for themselves. Activision brought in more profit than even Playstation during Playstation's most successful year in history. Sorry, you can't downplay that Activision, scandal or not, would have been just fine even if Microsoft never announced the purchase.

Completely. Activision was just in a tough spot with Kotick because of the large number of shares he owns, people forget he isn't just an employee there. A sale was in the companies best interest, but at this size the list of potential buyers would be quite small.

 

[saintjules]

He believes in degeneration x

 

[kingfey]

Shows how little you know about their financials if you don’t know that Warzone generates a very decent portion of their revenue and profits.

And yes, while last year inputs was heavily dominated by COD and Mobile, they’ve got major tentpole releases coming up from Blizzard - Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4. Those will sell millions of copies, and Overwatch will continue to make lots of cash from MTX.

Plus Blizzard’s new survival IP that’s expected to launch in the next couple of years.

Bottom line is, they’re a healthy, thriving business, and there’s lots of stuff in the pipeline

Read post #78.

 

[SportsFan581]

They are so financial successful, that they went full in on call of duty.
And for the last time, revenue=/=profit.

Their revenue/profit figures are public. They went all in on CoD because that was the franchise that was netting them the largest return.

Activision Blizzard Announces Fourth-Quarter and 2021 Financial Results

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Shmunter]

Mild mannered console suit by day, warrior of justice by night….

 

[SportsFan581]

One thing so far, which keeps Activision-Blizzard's afloat is the in-game transaction, as that makes up total of 61% of their 2022 net booking.

Activision made a record $5.1 billion from microtransactions in 2021

Activision-Blizzard reported a new record all-time high of $5.1 billion in microtransaction and subscription revenue in 2021.

www.tweaktown.com

The company generated a staggering $5.1 billion from in-game purchases across its live service titles, which includes DLC, World of Warcraft subscriptions, and of course lootboxes and cosmetics. These purchases made up 61% of Activision-Blizzard's total $8.354 billion net bookings.

As for King, In 2021, social gaming company King (also known as King.com and King Digital Entertainment) generated 1.43 billion U.S. dollars in IAP revenues.

Activision Blizzard's Q4 2021 earnings call revealed that COD Mobile made more than $1 billion in revenue through consumer spending.

While this is good on paper, it's mostly the mobile division and the microtransactions which keeps the business running. Once those fumes is exhausted, the company will report less and less money as times goes on. Not to mention, most of the studios were all working on call of duty recently, which meant troublesome production for other projects.

With MS purchase, this should ease up, which allows the company to diversify its assets, instead of fully focusing on its current live service games.


This also plays huge part on MS decision to buy them. With gamepass, the live service transaction should increase under Microsoft, which covers up the loss of the call of duty yearly releases, if MS chooses not to release the game yearly.

Doesn't matter how they earned the $$$. What's funny here is your assumption that these numbers have nowhere to go but down, these numbers have been trending upwards for the last 5 years.

 

[kingfey]

Completely. Activision was just in a tough spot with Kotick because of the large number of shares he owns, people forget he isn't just an employee there. A sale was in the companies best interest, but at this size the list of potential buyers would be quite small.

Kotick ruined the company, by making them focus entirely on 1 basket. Releasing half assed games, and also neglecting important IPs.
Their income currently is from in-game purchases and subscriptions services. It accounts to total of 61% of 2021 income. Meaning only 41% is from actual sales of their products in 2021. Which the mobile market plays a huge role.

As for the upcoming games, overwatch 2 is having production nightmare. Same for the new Diablo. Other studios are helping assist in making the yearly COD.

Also Activision is made up of 2 gaint company, which makes the price sale point higher. Hence why only few could afford it.

 

[dotnotbot]

Phil is the fuckin Boss, he outplayed all those other CEOs trying to acquire Activision, that's a significant achievement.

... or he was just allowed to spend more money than others.

 

[kingfey]

Doesn't matter how they earned the $$$. What's funny here is your assumption that these numbers have nowhere to go but down, these numbers have been trending upwards for the last 5 years.

Nothing is permanent. There are dangers to focusing on entirely 1 avenue.
There is no denying that they are making alot of money from mtx. Warzone helped them alot.
In the process, they are neglecting there other departments.

Activision-Blizzard's isn't just call of duty. But kotick was trying to make it that way, before MS purchase.

 

[SportsFan581]

Kotick ruined the company, by making them focus entirely on 1 basket. Releasing half assed games, and also neglecting important IPs.
Their income currently is from in-game purchases and subscriptions services. It accounts to total of 61% of 2021 income. Meaning only 41% is from actual sales of their products in 2021. Which the mobile market plays a huge role.

As for the upcoming games, overwatch 2 is having production nightmare. Same for the new Diablo. Other studios are helping assist in making the yearly COD.

Also Activision is made up of 2 gaint company, which makes the price sale point higher. Hence why only few could afford it.

That's some revisionist history there, the guy may be a creep, but give credit where credit is due. Activision was bankrupt and basically worthless in 1991 when he took the reigns. Plus, the fact that they are posting record earnings and such a high profit percentage shows they are reading the market correctly and investing in areas that create a return. In-game purchases and subscription services are where the money is in 2022, if those numbers were reversed and 61% was from traditional sales, profits would be down. Being stuck in the past isn't a good look.

 

[kingfey]

That's some revisionist history there, the guy may be a creep, but give credit where credit is due. Activision was bankrupt and basically worthless in 1991 when he took the reigns. Plus, the fact that they are posting record earnings and such a high profit percentage shows they are reading the market correctly and investing in areas that create a return. In-game purchases and subscription services are where the money is in 2022, if those numbers were reversed and 61% was from traditional sales, profits would be down. Being stuck in the past isn't a good look.

There is no revision here. Activision-Blizzard's have been going down, despite reporting huge profits.

Their long term franchise has been neglected nonstop. Call of duty have been done to death, by the yearly releases. And as for Diablo, we have a meme of that.

What you are seeing currently is short term benefits. Its why the revenue is higher. Which was boosted by covid, and warzone being f2p, and mobile division.

If you see the company main income, it's 3 franchise that makes the most. Call of duty (mainly warzone and mobile), king from the mobile department, and lastly Wow subscription.

For a company at the size of Activision-Blizzard's, that is bad outlook for the future, as there is limit to how much these franchise and their in-game purchases can sustain them.

 

[SportsFan581]

There is no revision here. Activision-Blizzard's have been going down, despite reporting huge profits.

Their long term franchise has been neglected nonstop. Call of duty have been done to death, by the yearly releases. And as for Diablo, we have a meme of that.

What you are seeing currently is short term benefits. Its why the revenue is higher. Which was boosted by covid, and warzone being f2p, and mobile division.

If you see the company main income, it's 3 franchise that makes the most. Call of duty (mainly warzone and mobile), king from the mobile department, and lastly Wow subscription.

For a company at the size of Activision-Blizzard's, that is bad outlook for the future, as there is limit to how much these franchise and their in-game purchases can sustain them.

Any way you look at it, they haven't been going down in revenue/profits. That's an imaginary construct. And the idea that Kotick ruined the company by doing XYZ is revisionist in the sense that Activision had nothing to lose before he came on board.

I agree that they should slow down the CoD engine a bit, maybe by moving the entire MP aspect to F2P. Hopefully the acquisition will get the smaller studios working on their own projects again and give the primary CoD teams more time to work.

 

[kingfey]

Any way you look at it, they haven't been going down in revenue/profits. That's an imaginary construct. And the idea that Kotick ruined the company by doing XYZ is revisionist in the sense that Activision had nothing to lose before he came on board.

I agree that they should slow down the CoD engine a bit, maybe by moving the entire MP aspect to F2P. Hopefully the acquisition will get the smaller studios working on their own projects again and give the primary CoD teams more time to work.

MS was their best bet. Considering how gamepass meets the demand of their business.

Activision-Blizzard's have the IPs people want, while MS has gamepass, and money to fund their project, without going ham on COD.

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

just wanted say FUCK Bobby Kotick, you weasel looking motherfucker.

​