Billion-Dollar Earnings Fail to Turn Activision’s Miserable Call of Duty Fortunes Around

Call of Duty has dominated the US market in sales over the several decades of its existence. But, Activision didn’t always release perfect games. In fact, last year’s premium game, Call of Duty Vanguard, is one of the franchise’s worst-performing experiences. However, Activision has reportedly still managed to garner billions worth in revenue with Vanguard and Warzone in Q2 2022.

Following Vanguard’s unsatisfactory reception, Activision had reportedly made plans of refraining from releasing a mainline game next year. They were, instead, supposed to focus on the upcoming Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare II, and a free-to-play Warzone sequel. However, a recent press release from the company seems to hint otherwise.

Call of Duty Vanguard released in November 2021. It managed to have massive sales opening due to the franchise’s reputation. But, the game, in itself, became one of the worst-selling Call of Duty titles of all time. When Activision integrated Warzone with Vanguard, bringing in new content each season, things changed a bit. And, the improvement has reflected in Q2’s revenue for both the games.

Activision garnered $1.2 billion in revenue from in-game content in Q2 2022

Quoting an important section from Activision’s Q2 2022 press release, Charlie Intel, a notable video game informant, highlighted the company’s performance. As Charlie further pointed out, Activision has reportedly garnered $1,200,000,000 in revenue from in-game content in Q2 2022. While the value is lesser when compared year-over-year, it is definitely a considerable improvement over Q1 2022.

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Activision attributes the favorable results to Warzone and Vanguard’s content integration that happened back in December 2021. “Call of Duty net bookings on console and PC grew sequentially in the second quarter, following gameplay improvements and seasonal content across Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone that were well-received by players.” a statement from the press release read.

Even though Activision raked billions of dollars in revenue in Q2, the company couldn’t repeat its previous financial achievements. With Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 releasing this year, the future of Activision seems bright financially, as of now. However, considering Vanguard’s poor reception, many fans may control their urge to pre-order or purchase Modern Warfare II on release.

Only time will tell how Vanguard’s market performance affects Modern Warfare II’s sales. Die-hard fans are hoping for Activision to not repeat their mistakes and deliver their best with their upcoming titles.

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Have you pre-ordered Call of Duty Modern Warfare II? What do you expect from Activision this time? Let us know in the comments!