Worse yet is Activision Blizzard’s monthly active user count, which fell from 435 million at the end of Q1 2021 to just 372 million at the end of the most recent quarter. The silver lining here is that from Q4 2021 to Q1 2022, total MAUs actually increased but only by a million users. Activision said sales of Call of Duty: Vanguard, the most recently released CoD game, were lower than the year ago title. Lower engagement was also witnessed in Call of Duty: Warzone, the free-to-play battle royale game from 2020.
The company did note that development on this year’s CoD entry, which is being led by Infinity Ward, is proceeding well. It’ll be a sequel to the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot, and according to Activision, it’ll be the most advanced experience in franchise history. Activision Blizzard’s 2023 CoD game, if you recall, has already been delayed due to Vanguard’s poor performance thus far. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is still fluid. Pending regulatory closing conditions and completion of regulatory review, the deal is expected to close during Microsoft’s fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.
