A Call of Duty rebound will probably help Activision Blizzard's finances recover in year ahead

gamedeveloper.com:

Activision Blizzard's third-quarter financial results contained slightly disappointing declines for the parent company of Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, and King. But strong sales numbers for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II are giving the impression that a rebound for the first-person shooter series is imminent, and Activision Blizzard's financials will likely rocket upward in the months ahead.

In the three-month period ending September 30, 2022, Activision Blizzard pulled in $1.78 billion in net revenue, down 14 percent year-over-year from last year's $2.06 billion in net revenue in the same time period. Operating income declined 41 percent year-over-year from $824 million to $485 million. Monthly average users—a key metric Activision Blizzard loves to tout in these reports—dropped five percent year over year, with only 368 million logging into Activision Blizzard's games in this three-month period.

What's interesting about Activision Blizzard's report is that those declines—and its possible incoming boost in fortunes—all come back to Call of Duty. The company stated that the weaker financial performance reflects "reduced engagement" following the "weaker reception for last year's premium release in the cycle." 

Last year's premium Call of Duty release is of course, Call of Duty: Vanguard, which isn't explicitly named in the text. We know now that Sledgehammer Games' World War II-themed title failed to meet sales expectations (though we still don't entirely know why). However Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is now the fastest Call of Duty game to cross $1 billion in sales, managing to hit that threshold in just 10 days.

There's other good metrics for Modern Warfare II as well. The game "set new franchise engagement