Activision Blizzard Beats Estimates, Boosted by Mobile Games

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Activision Blizzard Inc. beat analysts' estimates for bookings and profit in the third quarter, boosted by its mobile gaming division.

The video game publisher reported net bookings, which excludes deferred sales from online purchases, fell 2.6% to $1.83 billion. That was still ahead of the $1.7 billion average analyst forecast, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adjusted earnings per share were 68 cents, ahead of analysts' estimates for 50 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Activision said its mobile platform net bookings grew 20% in the period from a year earlier to about $1 billion, reflecting the enduring popularity of games like Candy Crush and Diablo Immortal, which launched in the US in June and in China-- the world's largest gaming market -- in July.

Diablo Immortal was Activision's big release for the first half of the year and ranked among China's top 10 highest-grossing mobile games, according to the company. Made in partnership with Chinese technology company Ne Tease Inc., the mobile iteration of Blizzard's popular horror role-playing game franchise earned the top spot on Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store, receiving more than 20 million downloads across smartphones. However, the game has an average 4.1 review score on Android and 4.5 on Apple's App Store, indicating that some fans have begun to cool on it.

Concerns about a licensing deal covering several Blizzard titles in China that expires in January could weigh on the company's success in the country going forward. “We are in discussions regarding the renewal of these agreements, but a mutually-satisfactory deal may not be reached,” Activision said, noting that the agreements contributed about 3% of net revenue in 2021.