Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 still coming in the fall
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is evidently on track to debut in 2022, according to Activision Blizzard’s first-quarter earnings report today. In its earnings statement, the company said “this year’s Call of Duty is a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare.” Activision Blizzard is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft for $68.7 billion. In this context, no delay is a good thing, as the merger is likely to be somewhat disruptive and the company is still dealing with sexual harassment allegations in a lawsuit by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
The Modern Warfare 2 game will be a welcome edition, as the first (rebooted) title from 2019 was the most successful Call of Duty game in franchise history. By comparison, last year’s Call of Duty: Vanguard was set in World War II and the game sold relatively poorly.
Activision didn’t say how many units it sold but it noted in its earnings report that Call of Duty’s net bookings on console and PC declined year-over-year in the first quarter, reflecting lower premium sales for Call of Duty: Vanguard versus the year-ago title and lower engagement in Call of Duty: Warzone. Call of Duty Mobile net bookings were little changed year-over-year.
The weakness had an impact on earnings as Call of Duty is the company’s biggest franchise. Overall, Activision Blizzard reported $1.77 billion in GAAP revenues for the three months ended March 31, compared to $2.27 billion a year earlier. Non-GAAP earnings per share were 64 cents, compared with 98 cents a year earlier.
Still, Activision claimed the Call of Duty teams delivered substantial gameplay improvements
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