Activision Blizzard reported earnings for the second quarter that ended on June 30, registering losses but still beating analyst expectations.
Second quarter earnings for the company came in at $658 million, a jump compared to the $608 million it registered last year for the same quarter. This Q2 figure beats the number set by analysts at $608 million.
"Our better-than expected performance was driven by continued strong digital sales from Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls and Blizzard Entertainment's newest franchise, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, which recently launched on the iPad and continues to be well received by audiences around the world, as well as digital sales from Activision Publishing's Call of Duty," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.
Digital revenue [PDF] accounts for 73 percent of overall earnings for the second quarter and that's a record for Activision Blizzard. Over-performance was noted and this makes the company more enthusiastic about the remaining products it is scheduled to release for the second half of 2014.
Kotick lists Warlords of Draenor, the most recent expansion to World of Warcraft, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Skylanders Trap Team as some of the titles that gamers can look forward to in the coming months. Sci-fi shooter Destiny, which the company invested $500 million in, is also set for release on September 9. So far, responses have been great for the beta version of the game and pre-order numbers are meeting expectations.
Good quarterly results also prompted Activision Blizzard to be more optimistic about forecasts for the year, raising projected non-GAAP revenue to $4.7 billion with $1.29 for every share. Previously, the company set forecasts to $4.67 billion and shares at $1.27.
Some of the highlights for the quarter reported by Activision Blizzard include: Call of Duty: Ghosts remains to be the best-selling game in Europe and North America for next-generation consoles; Skylanders SWAP Force was the second best-selling handheld and console game in Europe and North America; Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls is the top-selling game on PC in Europe and North America with 20 million units sold across all platforms; and the highest dividend ever was paid by the company totaling $147 million or $0.20 for every common share.
Activision Blizzard is the largest independent entertainment publishing company in the western hemisphere, developing and publishing on all the leading platforms. It is based in Santa Monica, California but maintains operations in Asia and Europe as well.
