Activision Blizzard Reports Digital Sales Growth, 18M Black Ops Map Pack Sales

Activision Blizzard reports that digital revenues are up to $1.7 billion for the 12 month period ending June 2011, thanks in part to sales of 18 million Call of Duty: Black Ops map packs. The numbers, revealed during an Analyst Day conference call event today, represent a 22 percent increase from $1.4 billion in digital revenue from the year before, and a 41 percent increase from the $1.2 million in digital sales from the 12 months ending June 2009. All told, Activision Blizzard's audience includes 30 to 40 million online game players, including 20 million monthly users for the Call of Duty series and in excess of 15 million players for World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo. Sales of downloadable map packs for Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops. The company has sold 18 million of the $15 map packs to a large and still growing base of 23 million Black Ops owners, the company said. For context, the company sold 11 million map packs on 19 million game sales for 2009's Modern Warfare 2 and 9 million map packs on 9 million game sales for 2008's World at War. The map pack sales means players now spend an average of $76 for each copy of Black Ops sold, including the retail game and downloadable content. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirschberg said he expected the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 to surpass the pre-order record set last year by Black Ops, thanks in part to a combined base of Xbox 360 and PS3 units that will be an estimated 20 percent larger than last year.