Activision reports record-setting Q3 earnings on the back of key franchises

Activision Blizzard reported its earnings today for the three-month period ended September 30th, and the numbers look good, with $294 million (GAAP) in profits on top of $1.57 billion in revenues -- beating its own $1.49 billion target and reportedly setting a new Q3 revenue record for the company.

That's notable because the company also set a new Q2 earnings record this year, and at the time it held up Blizzard's multiplayer shooter Overwatch as a leading light in its catalog. The game remains a top talking point in the company's latest earnings report, though Activision Blizzard has also benefitted from the recent debuts of expansions and remasters for its World of Warcraft, Destiny and Call of Duty franchises. 

"We continue to see enthusiasm from our global audiences for our key franchises including Call of Duty, Destiny, Candy Crush and World of Warcraft," stated company chief Bobby Kotick in the earnings report. "Plus our newest franchise - Overwatch, which after only about four months had already reached over 20 million players."

Like many game companies, Activision Blizzard takes pains to talk about how many people are playing its games, rather than how many copies have been sold. The company reports Blizzard saw 42 million monthly active players this quarter across all its games -- its largest quarterly online player count to date. Activision Blizzard chalks this up to the success of Overwatch and the recently-released World of Warcraft: Legion, noting that Blizzard has "more than doubled" its monthly active player count in the past two years.

On the other hand, Blizzard Activision subsidiary King reported a slight year-over-year decrease in its monthly active player count, down to 394 million. However, King did report an overall year-over-year increase in both gross bookings on mobile (in-game payments made by players) and the average revenue they make from a paying user.

Looking forward, Activision Blizzard is raising its expectations for full-year revenue to $6.45 billion as it prepares for the launch of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare this week.