During Activision Blizzard’s fourth quarter financial conference call Activision Publishing Chief Executive Officer Eric Hirshberg talked more about the Call of Duty franchise.
Hirshberg explained that full game digital downloads for Call of Duty: WWII were roughly 30% of total sales at the end of the year, up from 20-25% the year before. The company’s expectations for the next Call of Duty by Treyarch is for digital downloads to see in line with WWII. Activision also expects Treyarch to create “compelling digital offers” and other strategies to deliver value to the community, but they will also continue to support retail partners.
We also hear that engagement for WWII has been strong, even if “not quite as strong” as engagement shown by the Black Ops franchise, which includes Activision’s “stickiest games.” Yet, there has been strong participation in seasonal events. According to Hirshberg the calendar for this type of events is “more robust” than ever before.
He also mentioned that Activision’s strategy for Call of Duty is working, and he wishes he could say more about the new game because he’s so excited about it, but suffice to say that he thinks the publisher has the “best three-year slate” in Call of Duty’s history.
Hirshberg conclude by mentioning that the franchise has “multiple different game universes that they know the players love on tap.”
If you want to read more about Activision Blizzard’s quarterly results, you can check out our dedicated article.