How does it work? – Dream revenues despite dwindling player numbers in Warzone 2

By
Michael
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The money in Warzone 2 is bubbling away despite dwindling player numbers, but how can that be? We set out to find the answers.

Warzone 2’s player numbers are looking anything but good and yet Activision Blizzard is posting a dream second quarter. We took a closer look at the numbers and tell you why sometimes it’s better to look a little closer.

Misleading figures

I’m sorry to disappoint those who believe that high Call of Duty revenues are synonymous with stable player numbers. Even though Activision Blizzard’s second quarterly report for 2023 looks decent once again at first glance, the dreamy figures are unfortunately deceptive.

Although revenues and profits have risen once again, which should put a big smile on shareholders’ faces, another important key figure is moving in a completely wrong direction.

(In May, a particularly large number of players said goodbye to Warzone 2 and MW2.)
(In May, a particularly large number of players said goodbye to Warzone 2 and MW2.)

Call of Duty’s player numbers have dropped precipitously again and should worry the company, which will soon be swallowed up by Microsoft after FTC clearance.

As the numbers on (Steamcharts.com) have already suggested in recent weeks, Activision Blizzard continues to run out of players. According to the official (Earnings-Report) the US company recorded about 6 million fewer players in Call of Duty compared to the first quarter.

More revenue, fewer players?

It was only announced at the end of June that around 100 million people play CoD titles every month, although the lion’s share of users is accounted for by Call of Duty Mobile.

As Activision Blizzard CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) Lulu Cheng Meservey announced on Twitter, revenues are up despite the loss of players, though about 40% of the revenue comes from mobile alone.

So, against all logic, Activision Blizzard has managed to generate more revenue with fewer active CoD players, which at the same time means that the remaining players must have compensated for the loss of the playerbase by spending more.

According to the financial report, this is mainly related to the sales of the BlackCell Battle Pass, which the company says has sold extremely well, making Season 3 the most financially successful of Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 to date.

Whether player numbers will recover with the release of Modern Warfare III remains to be seen. The hype around the MWII successor is still limited, although the Reveal event is no longer too far away.