Activision Blizzard spends a bunch of money to bring in another profitable franchise, but is also making a bunch of money to spend.
This two-headed dragon of video gaming profitability expanded their internal lineup of development teams late last night. King Digital, the developer behind Candy Crush Saga, was reportedly purchased for $5.9 billion dollars to be brought into the fold. Since that announcement, further details have emerged, including a quote from Activision CEO Bobby Kotick that defends his company’s purchase, “Mobile gaming is the largest and fastest-growing opportunity for interactive entertainment and we will have one of the world’s most successful mobile game companies and its talented teams providing great content to new customers.”
That amount of money, though a staggering amount to many, has already been approached by King’s library of mobile games front-ran by Candy Crush. Value in the King brand keeps going up despite Fallout Shelter surpassing the famous Saga earlier this year on in-app sales because of their titles’ availability and addictive nature. Kotick and his company confirmed that King will remain an independent entity with their top brass intact despite this move. King’s earning call is expected to happen tomorrow to announce the deal and any more details.
Meanwhile, Activision is still raking in a larger user base and revenue that climbs into the billions. Their new flagship franchise, Destiny, has amassed 25 million accounts now, which is about a 5 million user gain since May and a 9 million gain since February. The company didn’t release how many of those accounts were active or no longer so, but that does point to another popular title that the company can slip under their belts. Destiny is also, according to the company’s earnings report, the most watched game on Twitch while being played an average of three hours a day by users.
The company’s overall earnings weren’t stellar—$153 million in this quarter—given their already high standards. Their three month net revenue ending on September 30, 2015 was down to $1.04 billion from last year’s same period $1.17 billion. Digital sales hit an all-time high during that same period for the company, comprising 67 percent ($697 million) of that total which is way up from last year’s 38 percent.
Should any large details come out of King’s earning call in regards to their Activision absorption, we will be sure to pass along the information.
