Selected Business Highlights:
- Activision Publishing had its highest ever third quarter non-GAAP operating income, driven by strong engagement and digital revenue, with Q3 monthly active users (MAUs)B up 17% year-over-year, and the largest Q3 and year-to-date digital revenues in its history. Activision Publishing continues to have 3 of the top 5 games on next-generation consoles life-to-date.2
- Activision Publishing's Call of Duty® franchise year-to-date non-GAAP revenues increased by a double-digit percentage year-over-year due to strong catalog sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, both for full game and Supply Drops. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare remains the No. 1 game on next-generation consoles life-to-date, as it has been since its launch a year ago.2
- On September 15, 2015, Activision Publishing and Bungie released The Taken King, the largest update to the Destiny universe yet, which was enthusiastically received by fans and critics alike. Day-one downloads broke PlayStation records, day-one engagement saw the highest number of active players in Destiny's history, daily player engagement is now well above 3 hours per day and the Destiny community has climbed to over 25 million registered players. Since its launch, Destiny has become the most watched console game on Twitch.
- On September 20, 2015, Activision Publishing released Skylanders® SuperChargers, the next installment in the franchise with all new vehicles, action figures and exclusive Nintendo characters. Even with increased competition, SuperChargers is one of Skylanders' highest-rated entries to date and has strong engagement, with more toys per player than last year.
- Blizzard Entertainment's third quarter MAUsB were up 50% year-over-year, reflecting strong engagement with the online player community.
- World of Warcraft® subscriptions remained relatively stable, ending the quarter at 5.5 million subscribersC. Players are excited about the upcoming expansion, Legion™, which will feature a new class, customizable Artifact weapons, class order halls, and much more. World of Warcraft remains the No. 1 subscription‐based MMORPG in the world.
- On August 24, 2015, Blizzard Entertainment launched The Grand Tournament™, the second expansion for Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft™, with over 130 new cards. As a result of this new content, continued strength on mobile, and continued strength across geographies, key engagement metrics grew 77% year-over-year and set a new quarterly revenue record for the franchise.
- Blizzard Entertainment brought new players into Heroes of the Storm™ with the release of The Eternal Conflict, a series of content and hero additions based on the Diablo® universe. Blizzard also held the Heroes of the Storm regional championships as part of its Road to BlizzCon® esports series, including the Americas Championship in Las Vegas and the Europe Championship in Prague.
- Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo III continued to bring in new players in Q3, and in China, the game passed the 2-million-unit milestone.
- Blizzard Entertainment began closed beta testing for Overwatch™ on October 27, 2015, with over 7 million players signed-up to participate, not including China.