Activision Blizzard has shared its financial results for Q1 2022 in a new report, but the numbers aren’t pretty. In addition to poor financial performance ($1.77 billion in revenue versus $2.28 billion during the same period last year), a table of Monthly Active Users (MAUs) can confirm that the scandal-ridden company is facing a steady decline in its user base, with MAUs having dropped to 372 million at the end of March 2022. This is a decrease of over 60 million from last year, which saw a total MAU of 435.
Activision Blizzard Announces First Quarter 2022 Financial Results (Activision)
Activision Blizzard continued to engage and connect its network of hundreds of million people worldwide in the first quarter. Financial performance declined year-over-year, primarily reflecting lower results for Call of Duty and product cycle timing at Blizzard, offsetting robust growth at King. The company incurred an increase in legal and other professional fees, primarily driven by costs associated with our proposed transaction with Microsoft. We continue to increase investment in our development resources in order to meet the demand from our players, and grew our developer headcount by several hundred people in the first quarter. Our teams are making strong progress on a broad pipeline of compelling content for established franchises, which we expect to drive renewed expansion in the business in the fourth quarter and longer term.
Activision Blizzard is committed to ensuring an inclusive and safe working environment for its employees, and in the first quarter continued to implement previously announced initiatives to strengthen its practices and policies. In March, the federal court approved the company’s settlement with the EEOC, paving the way to compensate eligible complainants through an $18 million fund. In April, the company announced the conversion of over 1,000 temporary workers to full-time employees, with most receiving increased wages and benefits. We also announced the appointment of Kristen Hines as the company’s new Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer.
Activision Blizzard has attempted to drum up some positivity by hyping up this year’s Call of Duty game. According to the company, the latest shooter will provide “the most advanced experience” in the franchise’s history, which implies it should be really special considering the critical acclaim that older classics such as Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) have achieved. Infinity Ward could be ready to announce Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 pretty soon based on some of the changes that it’s made to its social media accounts.