Activision Blizzard to apply Call of Duty model to other franchises, sees $2.41 billion in Q4 2020 revenue

Activision Blizzard shared its Q4 2020 financial results, with $2.41 billion in revenue, beating the company's expectations of $2 billion for the quarter ending December 31, 2020. Revenue for the quarter was primarily boosted by the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Net revenue for the year reached $8.1 billion overall, up from $6.5 billion year-over-year.

Activision Blizzard saw over 400 million monthly active users (MAUs) across its franchises throughout 2020. Activision Blizzard intends to "apply the Call of Duty model" to its other franchises, including free-to-play access, "premium content", a mobile presence and "regular delivery" of in-game content.

In the conference call accompanying the financial results release, Activision Blizzard also confirmed that a new Call of Duty title will be released later in 2021, keeping the series going annually. Activision Blizzard did not detail which studio or studios are leading development on the title. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was a joint effort led by Raven Software and Treyarch, breaking the three-year cycle that had been in place, with Sledgehammer games relegated to a support role.

This Call of Duty model refers to a strategy that developed with the release of Call of Duty Mobile and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. When Activision Blizzard previously shared its Q3 2020 financial results, it revealed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had stronger first-year sales than any prior Call of Duty title.