Voting with your wallet… for more digital content.
Activision Blizzard had its year-end call with investors today, revealing $7 billion in net revenue for its 2017 fiscal year. For the fourth quarter of the year, digital revenue accounted for $1.62 billion, over half of its total $2.64 billion for Q4.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III‘s Zombie Chronicles add-on was the number-one game add-on for Sony PlayStation 4, but “player investment in virtual goods and service” last year exceeded DLC for Call of Duty and Destiny.
That means things like Overwatch loot boxes, for example. The popularity of loot boxes and their revenue-generating possibilities has caused more than just investors to take notice. Belgium proposed banning loot boxes altogether across the European Union, and one state lawmaker in the United States also wants to limit the sale of loot boxes in Hawaii, his home state.
Call of Duty: WWII sold 30% of its total copies digitally, setting a one-day record for the PlayStation store. Call of Duty: WW2 was also the best selling game of December 2017 and the top-selling game of last year.
Activision Blizzard’s overall net bookings, which is how it measures “net amount of products and services sold digitally or sold‐in physically in the period,” totaled $7.16 billion, of which $5.43 billion was digital.
Seth Macy listens to all these earnings calls because he actually likes them. Follow him on Twitter @sethmacy.