COD 2016. Now it’s official. Can’t wait to show you what we’ve been developing! #CallofDuty pic.twitter.com/m28X79gC9v
— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) February 11, 2016
In their fourth quarter financial report (ended December 31, 2015), Activision Blizzard looked ahead to the future, announcing new details regarding the Call of Duty, Destiny, and Skylanders franchises.
First up, Activision officially confirmed that Call of Duty 2016 is being made by Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare series), and is expected to release in Q4 2016 (October 2016 – December 2016). Infinity Ward is one of three developers on the Call of Duty franchise, alongside Treyarch and Sledgehammer.
Next, both Activision and Bungie expect a “large new expansion” to Destiny in 2016, with a “full game sequel” in 2017. This announcement of a new Destiny in 2017 fits in with the report last month.
Finally, Activision expects a new Skylanders game to launch in 2016 along with the new Skylanders Academy TV show.
As for previously announced games, Blizzard’s team-based shooter, Overwatch, is on track for a spring 2016 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Looking at their financial results for Q4 2015, Activision Blizzard non-GAAP revenues were at $2.12 billion, down from $2.21 billion in Q4 2014. For calendar year 2015 as a whole, non-GAAP revenue were at $4.62 billion, down from $4.81 billion in 2014. They saw a record $2.63 billion in net revenues from digital channels during the year.
They also provided some highlights for the year, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 named as the biggest entertainment opening weekend of 2015, the biggest console game globally for the calendar year, and it has the best Season Pass attach rate in franchise history. Furthermore, Black Ops 3 is the #1 next-gen console game life-to-date, and Activision Blizzard has four of the top 10 games overall in the category.
As well, the Call of Duty franchise has surpassed 250 million units life-to-date worldwide, totaling over $15 billion in total sales, including DLC.
Destiny, meanwhile, “achieved record digital attach rates on its critically acclaimed Q3 expansion, The Taken King.” Additionally, the more than 25 million registered users have logged nearly three billion hours.
It wasn’t all good for news for Activision Blizzard games though, as Skylanders SuperChargers and Guitar Hero Live “performed weaker than expected,” which they believe was “largely due to greater competition in the toys to life genre and due to the casual audience’s shift to mobile devices.”
[Source: Activision Blizzard]
