Activision 2021 earnings: Best year ever, record revenues and income

2021 was the best year ever for Activision-Blizzard with record-breaking net revenues, income, and in-game net bookings.

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Activision-Blizzard's games business is remarkably resilient. Despite ongoing controversy from sexual harassment lawsuits, the major delay of big games like Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV, not releasing very may games, and a drop in Call of Duty game sales, Activision just reported its best year ever.

2021 full of milestone, mostly thanks to online-driven live services, digital content, and a hefty $950 million deferral + distribution deal stream. Activision-Blizzard hit new high points in 2021 across pretty much every trackable earnings metric.

• $8.804 billion net revenue, second consecutive year of record revenues
• $3.26 billion operating income, all-time highest point driven by live games
• $2.7 billion net income, highest ever
• $5.1 billion in net bookings, largest ever revenues thanks to myriad of live services, subscriptions

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With numbers like these, it's easy to see why Microsoft is willing to pay $68.7 billion for Activision.

Microsoft wants Activision's IPs and its live service infrastructure--and it wants the teams that not only create them, but operate them too.

Despite Vanguard's apparent sales slip, Activision's segment generated $1.157 billion in the Q4 period and a total of $3.478 billion for the year, which is the second-best quarter of all time for the Call of Duty segment.

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