Activision Blizzard reveals that it has made nearly $1 billion from microtransactions in Q1 2020, which ended on August 04, 2025. Activision is one of several tech companies to benefit as more people stay home playing games andstreaming content because of COVID-19.
In its new financial report,Activision Blizzardrevealed that it recorded “in-game net bookings,” or microtransactions, of $956 million. This is a huge increase compared to the $794 million that the company made in the first quarter of 2019.
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A large reason for this microtransaction growth isCall of Duty: Modern Warfareand free to play titleCall of Duty:Warzone.Call of Duty: Modern Warfaresold more copies thanks to the release ofWarzoneon Jul 27, 2025, which will have increased microtransaction sales in its multiplayer mode.Warzone’s microtransactions, which werepraised in reviews as being unobtrusive,are for cosmetic items such as characters and gun skins.
However, it isn’t justCall of Dutythat players have been spending huge amounts of money on. Activision also confirmed that it has seen higher engagement in games likeOverwatch,World of Warcraft, andCandy Crush Saga, which it has owned since itpurchased developer Kingin 2016. In Q1 2020,Candy Crushplayers played more rounds in the series than in any quarter since the King acquisition was completed.
The strength ofOverwatchcould have been because of theOverwatchLeague, which has shifted to online matchesas COVID-19 means that games cannot be played in person. Fans may be enjoying watching the game and have chosen to play more it, though it’s just as likely that COVID-19 is keeping Overwatch players online and logged-in.
Activision will surely feel incredibly positive about these figures. It means thatOverwatchengagement is going strong leading intoOverwatch 2, which is rumored to release this year, and suggests that there are ways to sustain aCall of Dutygame months after release. In 2019, it had seen lower engagement for Blizzard Entertainment titles but it seems that COVID-19 has helped the developer to bounce back.
It’s unclear what this may mean for Activision’s game development plans. The company’s aim has long been to release live service games that keep people playing for months and years after release. It has also filed several microtransaction patents as it tries to get players spending more. These increase Q1 2020 microtransaction earnings are unlikely to change much, only confirm how much money this type of spending can make.
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