Diablo IV Pre-Sales Are “Strong” Per Activision Blizzard Financial Report

According to Activision Blizzard’s Q1 2023 financial report, Diablo IV is selling well even before its launch, as the pre-sales figures have been reported to be “strong.” The company revealed that the public testing of the role-playing title saw high engagement and got positive feedback from fans. In addition, the franchise’s mobile counterpart, Diablo Immortal, contributed to Blizzard’s first-quarter growth. 

In our 33rd year, Activision Blizzard is performing exceptionally well. Every one of our key intellectual properties continues to grow year-over-year, with Call of Duty once again a key driver of growth. Mobile net bookings grew double digits including another record quarter for King. Pre-sales for Diablo IV are strong. And none of this would be possible without our people, who deliver excellence for our players every single day,” says Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard’s CEO.  

One of the other highlights was Blizzard’s Monthly Active Users (MAUs) falling by a landslide this quarter after rising throughout 2022. As of December 31, 2022, the studio had 45 million MAUs across all of its active games. However, this took a huge nosedive this quarter and fell to 27 million as of March 31, 2023.

Activision Blizzard Q1 2023 Earnings

Revenue: $2.38B +34.8% YoY
Net Income: $740m +87.3 YoY

– YoY growth across all major IPs driven by Call of Duty and King
– Pre-sales for Diablo IV are strong
– Remains confident the Microsoft buy-out will go through despite the CMA's block pic.twitter.com/Tr5gSYxetX

— MauroNL (@MauroNL3) April 27, 2023

Even with this loss of users, Blizzard had some positives this quarter in the form of the Diablo brand. On PC and mobile, Diablo Immortal experienced stable engagement, retention, and player investment. In the first quarter, it helped grow Blizzard’s net bookings and was a major success. When you add the satisfactory pre-sales of Diablo IV to this, the role-playing franchise was one of the biggest positives for the company this quarter.

Blizzard is also getting ready to launch Diablo IV on consoles and PC on June 6, 2023. As per the financial report, the game will have planned regular seasons and story-driven expansions that will drive engagement post-release. The report describes the RPG as an ambitious title that will serve as the launch for a “compelling live service.”

Overall, Activision Blizzard made $2.38 billion in Q1 2023, a 34.8% increase compared to last year. Net income also grew by 87.3% as opposed to 2022 for the company as it made $740 million in quarter 1. King and Activision showed a revenue increase of 8% and 28% respectively with major IPs like Call of Duty and Candy Crush being the forces behind this growth.

The company’s next big release, Diablo IV will launch this summer on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. If the pre-sales and beta testing reactions are any indication, the RPG is going to be a sure-fire hit.