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Activision Blizzard has hit stronger than expect revenues of £527 million for the last quarter ending September 30th thanks to strong sales of Skylanders, Diablo III and increased subscriptions for World of Warcraft.
Revenue at the publishing giant is up £55m on the same period last year, with money from digital representing 51 per cent of the company’s total net revenue at £270 million.
The strong quarter was backed by ten million sales of dungeon crawler Diablo III and the strong performance of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, which has been the publishing giant’s bestselling console and handheld game this year.
The Skylanders franchise has also performed well in the toys market, in which Activision claimed its action figures outsold all other similar products for the first nine months of 2012.
Revenue for the past nine months reached an impressive £1.9 billion, although this was down approximately £160 million from the same period in the previous year, which reported revenues of £2.1 billion.
The company has also claimed that it has no debts, and has $3.4 billion (£2.1 billion) in cash and investments.
Outlook for the full year has been raised from £2.7 billion to nearly £2.9 billion thanks to a strong quarter and huge sales expected from Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
“As we look to 2013, we are cautious about business prospects given a continuingly challenged global economy, the ongoing console transition and very difficult year-over-year comparables due to Blizzard’s record-shattering Diablo III sales in 2012,” said Activision CEO Robert Kotick.
“We expect that over the long-term, we will maintain our leadership position as the world’s leading interactive entertainment company and continue to provide strong returns to our shareholders by delivering great games to audiences around the world.”
