Overwatch makes record-breaking march to 20m players

Blizzard has confirmed that Overwatch has become the fastest title to reach 20m players in the company’s history.

So successful has it proved that Blizzard’s Q3 monthly active user numbers are up 50 per cent year-on-year and 25 per cent on the previous quarter, hitting 42m. That number has doubled in the last two years. Hearthstone was also up by double digits year-on-year.

In total over 10bn hours were logged on Activision Blizzard’s games in the period, with Call of Duty also hitting record MAUs and Destiny again up year-on-year.

The company’s overall combined MAU total now stands at 482m. In-game content revenues for the period neared $1bn.

Overall Activision Blizzard revenue for the period grew 58 per cent at $1.57bn. Digital revenue climbed 114 per cent year-on-year and operating income 78 per cent.

"We continue to see enthusiasm from our global audiences for our key franchises including Call of Duty, Destiny, Candy Crush and World of Warcraft, plus our newest franchise – Overwatch, which after only about four months had already reached over 20m players and has incredible player engagement,” boss Bobby Kotick said.

Looking forward, we expect continued momentum from all of our growth strategies, especially our eSports initiatives and our integration of in-game advertising."