Call Of Duty Microtransactions Helped Boost Activision’s Profits By $536 Million

Activision Blizzard’s latest quarterly revenue report has been released, enabling us to put a dollar figure on the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its free-to-play battle royale spinoff, Warzone. The number is unsurprisingly huge–including a growth of $536 million in year-on-year in-game spending driven mostly by Modern Warfare.

Overall Activision Blizzard saw an increase in in-game spending of $596 million when comparing the three months leading up to June 30 with the equivalent period last year. The large majority of that ($536 million) comes from Activision, while Blizzard saw a $19 million increase primarily driven by World of Warcraft, and King increased by $41 million thanks to the Candy Crush franchise.

The report attributes the huge increase in spending to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was released in October 2019, compared to October 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It also includes Warzone in that–the free-to-play battle royale spinoff launched in March this year. While Call of Duty: Mobile released in the same period as Modern Warfare, the report indicates that the latter did most of the heavy lifting when it comes to microtransactions.

Of course, the quarter in question also covers a period where many people worldwide were stuck in lockdown, which resulted in increased spending on games across the board.

An earlier earnings report showed Modern Warfare easily overtaking its predecessor Black Ops 4, well before Warzone had even been announced. Modern Warfare looks to be a gaming behemoth–in more than just the amount of space it’ll take up on your hard drive.

Now Playing: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare & Warzone – Official Season Four Trailer

Ninjala Allows For Worldwide Matchmaking With Update 2.0

Ninjala launched as Switch exclusive back in June, and the free-to-play multiplayer brawler has received updates and free rewards since. Now, in a new update, the game has added a heap of tweaks, additions, and an important change to matchmaking.

Version 2.0, which is live now, introduces worldwide matchmaking, meaning that you’re no longer limited to your region’s servers. “The Ninjala team has recognized that the current matching environment is far from ideal, and has taken player feedback deeply to heart,” the update reads. “In hopes of offering our players an improved matching experience, we have implemented a major update to the matching system.”

After hearing from players that it was frustrating being unable to play with international friends, or at times when few other people in their region are online, developer GunHo has made some changes. “Now that matching has been unified across all regions, we believe it will now be possible to find worthy teammates and opponents at all hours of the day, and that Battle Royale ranked matches will be more rewarding,” the update says.

“In accordance with this change, player ranking–previously broken down by region–will also be unified across the entire world,” it continues. “From this day forward, Ninjala will become a truly global competition.” The matchmaking has received further tweaks to make it easier to find matches.

There have also been extensive tweaks to the game’s weapons, so the full update notes are worth a look if you want to see if your favorite has changed.

Ninjala received a 6/10 in GameSpot’s review. “What we have so far is a solid foundation,” wrote reviewer Steve Watts. “The battle fundamentals are well-designed and unique, and the visual flair is absolutely bursting with personality.”

Now Playing: Tips And Tricks For Crushing The Competition In Ninjala

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare/Warzone Season 5’s New Operator Is Based On A Real-Life Soldier

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone‘s new Season 5 update introduced a new Operator named Marcus “Lerch” Ortega. It’s now been revealed that Lerch is inspired by the real-world soldier Tony Sentmanat, who served in the US Marine Corps and later as a SWAT team member. He now runs his own tactical and firearms training company called Real World Tactical.

After leaving the armed forces, Sentmanat worked as a correctional officer before becoming a law enforcement officer where he spent a good portion of his career in SWAT. His bio on Real World Tactical’s website says he was involved in more than 800 operations before retiring in 2016 and starting his own business. You can check out the video below to learn more about Sentmanat.

Sentmanat wrote in a post on Instagram that he is “humbled to be a part of the biggest game in the world right now.”

“Even more Humbled from the amount of support that I have received from family, friends, my long time followers and all my new followers that play the game,” he added. “It’s been along road…26 years of hard work, grinding , getting told I was crazy that I would never make it, that I would fail, but yet here I am still going 100 miles an hour doing what I love to do, SO GRATEFUL!!!”

Sentmanat is just the latest real-world soldier to come to Modern Warfare and Warzone. The Season 3 Operator, Ronin, was based on the likeness of Tu Lam, a man who escaped from communist Vietnam in 1979 and traveled to the US where he joined the Army and served for 23 years.

In other news, Activision is preparing to announce this year’s new Call of Duty game, which is believed to be Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Recent teasers have suggested that Activision will further pull back the curtain on the new game this Friday, August 14.

2020’s new Call of Duty game is developed by Black Ops creator Treyarch and longtime Call of Duty support studio Raven Software.

Now Playing: Top 5 Call of Duty: Warzone Moments Of The Week

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Diablo 3 Is Offering Double Bounties For The Remainder Of Season 21

Diablo III is currently in Season 21, and showing no signs of slowing down. Now, with the season midway through, Blizzard has announced a change to drops that will give players more rewards when they complete bounties.

In a new post on the Blizzard forums, community manager FilthieRich announced that, from now, all bounties earned in Season 21 will be doubled. This means that you can now earn far more Horadric Caches by completing bounties within each Act. Instead of one Cache per bounty, you’ll now get two.

The bonus cache benefits from the difficulty level modifier, the post explains, so you’ll be rewarded as though you completed double the number of bounties you actually completed. The rewards inside the Caches themselves will remain the same, though.

The post clarifies that the bonus caches you can earn within Challenge Rifts are not affected at all.

The community manager also announced that PTR timelines ahead of season launches will be longer going forward, and that this season will be longer than usual as a result. This means that there will likely be two weeks of public testing for the next one, followed by a week of work on Blizzard’s end before it can launch.

“The intention here is to make sure we can apply as much feedback as possible from the community during these PTR timelines while also giving us a good amount of time to test these changes before they go live,” the post says.

Diablo IV is currently in the works. It will be quite different from Diablo III, based on the details we know so far.

Now Playing: Diablo 3 Is Perfect For The Switch

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Call Of Duty Mobile Adds Gunsmith And A Fan-Favorite Map This Week

While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone are getting a lot of attention these days, Activision continues to update and support Call of Duty: Mobile, too.

A new blog post from Activision outlines what’s new in CoD: Mobile this week, and fans are getting some good stuff. Starting off, the popular Gunsmith feature from the console/PC Call of Duty games is now in the mobile edition.

In Gunsmith, players can customize their weapons with up to nine gameplay attachments and four cosmetic attachments. In total, there are more than 50 attachments available in Gunsmith, including 20 reticles. There are 60 weapon levels to move through, so the introduction of Gunsmith should provide yet another reason for CoD: Mobile players to keep grinding.

In addition to Gunsmith, CoD: Mobile introduces a new map this week, and it’s called Shipment 1944. The map was originally introduced to Call of Duty in 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where it was known as Shipment. It’s a close-quarters map that requires players to check their corners constantly. You can see an overview of the map in the video above.

As for Modern Warfare and Warzone, they are getting new modes and playlists this week, along with new store bundles. You can check out GameSpot’s rundown to find out what’s new.

All of this is happening as Activision is gearing up to announce this year’s new Call of Duty game, which is rumored to be Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Recent teasers have suggested that Activision may have something more to share about the new game this Friday, August 14. However, the official reveal of the new game is expected to come later.

Now Playing: Top 5 Call of Duty: Warzone Moments Of The Week

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

One Game Studio Has Announced Plans To Work From Home Until Mid-2021

Earlier this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, a number of game studios (including 343 Industries, Bungie, and even Nintendo) implemented remote work policies to prevent the virus from spreading within the workplace. While some games were delayed due to the transition period, studios have for the most part adapted well to having their developers working from home.

Now, Wargaming Sydney in Australia has announced that the work from home arrangements for their staff will continue until at least June 2021, giving staff some certainty that they won’t be expected to shift back into the office any time soon.

While Australia’s current outbreak is mostly limited to the state of Victoria, Sydney still has some cases of community transmission as businesses continue the process of re-opening.

The announcement has drawn comment from other devs, with Tami Sigmund, an employee at Blizzard, saying that more studios should confirm that work from home arrangements will be ongoing. “I really don’t think anyone in games is going back into an office until next summer at the earliest,” Sigmund said.

While the pandemic hasn’t been smooth sailing for the games industry, it’s definitely come out better than other parts of the entertainment world. Though trade events such as E3 and GDC had to be cancelled or moved online, gaming has seen a surge of interest and income as people stuck at home look for new ways to entertain themselves.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Delayed to 2021

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been delayed to 2021.

The news was revealed by the official Bloodlines 2 Twitter account, which posted a statement saying that Paradox Interactive and Hardsuit Labs have delayed Bloodlines 2 in order to “deliver the best game possible,” and a “worthy successor to the original Bloodlines game.”

“Due to the quality bar and ambitions we have set for ourselves, we have made the difficult decision that we need more time,” the statement reads. “This means that our goal to release in 2020 is no longer possible. Moving launch is one of the changes we are making to ensure the best player experience possible.”

The tweet also notes that we should hear more information about launch timing “and other organizational changes” in the coming months, but a new release date is not set in stone right now.

“We understand this will be a disappointment to many of you, but we also appreciate how our ambition is echoed through many parts of the community,” the statement ends.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was previously delayed beyond its initial Q1 2020 launch window back in October of 2019. It will now launch at an indeterminate point in 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. You can check out our preview of the game from E3 2019 here.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Watch This Impressive Fall Guys Hex-A-Gone Finish

If you are one of the 2 million people now playing Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout on Steam, you might be looking for ways to up your game and take home the coveted crown. This Hex-A-Gone gameplay proves that, despite its cute and cuddly aesthetic, Fall Guys winners are just as likely to be stone-cold killers as you might find in Call of Duty: Warzone.

Posted by Twitch streamer Barret Courtney, the video shows that a flawless victory in Hex-A-Gone isn’t just about staying alive–it’s about eliminating the competition. Have a watch for yourself.

Fall Guys has seen a record-breaking, and sometimes server-breaking, surge of interest since it first released on August 4. This includes game streaming, with Fall Guys taking out the top spot on Twitch more often than not, even while it was still in beta. The kind of gameplay showcased above shows exactly why Fall Guys is just as addictive to watch as it is to play.

The GameSpot review of Fall Guys called it “easily the most approachable and welcoming battle royale yet. Its bursting color and varied game modes do a good job of reeling you in and keeping you hooked, even if a handful feel at odds with the easygoing nature of its premise.”

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Has Been Delayed Until 2021

After a 16-year wait and one previous delay, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has been delayed again–this time until 2021. Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Hardsuit Labs haven’t indicated when in the year the sequel will be likely to release, just that it won’t be dropping any time before the end of 2020.

The responses to the delay have been largely positive–with a wait of 16 years behind them since the original Bloodlines game in 2004, Vampire the Masquerade fans are used to waiting. The reason given for the delay is that the developers need more time to “deliver the best game possible… and deliver a worthy successor to the original Bloodlines game.”

The post promises more information to come, which should give us a new release window to aim for in 2021. While Amazon seems to have temporarily removed the option to pre-order Bloodlines 2, other pre-order options are still available here.

Where the first Bloodlines game was set in Los Angeles, Bloodlines 2 will take the player to the World Of Darkness version of Seattle. The upcoming game has been confirmed for next gen consoles PS5 and Xbox Series X, and will also release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

The Vampire: The Masquerade franchise will still get one new game relatively soon, with the Shadow of New York visual novel set to release before the end of 2020.

Now Playing: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 ‘Come Dance’ Trailer

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

In A Rare Move, EA Shareholders Vote Against Compensation Package For Top Executives

Electronic Arts recently came under fire for how much money the company pays to its top executives. An activist investor group, CtW, called out the gigantic sums that EA’s top management is paid, asking for other investors to vote against a proposal regarding compensation.

The EA annual meeting of stockholders took place on August 6, and in a rare move, the investors overwhelmingly voted against the proposed pay packages for EA’s executives. Federal documents show that 170.9 million votes were cast against the proposal, with 59.6 million in favor.

While the proposal for EA’s executive compensation package was rejected, all of EA’s top directors were elected again, as you can see in the chart below.

No Caption Provided

Business publication Bloomberg mentioned that this vote against EA’s “say-on-pay” proposal was rare. Only 2.2 percent of the 3,000 biggest companies in the US had their executive pay proposals rejected in 2020.

One investor group, Institutional Shareholder Services, said it had “significant concerns” about the way in which EA pays executives, specifically surrounding stock bonuses.

Dieter Waizenegger, the director of The CtW Investment Group, said earlier EA has “gone too far in terms of executive pay. Waizenegger said EA CFO Blake Jorgensen and CTO Kenneth Moss are paid too much, and it’s an especially poor practice, as EA is laying people off, Waizenegger said.

“While shareholders have benefited from appreciation in the company’s stock price over the long term, we believe that that does not permit the company to indiscriminately pay its executives,” Waizenegger said.

Investors and investment groups also took issue with how EA’s executives are paid multiple rounds of significant bonuses and equity awards on top of their base salaries and normal bonuses structures.

For its part, EA said in a statement to GameSpot that it values the opinions of its shareholders and consider their thoughts going forward as it relates to executive compensation.

“As a company we put a focus on increasing value for all stakeholders, including employees, players, and shareholders,” EA said. “We work constantly to make Electronic Arts a great place to be and work for our people, and in highly competitive talent markets, we work aggressively to keep the great people we have. We value the opinion of our shareholders, and the board and compensation committee will take their feedback into account as part of our ongoing evaluation of our compensation programs.”

It’s not just EA that has come under pressure regarding executive pay. Activision Blizzard is also facing calls to limit the executive pay of its top bosses, including CEO Bobby Kotick. However, in June, Activision Blizzard shareholders approved the company’s executive pay proposals.