Santa Monica-based videogame maker Activision Blizzard will join the S&P 500 index of leading American companies when the markets open for business on Monday.The company that produces "World of Warcraft," "Call of Duty" and other games -- and inspires their movie adaptations -- will join the widely-watched measure of equities. The video and software maker will replace the industrial machinery company Pall Corp. in the 500."Joining the S&P 500 is a reflection of our talented teams' passion, hard work and...
Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Bobby
Kotick
CEO
“Call of Duty” has released annually in fall since 2005, but 2020 saw the free-to-play “Warzone” mode hitting in March, just days before stay-at-home orders across America followed a similar global response to COVID-19. Over 75 million people have played “Warzone” since then, and three times as many monthly players year-over-year when combined with 2019’s “Modern Warfare” engaged with the franchise in Q3, leading to nearly $2 billion for the quarter following roughly the same for Q2. With “Black Ops Cold War’s” release on current and next-gen consoles in November, Kotick’s longterm strategy to better align Activision’s core property around a live service model has proven successful, and will now make up for lower revenues from Blizzard, as “Candy Crush” publisher King and Activision typically net the highest quarterly earnings for the company.