Activision Blizzard reports $1.05bn of Q2 2013 revenue

Activision Blizzard has reported revenues of $1.05bn for the second quarter of 2013, a slight reduction on the $1.08bn generated during the same period of 2012 but a strong quarter none-the-less.

The revenue has been attributed to the success of Skylanders: Giants and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Skylanders: Giants in particular has passed the $1.5bn mark in sales and was the best selling console game in the US and Europe during the first half of 2013.

For the year to date, the publisher has generated $434m in operating cash flow. The results have led to Activision Blizzard raising its outlook for the year from $4.22bn up to $4.31bn.

Although company chief executive Bobby Kotick told investors that they were pleased with the strong performance of the company over the first half of the year, he also warned that they were more cautious about the remainder of the year.

'The issues we previously identified, including increased competition in the second half of the year and uncertainties surrounding the console transition, remain on the horizon,' said Kotick. 'We are confident that we will continue to successfully
navigate industry challenges and find new opportunities to provide superior returns to our shareholders.'

Financial highlights for the company also picked out that World of Warcraft is still unsurprisingly the world's most successful subscription MMO and that it currently has approximately 7.7 million subscribers.

Last week, Activision Blizzard announced plans to buy itself from parent company Vivendi. The $8.2bn deal for 439 million shares will see the publisher go independent and be controlled by current chief executive Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly.

'Our solid performance across our franchises and strong digital sales, including continued significant growth this quarter in our Call of Duty downloadable content business over the previous year, validate our belief that we will enter this new period of independence in a position to leverage the flexibility and focus that it provides,' added Kotick.