For many companies, the beginning of October marks the start of a new fiscal quarter — and the release of reports detailing how the company has been doing for the last three months prior to it. Activision's latest report included a section pertaining to the company's apparent need to hire 2,000 employees to "meet production demands."
Activision Blizzard is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, with properties ranging from Call of Duty: Warzone to Bubble Witch Saga. With the pandemic this year, video game companies have seen incredible growth in revenue, as people all over the world sought to entertain themselves without leaving their homes.
For Activision, that growth came out to be nearly $700 million more than last year, indicating a bump of 38%. Part of that growth is due to the release of major titles like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 and Crash Bandicoot: It's About Time, as well as preorders for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and ongoing sales from Call of Duty: Warzone. Because of all of this, the company outperformed analysts' estimations, prompting Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to announce that the company is raising its expectations for full-year results (via VentureBeat).
Those expectations are seemingly enough to warrant Kotick's decision that the company needs to increase its workforce by 20%, raising it from 10,000 to 12,000. Kotick explained that he believes the company's growth is due to Activision Blizzard's ability to quickly and seamlessly adapt to work-at-home conditions that have hampered other developers. It's worth noting that Kotick also instigated over 800 layoffs a year and a half ago, despite Activision reporting record sales at the time.
Both analysts and Kotick expect that success to continue as Black Ops: Cold War hits consoles and mobile games like Crash: On The Run are released to expand existing universes. As digital sales have increased, Activision Blizzard has shifted its focus from retail sales to digital, resulting in a decision to close an office in France.
Source: VentureBeat