Video games are fantastic, but that’s a statement that comes with an asterisk attached to the end of it. While the core experience that you throw your hard-earned cash at can be a literal life-changing experience (Thank you Final Fantasy 8!), you’re never getting the full product in today’s economy of offering something extra for a little bit more coin.
There’s no shortage of games doing this, from the likes of FIFA offering its usual online extras through to new skins in Mortal Kombat 11, and all that Silver I bought in Destiny 2 just so that I could have a kickass emote. No regrets or ragrets. Here’s the kicker though: All those small numbers generally associated with microtransactions means big business for the companies that make use of them.
Activision Blizzard has reported its new financial numbers for the July-September period, and in total the company has raked in $1.2 billion from microtransactions, which have been rebranded as “in-game net bookings.” That’s a gigantic 69% improvement from the same period as last year, as Activision Blizzard pulled in $709 million from in-game net bookings coin back then.
Call of Duty was a big money-maker on this front, as Modern Warfare and Warzone sales were four times higher than the same period last year. With more people staying home and needing something to play, that’s not exactly surprising to hear. Those sales numbers also pointed towards games becoming more of a digital purchase than ever before, as Activision said that Modern Warfare’s first-year sales are the highest in Call of Duty history and that two-thirds of those sales came from digital sources.
That’s not just nuts. That’s a whole lot of nuts.
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