Activision Blizzard posts $1.05B quarter, Call of Duty DLC shows 'significant growth'

Activision Blizzard posted earnings of $1.05 billion for the three-month period that ended June 30, the company announced in a financial report today. While slightly down from the $1.075 billion in net revenue from the same quarter last year, Activision Blizzard's Q2 revenue came in above its prior outlook.

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, attributed the publisher's results to "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."

During the quarter, Activision released the Uprising downloadable content for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and continued the roll out of personalization packs.

For the first half of 2013, Activision Blizzard was the top third-party publisher in North America and Europe combined, thanks to the top two bestselling games in both regions, Skylanders Giants and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The Skylanders series has brought in more than $1.5 billion in revenue since its launch, the company said. World of Warcraft subscribers are holding at 7.7 million, as of June 30.

As he has previously, Kotick warned of uncertainty in the second half of 2013, saying, "despite this strength in the front half of the year, we remain cautious about the back half."

"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," he said.