Just like Take-Two, gaming giant Activision Blizzard is making lots and lots of money from microtransactions. The company confirmed in its earnings report that its microtransactions, which are called “in-game net bookings,” amounted to $709 million USD for the quarter ended September 30.

This is down by $323 million, or 31 percent, from the $1.032 billion that Activision Blizzard made from microtransactions during the same quarter last year. Check out the chart posted below to see a rundown of the numbers and comparisons to previous quarters.

Activision singled out Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 as a big success story for microtransactions during the quarter. Revenue from the sale of in-game items in Black Ops 4 “grew sharply” compared to Call of Duty: WWII during the same period last year.

One reason that total microtransaction revenue might have dropped year-over-year is that Activision no longer publishes the Destiny franchise. That series features numerous microtransaction opportunities including emotes, currency, and more.

Activision’s microtransaction strategy has been at times controversial. For Black Ops 4 specifically, some players remarked that the game’s microtransaction system pushed players toward spending extra money. Just this week, Activision announced that it is changing how the Black Market works to be more player-friendly. Some scoffed at the timing, given these welcome changes come at a time when a portion of the playerbase has moved on to the new game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Modern Warfare’s microtransactions are currently limited to just one item: a calling card that players can buy to support charity. Activision will add more microtransactions to the game in December with the launch of the first Battle Pass.

Here is a look at how microtransactions are performing at Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard is a giant company with multiple business divisions that each individually contribute to microtransaction revenue. The Blizzard unit benefited from the launch of WoW Classic during the period, while the mobile/social game unit, King, sells numerous microtransactions and operates an in-game advertising business for Candy Crush.

Microtransactions are big business at many big game publishers. In its own earnings report, Take-Two announced that it made more than $300 million from microtransactions during the latest quarter thanks to games like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Kompletter Artikel: Activision Blizzard Made 0 Million From Microtransactions In Latest Quarter

Unlike previous entries in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is forgoing a season pass and DLC in favor of a new battle pass system, much like Epic’s hit battle royale shooter, Fortnite. The first battle pass has yet to arrive, but according to Activision, it’ll be ready to go next month.

During its latest quarterly earnings call, Activision revealed that Modern Warfare’s first season will kick off sometime in December 2019. The company didn’t pin down an exact date, but it did note that time frame is “later than planned.”

Activision has previously shared a few details on how the new battle pass system will work. There will be both Free and Premium streams of content to earn; the former will let you unlock anything that has an impact on gameplay, such as weapons and attachments, while the latter will only feature vanity items like cosmetics. Players will also be able to earn COD Points with the battle pass.

In the meantime, Activision is rolling out some free new content for the game later this week. Beginning Friday, November 8, players will have access to a new multiplayer map (Shoot House), a new Ground War map (Krovnik Farmland), and another game mode, Hardpoint.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launched on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 25 and quickly became PS4’s best-selling game of the month in the US. GameSpot awarded the title a 7/10 in our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review. Critic Kallie Plagge wrote, “The pitfalls of Spec Ops don’t detract from what Modern Warfare does well. Realism mode is an excellent addition to the slate, and although not all the new multiplayer modes are great, Gunfight and the Night Vision playlist are refreshing standouts.”

Kompletter Artikel: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare's Battle Pass Launches In December

Publisher Activision announced some new post-launch content for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, including new maps and the return of a popular game mode.

Activision tweeted the news, stating that all Modern Warfare players will be able to enjoy this Friday’s content for free. The game’s Ground War and traditional Multiplayer modes will get new maps, Krovnik Farmland and Shoot House respectively. Further, developer Infinity Ward is finally adding Hardpoint, a franchise mainstay game mode. There’s no additional information on either maps or Hardpoint.

Modern Warfare recently launched on October 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and the first-person shooter secured the number one spot on the US PS4’s best-selling games list. Some of the game’s guns are apparently bugged, though, including a handful of rifles and the double-barreled 725 shotgun. Modern Warfare’s multiplayer co-director, Joe Cecot, confirmed on Twitter that a “weapon tuning” update is on the way. These changes are part of a large update Infinity Ward has been talking about for quite some time and will include bug fixes and balance tweaks, stability improvements, and more.

In other news, Modern Warfare has seen some criticism for its “Highway of Death” reference. Infinity Ward’s narrative director, Taylor Kurosaki, addressed the controversial direction the game’s campaign takes. “I think you could probably find many instances of the words ‘highway of death’ being used in a lot of cases,” Kurosaki said.

Kompletter Artikel: New Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Maps, Mode Arrives This Friday

Infinity Ward bereitet das Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Update 1.07 vor. Der neue Patch soll in den kommenden Tagen als Download bereitstehen, das schreibt Community-Managerin Ashton Williams auf Twitter. Für die Aktualisierung sind unter anderem…

Kompletter Artikel: Call of Duty Modern Warfare: Update 1.07 in Kürze – erster Ausblick auf die Patch Notes

It’s going to be a big week for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Community manager Ashton Williams confirmed on Twitter that the military shooter’s next big update should release sometime before the week is out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

This is the big update that developer Infinity Ward has been talking about for some time already. The update will include general stability improvements and bug fixes, as well as bigger-ticket items like weapon tuning and adjustments to footstep audio. There will also be changes to how claymores work “and more,” Williams said.

Modern Warfare’s co-director of multiplayer, Joe Cecot, added that there will be even more updates and improvements to the game in the upcoming update, though he did not offer any details on what they might be.

The update will be release “over the next few days,” Williams said in a tweet sent on November 6. That means it should be released any time now, though as Williams mentioned, specific release timing could change. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

Since launch, one of the biggest complaints players have put to Infinity Ward is that two weapons in particular–the M4 rifle and the 725 shotgun–are overpowered. Williams said in a follow-up tweet that the 725 should be among the weapons that gets addressed in the update. Players have also reported that claymores are generally over-used and too effective, so it will be interesting to see what changes are in store. There should also be fixes for the Spec Ops mode, Williams said in another tweet.

Modern Warfare launched on October 25, and it needed just three days to bring in more than $600 million in sales. Its sales over its first three days were better than every other Call of Duty released during this generation of consoles.

Kompletter Artikel: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Update Coming This Week, Here's What It Changes

Sony has revealed the top selling games on the US PlayStation Store for the month of October 2019. Some big new games dominate the top of the charts, while Fortnite continues its stranglehold over the free-to-play rankings.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare takes the top spot, which isn’t all that surprising considering Activision just announced that its latest big-budget shooter has sold more at launch than any other Call of Duty game this generation. Modern Warfare is a reboot of the popular sub-series, with GameSpot’s review in progress saying “it lays a strong foundation for where the Modern Warfare series could go from here.”

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, another new October release, comes in second. Sony doesn’t release sales figures with its monthly charts, but Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently said that critical reception and poor sales during Breakpoint’s first weeks were disappointing, leading to the delay of Gods & Monsters, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine, and Watch Dogs: Legion. In our own review, we gave Ghost Recon Breakpoint a 4/10, saying, “Breakpoint is a messy, confused game and a ghost of the series’ former self.”

Third on the list is yet another October release in the shape of Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds. The planet-hopping, pulpy sci-fi RPG shares a lot in common with Bethesda’s Fallout games. Obsidian developed the cult-favorite Fallout: New Vegas after all, and The Outer Worlds sees the studio branch out to create its own distinct world within a similar RPG structure. We gave it a 9/10 in GameSpot’s review, saying, “The Outer Worlds is consistently compelling throughout, and it’s a superb example of how to promote traditional RPG sensibilities in a sharp, modern experience.”

FIFA 20 and Minecraft round out the rest of the top five. The only other October release to crack into the top 20 is WWE 2K20, the latest pro wrestling game developed by Visual Concepts. 2K20 has become infamous since its release for the plethora of bugs and glitches players have captured and shared on social media. We gave it 2/10 in our review, saying, “This is the moment the WWE 2K series hit Rock Bottom.”

In terms of DLC and expansions, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep reached number two in the charts for October. The latest annual expansion from Bungie added a new moon-based campaign, a new raid, a new dungeon, new multiplayer maps, new weapons, and so on, as well as reworking Destiny’s armor system.

PS4 Games Top 20

Kompletter Artikel: PS4's Best-Selling Games On PSN In October

Infinity Ward bereitet die nächsten Updates für Call of Duty: Modern Warfare vor. Dass in einem der kommenden Patches Balancing-Änderungen für die Waffen im Ego-Shooter stecken, ist wahrscheinlich. Einem aktuellen Tweet von Co-Design Director Joe Cecot…

Kompletter Artikel: Modern Warfare: Update mit Waffen-Anpassungen – neuer Patch in Aussicht gestellt

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare got off to a great start with record-breaking sales and generally positive review scores. However, some players have remarked that the weapon balance isn’t exactly where it should be. Specifically, players are reporting that the M4 rifle and 725 shotgun are currently too powerful, and are negatively affecting the experience.

Modern Warfare’s multiplayer co-director, Joe Cecot, wrote on Twitter to confirm that “weapon tuning” changes are coming to the game in a future update. He did not say which weapons specifically will be addressed, but given the volume of feedback regarding the M4 and 725, it seems likely those weapons will be nerfed or changed in some capacity.

Some players have discovered that the 725, when augmented with special equipment, can actually act as a sniper rifle. Cecot replied to a video documenting this with the eyes emoji, which suggests the 725 may get nerfed in the new update to come.

There is no word yet on when the weapon tuning update will be released, but keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

Modern Warfare launched on October 25, and it needed just three days to bring in more than $600 million in sales. Its sales over its first three days were better than every other Call of Duty released during this generation of consoles.

Looking forward, developer Infinity Ward has plans to support Modern Warfare for a long time to come, beginning with a Battle Pass system that will add new cosmetic rewards on a regular schedule. The Battle Pass isn’t available yet but Activision says it will be live later in 2019.

Kompletter Artikel: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Weapon Tuning Update On The Way

Dass Infinity Ward den Ego-Shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare nach dem Release regelmäßig um neue Mehrspieler-Maps und -Modi erweitern will, hatten die Entwickler bereits vor wenigen Monaten angekündigt. Details zu den möglichen DLCs liegen bislang…

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Infinity Ward bereitet die nächsten Updates für Call of Duty: Modern Warfare vor. Auf Twitter gibt Entwickler Joe Cecot bereits einen ersten Ausblick auf die Bugfixes und Optimierungen, die für die nächsten Patches in Arbeit sind. Versprochen sind unter…

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