Call of Duty franchise Q1 sales up double-digit percentage year-over-year

Activision today announced its "better-than-expected" financial results for its first quarter 2015 and — surprise, surprise — Call of Duty continues to be a cash cow.

Driven by "strong sell-through" of Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty franchise Q1 sales "increased by a double-digit percentage year-over-year."

Activision attributes that increase to "growing online revenues" per user across the franchise. "There has been early success of the new microtransaction offerings which have helped drive increased engagement and monetization," Activision said.

Microtransactions, which come in addition to the standard Season Pass, allow players to purchase individual personalization packs that include things like weapon camo, reticles, calling cards, player emblems, and other customization items to set them apart from other players. It sounds incredibly lame, but I guess it's proving to be very successful for Activision.

And for those of you constantly saying Call of Duty is on the downfall, it should be noted that Advanced Warfare was the No. 1 title of all the next generation games life-to-date.

All in all, the latest figures bode well for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which has received fairly positive reaction to its official gameplay reveal last month.  Black Ops 3 is set to release on November 6, 2015 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.