More than half of Activision’s 2017 revenue was microtransactions

Over the last decade or so, one of the most nefarious trends rising in the industry is the monetization of online games via microtransactions. The trend allows companies like Activision to continue making money off of games long after release but more often than not, it upsets players.

Apparently, it doesn’t upset them enough as more than 50% of Activision’s 2017 revenue came from microtransactions. In 2017, the Call of Duty and Destiny publisher brought in $7.16 billion and over $4 billion of that came from microtransactions in their games. In games like Call of Duty, players can purchase in-game currency with their real money in order to buy loot boxes which randomly generate fancy skins for their weapons, character, and earn other goodies.

Activision managed to skate by as they usually only use microtransactions as a form of giving players cosmetic items that don’t affect gameplay but EA got slammed hard for its incorporation of microtransactions. In EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II, the game’s progression was hindered by earning in-game currency and crates which held valuable items that could give players an advantage in gameplay. Fans were outraged and many boycotted the game (although it still sold millions of copies) and critics gave the game flack for the predatory nature of the game’s multiplayer monetization.

Interestingly enough, EA made about $2.65 billion off of microtransactions so it seems fans are more willing to hand over money for microtransactions as long as they’re cosmetic and not affecting gameplay. It should also be noted that Activision owns popular mobile developer King who has put out major hits like Candy Crush, $2 billion of their revenue came from King’s reign on the mobile market.

It’ll be interesting to see if other publishers look toward companies like Activision and Take-Two (parent company of Rockstar Games) and see how much money they’re bringing in and begin incorporating more obvious microtransactions to cash in on the trend.

Activision’s latest title, Call of Duty: WWII, is out now on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.