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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchActivision Blizzard reported $5.10 billion in in-game net bookings for 2021, up from $4.85 billion in 2020. That was a company record at the time, but it was not a figure for microtransactions alone: the company’s measure primarily included both downloadable content and microtransactions. Activision Blizzard later reported $5.38 billion for 2022, surpassing the 2021 total.
What Activision Blizzard reported for 2021
In its 2021 results release, Activision Blizzard reported $5.10 billion in in-game net bookings, compared with $4.85 billion in 2020. The figure is best described as a record for the 2021 reporting year, not the company’s current high across the years cited here. Activision Blizzard’s 2021 results release attributes the figures to the company.
The headline phrase “microtransaction revenue” is shorthand, not the precise name or scope of the reported measure. Activision Blizzard defined in-game net bookings as primarily the net amount of downloadable content and microtransactions sold during the period, and equated the measure to in-game net revenues excluding the impact of deferrals. It therefore cannot be presented as $5.10 billion from microtransactions alone.
The 2021 record was surpassed in 2022
Activision Blizzard reported $5.38 billion in in-game net bookings for 2022, $280 million more than the 2021 total. That makes $5.38 billion the higher result among these two reported years; the 2021 figure remains a historical record for its own reporting year. The 2022 results release uses the same in-game net bookings measure.
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| Fiscal year | In-game net bookings | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4.85 billion, reported by Activision Blizzard in its 2021 results release | Baseline for the 2021 increase |
| 2021 | $5.10 billion, reported by Activision Blizzard in its 2021 results release | $250 million above 2020 |
| 2022 | $5.38 billion, reported by Activision Blizzard in its 2022 results release | $280 million above 2021 |
How in-game net bookings differs from revenue
Bookings and recognized revenue are related but not interchangeable. Activision Blizzard’s definition excludes the impact of revenue deferrals; GAAP revenue reflects accounting recognition over time. The company’s 2022 results release explains that some online functionality revenue was recognized over estimated service periods, generally less than a year. In the fourth quarter, it extended estimated service periods for some Call of Duty and World of Warcraft in-game revenue by about three months. That change reduced revenue recognized in the quarter by $103 million but did not affect net bookings.
The distinction matters when reading the company’s other 2021 totals. Activision Blizzard reported $8.35 billion in total net bookings and $8.80 billion in GAAP net revenues for that year. Neither figure is the same as $5.10 billion in in-game net bookings: total net bookings is broader, while GAAP net revenues follows revenue-recognition rules.
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What the company-wide total does—and does not—show
The $5.10 billion figure is company-wide. Activision Blizzard’s 2021 release covered its Activision, Blizzard, and King businesses and discussed individual franchises, but it did not provide a complete allocation of the in-game net bookings total among them.
The release offers examples of the portfolio’s activity, not a breakdown of the $5.10 billion. It said Call of Duty Mobile worldwide consumer spending exceeded $1 billion in 2021 and described record fourth-quarter in-game net bookings for King, driven by Candy Crush. Those details give context for the businesses involved but cannot be used to calculate each franchise’s share of the annual company-wide figure.
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How to read the claim accurately
- Use the reported metric: call the $5.10 billion “in-game net bookings,” rather than microtransaction revenue.
- Keep the included sales clear: the measure primarily includes both downloadable content and microtransactions.
- Keep the accounting measure clear: in-game net bookings is not GAAP revenue and excludes the impact of deferrals.
- Keep the period clear: $5.10 billion was the 2021 result; the company reported $5.38 billion for 2022.
- Keep the scope clear: the figure is company-wide, and the cited releases do not fully allocate it by franchise.
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