The PC gaming market is becoming more and more important for a lot of different publishers, and in some cases, such as in Activision Blizzard's case, it is becoming even more important than the console market, as PC sales in the first months of 2023 for the Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo publisher, have decisively surpassed console sales.
According to the publisher's latest financial report, Activision Blizzard made $666 million with PC sales, $27 million more than with console sales, which amounted to $639 million. While console sales were higher for 2022, this is the third quarter in a row where PC sales consistently outperform console sales, signaling a very interesting trend, as Activision Blizzard has traditionally always made more with console sales.
The higher Activision Blizzard PC sales are mostly thanks to Blizzard's output, as titles like WoW: Dragonflight and Diablo Immortal are not available on consoles. Still, this is a very interesting shift, and an increased focus on PC as a gaming platform would be great for the industry and players as a whole. Hopefully, this increased focus will lead to better ports, as PC gaming isn't doing that great lately due to a string of extremely poor ports, such as The Last of Us Part I, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Redfall.
While the long-term future of Activision Blizzard may be uncertain due to the United Kingdom's CMA blocking the publisher's acquisition by Microsoft, the short-term future looks bright, thanks to the impending release of Diablo IV. The latest entry in the series went through two extremely successful testing rounds, and a final beta will be available later this weekend to allow players all over the world to check out why Diablo IV is setting out to be one of the best games of 2023.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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