First Activision claimed the title as the best-selling video game in 2016 in North America (according to NPD Group) with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Then EA came back claiming that FIFA 17 was the best selling console game in 2016. Now, Activision have released their latest financials where they claim that "Call of Duty was the number one console franchise globally in 2016". Confused? Well, perhaps the word console franchise is key to understanding things as one has to assume that Activision bundled all sales of Call of Duty games together to beat FIFA sales in 2016 (after all, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 sold quite well during the entirety of the year, and older games likely also saw decent numbers).
Bragging rights are of course important, but when published with financial reports they also need to be accurate. So while there is no need to mistrust the information, you just need to be aware of what exactly it is that is being claimed. It should also be noted that the claim is based on data from NPD Group and GfK Chart-Track, which may not be covering all markets, but the most important ones in Europe and North America.
After looking at that one statement in Activision Blizzard's financials, it should also be noted that the publisher is coming off an incredibly strong year. Net revenues were up $6.61 billion, as compared with $4.66 billion in 2015. And much of the revenue came via digital channels ($4.87 billion almost double the number in 2015).
Another interesting tidbit is that users spent 43 billion hours playing and watching Activision Blizzard games in 2016, which is on part with the amount of time people spent watching Netflix. Giving the might of Overwatch, Hearthstone, Call of Duty, Destiny, and Candy Crush combined that is perhaps not too surprising, but still incredibly impressive.
Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard, had this to say about 2016 via press release:
"Our record performance in 2016 further strengthened our position as the world's leading standalone interactive entertainment company. For the quarter and the year, we delivered our highest revenues, non-GAAP redefined operating margins and earnings per share, well surpassing our own expectations."
"The launch of Blizzard's Overwatch created a major new franchise, while King's mobile advertising tests are very promising as the basis for meaningful new revenue streams. We accelerated our efforts in esports and consumer products, enabling more ways to celebrate and connect to our communities. Thanks to the strength of our established franchises and the vitality of our new initiatives, we are well positioned for growth in the years ahead."