Activision Blizzard Earnings Call Spells Trouble for OWL, CDL
Activision Blizzard isn’t feeling too confident about the future of Call of Duty League and the Overwatch League.
It’s no secret that the Overwatch League has been struggling with viewership and failing to deliver on its financial promises to teams. But most of the problems have been speculation from fans and Activision Blizzard itself has been pretty tight-lipped. Until now — and it looks like the esports community may be right after all.
Activision Blizzard’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed a lot of concerns. In the report, the company admitted that the two esports leagues “continue to face headwinds” that are negatively impacting the operations. In fact, if the business model doesn’t change, “the longevity of the leagues” is in question.
“We continue to work to address these challenges, which could result in significant costs,” Activision Blizzard said in its report, “and such efforts may prove unsuccessful.”
What Will Happen to the CDL and OWL?
Fans and analysts alike have speculated about the future of both leagues, especially the Overwatch League. After Overwatch 2 was no longer able to be played in China due to the loss Activision Blizzard’s partnership with Netease, some teams may have been forced to quietly give up.
Unfortunately, Activision Blizzard stated in the filing that it may be too difficult and expensive to keep the leagues going.
“We expect that our most popular franchises will continue to produce a disproportionately high percentage of our revenues and profits in the future,” Activision Blizzard’s statement reads. “Accordingly, our ability to maintain these franchises and to successfully compete against the wide range of competitive titles available in the industry could significantly impact our performance.”
Activision Blizzard isn’t planning to instantly give up, however. To help support the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League, the game developer is looking to increase its revenue overall. The company went on to say that there’s a “positive trend” when it comes to its video games. This is especially true for Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush, which accounted for almost 80% of net revenues for 2022.
Now, Activision Blizzard is hoping it can continue to increase player engagement and retention in an attempt to support the two esport franchises.
