During quarantine, we all must find ways to keep ourselves occupied. There’s only so many times you can clean the house and re-watch episodes of “The Office.” So, we turn to video games to take us away from our less than ideal reality. That’s why it is not all that surprising to hear that Activision Blizzard’s stocks have skyrocketed to the highest they have been since 1984.
Across the board, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a massive increase in game sales. This is especially true for digital sales. Currently, Activision Blizzard’s share prices on the stock market are trading at a whopping $95.05 per share. Of course, the release of “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War” last fall helped pushed a lot of sales for the company. But, their microtransactions remain a lucrative and consistent source of income for the company. By November 2020, the company had raked in $1.2 billion from in-game purchases alone.
The Wall Street Journal tech reporter Sarah E . Needleman noticed this boost in share value, and was the first to report on it. According to Needleman, the stock’s value won’t be stopping here.
In fact, research firm MKM Partners has raised its price target for the company to $105. This means that the company will continue to see success as the pandemic rages on. Activision Blizzard’s Q4 earnings will become public next month. Then, we will be able to see for ourselves exactly how well the company is doing.
So while the pandemic sucks, it certainly doesn’t suck for the gaming industry. At least someone is doing well despite the state of the world.
Jessica Lamb was born and raised in Fennville, Michigan. She attended Aquinas College where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Creative Writing. Since then, she has dedicated herself to spreading the word about all things nerd culture.
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