For calendar year 2012, Activision Blizzard delivered record GAAP net revenues of $4.86 billion, as compared with $4.76 billion for 2011. On a non-GAAP basis, the company’s net revenues were $4.99 billion, as compared with $4.49 billion for 2011. For the calendar year 2012, GAAP net revenues from digital channels were $1.54 billion and represented 32% of the company’s total revenues. On a non-GAAP-basis, for the calendar year 2012, net revenues from digital channels were a record $1.60 billion and represented 32% of the company’s total net revenues.

For calendar year 2012, Activision Blizzard delivered record GAAP earnings per diluted share of $1.01, as compared with $0.92 per diluted share for 2011. On a non-GAAP basis, the company also delivered record earnings per diluted share of $1.18, as compared with $0.93 per diluted share for 2011.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2012, the company delivered record GAAP net revenues of $1.77 billion, as compared with $1.41 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011. On a non-GAAP basis, the company’s net revenues were a record $2.60 billion, as compared with $2.41 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2012, Activision Blizzard’s GAAP earnings per diluted share set a fourth quarter record of $0.31, as compared with earnings per diluted share of $0.08 for the fourth quarter of 2011. On a non-GAAP basis, the company’s earnings per diluted share were a record $0.78, as compared with $0.62 for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The company reports results on both a GAAP and a non-GAAP basis. Please refer to the tables at the back of this press release for a reconciliation of the company’s GAAP and non-GAAP results.

Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer, Activision Blizzard, said, “We are very pleased to report that Activision Blizzard delivered the best performance in its history. With better-than-expected net revenues, record operating margins and record earnings, and over $1.3 billion in operating cash flow, we continue to set the industry success bar. I would like to thank our incredibly talented employees around the world for their passion, drive and creativity, which continues to fuel our success.”

Kotick added, “As we look to 2013, we will continue to invest in our established franchises, as well as several new properties. We expect these investments to drive our growth over the long term and to enable us to deliver superior returns to our shareholders in the years to come. In the short-term, we expect to continue delivering strong profitability, but below our record setting 2012 performance, due to a challenged global economy, the ongoing console transition and a difficult year-over-year comparison because of Blizzard’s record-shattering Diablo® III success in 2012.”

Selected Business Highlights:

In North America and Europe combined Activision Publishing was the #1 console and handheld publisher for the calendar year with the #1 and #3 best-selling franchises—Call of Duty and Skylanders.1
Activision Blizzard reported record digital revenues for the calendar year and was the #1 third-party interactive entertainment Western digital publisher.2
For the calendar year, in aggregate across all platforms in the U.S. and Europe, Activision Publishing’s Black Ops II was the #1 best-selling title in dollars and Modern Warfare 3® was the #9 best-selling title in dollars.1
In November 2012, Black Ops II became the first video game ever to cross the $1 billion mark in 15-days, eclipsing “Avatar’s” 17-day movie record.4
In both North America and Europe, Skylanders Giants™ was the #1 best-selling kids’ title in dollars for the fourth quarter.¹ Additionally, for the calendar year, in North America and Europe combined, Skylanders Giants was the #5 best-selling game in dollars, and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure® was the #4 best-selling game in dollars.1
As of December 31, 2012, the Skylanders franchise has generated, life-to-date, more than $1 billion in worldwide sales,¹ and through January 2013, Activision has sold more than 100 million Skylanders toys worldwide.2
For the calendar year, Blizzard Entertainment had two top-10 PC games in North America and Europe. Diablo III was the #1 best-selling PC game at retail, breaking PC-game sales records with more than 12 million copies sold worldwide through December 31, 2012, and World of Warcraft®: Mists of Pandaria® was the #3 best-selling PC game at retail.5
As of December 31, 2012, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft remains the #1 subscription-based MMORPG, with more than 9.6 million subscribers.2
Company Outlook

On January 29, 2013, Activision Publishing released Revolution, the first downloadable map pack for Black Ops II, on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The company expects to release Revolution on other platforms during the first quarter.

Additionally, on March 12, 2013, Blizzard Entertainment expects to release StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™, the first expansion to Blizzard’s award-winning real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty®.

The company is considering or may consider during 2013, substantial stock repurchases, dividends, acquisitions, licensing or other non-ordinary course transactions, and significant debt financings relating thereto. The company’s first quarter and full year 2013 outlooks do not take into account any such transactions or financings that may or may not occur during the year, with the exception of the $0.19 cent per share cash dividend announced below.


(in millions, except EPS) GAAP
Outlook Non-GAAP Outlook
CY 2013

Net Revenues $ 4,085 $ 4,175
EPS $ 0.68 $ 0.80
Q1 2013
Net Revenues $ 1,160 $ 690
EPS $ 0.29 $ 0.10
Board Declares Cash Dividend

The Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.19 per common share payable on May 15, 2013 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 20, 2013.