Description of Business

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Description of Business

Description of Business

Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a leading global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services. We develop and distribute content and services on video game consoles, personal computers (“PC”s), and mobile devices. We also operate esports leagues and offer digital advertising within some of our content. The terms “Activision Blizzard,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” are used to refer collectively to Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Our Segments

Based upon our organizational structure, we conduct our business through three reportable segments, each of which is a leading global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services based primarily on our internally developed intellectual properties.

(i) Activision Publishing, Inc.

Activision Publishing, Inc. (“Activision”) delivers content through both premium and free-to-play offerings and primarily generates revenue from full-game and in-game sales, as well as by licensing software to third-party or related-party companies that distribute Activision products. Activision’s key product franchise is Call of Duty®, a first-person action franchise. Activision also includes the activities of the Call of Duty LeagueTM, a global professional esports league with city-based teams.

(ii) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (“Blizzard”) delivers content through both premium and free-to-play offerings and primarily generates revenue from full-game and in-game sales, subscriptions, and by licensing software to third-party or related-party companies that distribute Blizzard products. Blizzard also maintains a proprietary online gaming service, Blizzard Battle.net®, which facilitates digital distribution of Blizzard content and selected Activision content, online social connectivity, and the creation of user-generated content. Blizzard’s key product franchises include: World of Warcraft®, a subscription-based massive multi-player online role-playing franchise; Hearthstone®, an online collectible card franchise based in the Warcraft universe; Diablo®, an action role-playing franchise; and Overwatch®, a team-based first-person action franchise. Blizzard also includes the activities of the Overwatch LeagueTM, a global professional esports league with city-based teams.

(iii) King Digital Entertainment

King Digital Entertainment (“King”) delivers content primarily through free-to-play offerings and primarily generates revenue from in-game sales and in-game advertising on the mobile platform. King’s key product franchise is Candy Crush™, a “match three” franchise.

Other

We also engage in other businesses that do not represent reportable segments, including the Activision Blizzard Distribution (“Distribution”) business, which consists of operations in Europe that provide warehousing, logistics, and sales distribution services to third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software, our own publishing operations, and manufacturers of interactive entertainment hardware.