Following the purchase of Candy Crush developer King, publisher Activision Blizzard reports better than expected financial results for the 3rd quarter of the company’s fiscal year 2015.

　　According to the 3rd quarter 2015 results, strong results and momentum on the publisher’s upcoming launches, leads the company to raise its outlook once more. Activision reports that for quarter 3, monthly active users, have grown by 27% year-over-year. Time spent while playing Activision Blizzard franchises, is said to have grown by 23% year-over-year. This includes franchises as Destiny, Call of Duty, Skylanders, but also the upcoming Guitar Hero Live. Early reception for Guitar Hero Live has been strong, and player engagement stands at nearly 2 hours per day.

　　Interesting fact, is that during Activision’s third quarter, players again logged nearly 3.5 billion hours of gameplay for all of the publisher’s franchises. This doesn’t include time spent spectating.

　　“Strategic investments in new franchises, platforms, and geographies continue to pay off and along the with growing engagement and earned player investment, set the stage for growth ahead”, according Activision’s report.

Digital revenue now exceeds retail revenue

　　As expected, revenue from next-gen consoles (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U) is up by 45% (trailing twelve months TTM), while revenue from last-gen consoles is down by 42% compared to 2014. PC revenue has increased by 5% (trailing twelve months TTM), compared to the 3rd quarter of 2014.

　　Activision's next major release is the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops III, which releases on November 6.