Have you seen the memes? Welcome to the Gulag? 2020 expectation vs. reality? I don't know if memes can predict the market but I do feel like they're trying to tell us something.
Amid the bear market sparked by COVID-19, this is one of those companies I knew would easily ride out the wave -- if not, benefit from it. With many students and professionals working & studying from home or off-campus, the gaming industry has seen a strong uptick from the additional free time on everyone's hand. With the recent release of free-to-play cross-platform title Call of Duty: Warzone, the company had instant success on the battle royale hype gaining 30 million players in the first 2 weeks. Although most of these players haven't paid anything -- the conversion strategy behind Blizzard's free download is brilliant. A combination of factors from having to download the full 200GB COD: Modern Warfare game and having most of it locked until you pay, to a well-designed battle pass valued at $10 which is worth it for most players, and a shop where you can only buy coins in amounts that will always leave you with just enough change to incentivize your next purchase! As one of the most popular games across a wide age group and a cross-platform marvel, Activision has given us one of the best ways to have fun while staying connected and keeping our distance!