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Activision (ATVI) Unveils Latest Remake Diablo II: Resurrected

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Activision Blizzard recently revealed Diablo II: Resurrected, the combined remake of its genre-defining action role-playing series, Diablo II and its Lord of Destruction expansion. The game will be available globally starting Sep 23, 2021.

In Diablo II: Resurrected, the original game’s 2D character models have been transformed into fully realized 3D heroes inhabiting the dark fantasy world of Sanctuary. Players will be able to choose between five different character classes (Amazon, Barbarian, Paladin, Sorceress, and Druid) in the open beta test being launched in August.

The latest version supports up to 4K resolution and includes fully remastered 7.1 Dolby Surround audio wherein players can swap between the modern graphics and the original 800x600 resolution experience.

Diablo II: Resurrected will retail for $39.99 in its standalone version and also be available as part of the Diablo Prime Evil Collection for $59.99. The latter will include the Rise of the Necromancer content pack, a Mephisto pet and Hatred’s Grasp wings for Diablo III, and a Heritage of Arreat transmog for Diablo III if pre-ordered.

Activision Blizzard, Inc Price and Consensus

Portfolio Strength to Aid Top-Line Growth

Activision Blizzard’s growth is supported by its strong set of franchises, including Call of Duty (COD), Overwatch, World of Warcraft (WoW), Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Friends Saga that help in driving revenue and bookings.

The strong performances of the Call of Duty, Warcraft and Candy Crush franchises helped drive 27% growth in total revenues and 36% growth in net bookings during the first quarter of 2021. The company expects net bookings of $1.85 billion for the second quarter and $8.60 billion for the full year of 2021.

Activision Blizzard has an exciting slate of releases that is expected to boost top-line growth in the near term. Markedly, Activision Blizzard expects to generate revenues of $2.13 billion in the second quarter of 2021 and $8.37 billion for full-year 2021.

The company is working on its pipeline, which includes Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, and multiple Warcraft mobile titles.

Additionally, within Blizzard, the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is planning to launch Diablo Immortal on mobile which is expected to aid the franchise in expanding Diablo’s reach before the launch of Diablo IV on PC and mobile. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Such investments made by the company in improving its franchises are expected to drive growth in users and engagement and help Activision improve competitive prowess against the likes of Take Two Interactive Software (TTWO - Free Report) , Nintendo (NTDOY - Free Report) and Electronic Arts (EA - Free Report) .

Within King segment, the company has been working on adding new features to Candy Crush and delivering more seasonal events to drive engagement. Crash Bandicoot: On The Run!, which was launched in March, has witnessed 30 million downloads to date.

The addition of free-to-play and mobile experiences to Call of Duty more than tripled the monthly active users in the franchise over the last two years and helped the Activision segment reach 150 million users during the first quarter, while Blizzard and King segments reported 27 million and 258 million users, respectively.

Moreover, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have emerged as the top two best-selling games over the past 12 months period.

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