Activision Blizzard


ATVI

recently announced that the latest

Forged in the Barrens

expansion pack for its popular digital card game

Hearthstone

is now live to kick-start the new Year of the Gryphon era.

Forged in the Barrens

introduces 135 all-new cards inspired by one of

World of Warcraft

’s most iconic and beloved locales besides new keywords like Frenzy, which grants minions a powerful effect the first time they survive damage and Ranked Spells, which increase in power at five mana crystals.

In addition to new keywords and game mechanics,

Forged in the Barrens

will introduce 10 Legendary Mercenary minions, each representing a different Hearthstone class, whose stories will play out across the Year of the Gryphon.

Coinciding with the start of the Year of the Gryphon is the launch of the new

Hearthstone

Core Set, which replaces the existing Basic and Classic sets with a curated selection of 235 cards (including new and previously released cards)

Launching alongside the Core set is the new Classic format, which will allow players to craft decks and compete using

Hearthstone

’s original sets of cards, as they were in 2014.

Players can purchase the

Forged in the Barrens

Mega Bundle for $79.99, which comes with 85 card packs from the expansion.

Portfolio Strength to Aid Top-Line Growth

Activision’s popular franchises, including

Call of Duty

(COD),

Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush Saga

and

Candy Crush Friends Saga

are expected to attract gamers in the near term.

Activision’s top line is expected to benefit from an expanding user base of COD,

Hearthstone, World of Warcraft

and King’s franchises. This is expected to boost in-games spending, thereby driving net bookings and the top line of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. You can see

the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

.

The company is set to release

Hearthstone Mercenaries

, an all-new single-player and competitive game mode in which players collect mighty characters from across the

Warcraft

universe and level them up in tactical battles.

In December 2020, Activision revealed that the COD franchise’s net bookings surpassed $3 billion over the past year. Call of Duty: Mobile, developed in collaboration with

Tencent


TCEHY

, has played an important part in driving user base.

Markedly,

Call of Duty: Mobile

has become the fourth highest revenue generating game in China, trailing Tencent’s

Honor of Kings

and

PUBG Mobile

as well as

Fantasy Westward Journey

from

NetEase


NTES

.

Moreover, continued strength in video game spending bodes well for Activision. Per Venturebeat, which cited NPD data, U.S.

video game sales in February

rose 35% year over year to $4.6 billion. 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.

Activision is stepping up investments in other popular franchises as well. The company expects to deploy more resources in its franchises including

Overwatch, King’s Candy Crush, Diablo

and

Hearthstone

. This is expected to help Activision improve competitive prowess against the likes of Take Two Interactive Software, Nintendo and

Electronic Arts


EA

.

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