World of Warcraft Classic Caused Activision Blizzard (ATVI) Stock Jump
| Updatedby Teuta Franjkovic · 3 min read
Activision Blizzard has seen its stock jump upwards of 6% following the release of World of Warcraft Classic on Monday night. The increase in stock price comes after WoW peaked at 1.1M+ viewers on Twitch Monday.
Even though every macroeconomic indicators (inverted yield curve anyone?) are showing an upcoming recession, an average American consumer is feeling more confident about the economy today than 20 years ago. Analysts believe that this kind of optimism could make a way for gaming stock gains. One of them is Activision Blizzard (ATVI) that found itself rising by up to 5% to $51.09 after World of Warcraft Classic’s release went viral on Twitch and social media.
ATVI has 300 million gamers per month in its user base, and it seems that because of this WoW relaunch, it became (again) an enormous success.
Allegedly, subscribers have to wait in line just to get a spot in the game and with the holiday season coming, this gaming stock seems to be on the right path to become a real winner. Even though many gaming influencers were prepared and got in the virtual “line” before most did, those who tried to log in right at 6:00 p.m. EST for the launch were met with queue times that were hours long. We also shouldn’t forget the fact that huge crowds of fans are ready to pay $15 a month to play.
KeyBanc Capital Markets Research Analyst Tyler Parker went bullish on almost all gaming stocks, putting “Overweight” rating not only on Activision Blizzard but also gaming rivals as are Take-Two and Ubisoft.
Parker claims that the rerelease of World of Warcraft, which made its original debut a 15 years ago, and the release of “Call of Duty Mobile” are serving as an incentive for the gaming stock.
Immediately following the game’s launch, Twitch noted more than 1.1 million viewers watching World of Warcraft alone, and some gaming influencers as Zack “Asmongold” [no last name known] or Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, playing the game.
The thing is, videogames are going through a so-called “free-to-play” trend where the basic game is free and you have to pay some cosmetic add-ons, similar to the model that Fortnite does for a long time now. Activision Blizzard’s is different. It obviously has a possibility to engage attention by consumers for its paid subscription model.
However, some gamers are arguing that WoW Classic has nothing new to offer.
First thing – anyone who is playing Classic can just go to Youtube or Google how to defeat Ragnaros.
PC gamer Leif Johnson said that even though there will always be this one player who insists on not looking up anything, there’s always going to be someone in the group who will find a strategy online and impatiently tell it to everyone. He explains:
“We know exactly when this or that ability will be removed from the game. We even know exactly which items will sell best during specific patches, so even the economy lacks mystery. In a weird meta way, playing Classic feels a bit like roleplaying the roleplaying game. Or worse, it’s a little like trying to watch Game of Thrones again with the knowledge of knowing how it ends and being unable to forget the disappointments waiting down the line.”
