Activision confirms Call of Duty Mobile is officially bigger than mainline CoD in 2023

Brad Norton
CoD Mobile cinematic

Call of Duty Mobile continues to be an unstoppable juggernaut. Activision Blizzard’s latest financial report has confirmed the handheld port is officially bigger than mainline CoD entries on PC and console in 2023.

Although CoD on the whole has seen its overall player count dip again in 2023, a fate also shared by Overwatch 2 in the latest quarter, one particular area continues to thrive for the publishing giant: Handheld gaming.

Through the company’s Q2 2023 financial earnings report, Activision announced CoD Mobile had exceeded the $3 billion mark in terms of revenue. It soared to this milestone in under four years on the market.

Not only that, but with its staggering income comes a colossal rate of player engagement too. In fact, CoD Mobile now accounts for the majority of CoD’s entire player base. With an average of 90 million players jumping into CoD titles on a monthly basis, “over half of all engagement” comes from mobile platforms, Activision revealed.

Making its first leap into the handheld market at the tail end of 2019, CoD Mobile has since gone on to leverage much of the series’ most popular features over the years. From a full-fledged Zombies mode, the return of countless fan-favorite multiplayer maps, and plenty more added with each passing month, there’s seemingly always something to keep players hooked.

Despite being a free title at its core, with anyone able to download and jump in without spending a dime, the handheld release has helped drive the biggest portion of revenue for Activision Blizzard thus far in 2023.

Over the past six months, mobile gaming was the biggest cash cow for the publisher, generating $1.9 billion in total revenue alone. This far exceeds PC revenue at $1.25 billion and console revenue at $1.19 billion.

It’s obviously worth keeping in mind, however, that King’s efforts in the mobile industry are also factored in here, with the likes of Candy Crush still proving monstrously successful to this day.

With CoD Mobile evidently only soaring to new heights and going from strength to strength, further focus has been committed in the handheld space.

We already know Warzone Mobile will be launching in full later this year, with the iconic Battle Royale marking the return of the beloved Verdansk map.

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About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com