Blizzard's latest earning reports show that revenue is up, but the company's new monthly active users figure show that millions of players are being lost. The latest quarterly financial results released from Blizzard state that the company currently has 27 million monthly active users. In isolation that's a high number, but - as noted by Massively Overpowered - Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its monthly active users over three years, dropping from 38 million in Q1 2018 to this new figure of 27 million in Q1 2021. A chunk of that user drop came between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, during which Blizzard lost two million players. In spite of this, Blizzard segment revenue has increased by 7% year-over-year, led by the enduring popularity of World of Warcraft and its latest expansion Shadowlands, which has driven franchise net bookings to grow. "A particularly high number of new players" have joined the MMO lately, apparently ushered into the game by Blizzard's push to make the WoW onboarding experience easier. More content is coming to World of Warcraft Shadowlands and its old-school sibling World of Warcraft Classic in the near future too, with World of Warcraft Classic The Burning Crusade launching later this year.  [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/27/jeff-kaplan-blizzards-brilliant-innovator"] In light of this news of a slumping player base, it's worth noting that beyond remakes and content updates for its major franchises, Blizzard hasn't launched anything new since team shooter Overwatch in 2016. At the moment the studio does have plenty of irons in the fire, including Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Diablo II Resurrected and the mobile Action RPG Diablo Immortal, which is coming later this year. In January, we called its alpha "one hell of a good time." The studio's total player base will no doubt grow as new games are introduced to supplement the golden oldies. It's also been a time of turmoil for Blizzard lately in which its public reputation has endured major blows. The studio has suffered multiple rounds of lay-offs in recent years, with co-founders like Frank Pearce and Mike Morhaime leaving the studio, as well as key development talent like Jeff Kaplan. The company's last few years have also been mired in controversy, with the suspension of blitzchung leading to the #BoycottBlizzard movement. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

PlayStation has announced its latest sneaker collaboration with Nike Basketball and Paul George, which has resulted in the PG 5 PlayStation 5 Colorway sneakers. PlayStation sent IGN a pair of the PG 5's to unbox, so check out the gallery below for a detailed look at the sneakers. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=playstation-and-paul-george-ps5-collaboration-pg-5-sneakers&captions=true"] In an announcement on the PlayStation Blog written by Paul George, he explained how "Nike and PlayStation designers, including Yujin Morisawa - the artist behind the PS5 console’s design - worked closely together to bring the spirit of my game and the look of PS5 to life in this unique collaboration." As with past collaborations, the tongues of the shoes have the PG and PlayStation logos on them, and with the latest colorways, the PS5 color inspiration is quite clear. And in a callback to the DualSense's design, the PlayStation face buttons can be found embedded on the shoes as part of the design. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/12/01/unboxing-the-nike-pg-25-playstation-shoes"] The shoes will be available with drops starting on May 14, via the Nike SNKRS app if it's available in your country, or you can keep an eye on Nike's website for availability. Each pair will come with a special hangtag in honor of George and PlayStation's continued celebration. For more on the past collaborations, you can see IGN unbox a pair of PG 2.5's above, as well as take a look at the PG 2's PlayStation and George previously released. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

PlayStation has announced its latest sneaker collaboration with Nike Basketball and Paul George, which has resulted in the PG 5 PlayStation 5 Colorway sneakers. PlayStation sent IGN a pair of the PG 5's to unbox, so check out the gallery below for a detailed look at the sneakers. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=playstation-and-paul-george-ps5-collaboration-pg-5-sneakers&captions=true"] In an announcement on the PlayStation Blog written by Paul George, he explained how "Nike and PlayStation designers, including Yujin Morisawa - the artist behind the PS5 console’s design - worked closely together to bring the spirit of my game and the look of PS5 to life in this unique collaboration." As with past collaborations, the tongues of the shoes have the PG and PlayStation logos on them, and with the latest colorways, the PS5 color inspiration is quite clear. And in a callback to the DualSense's design, the PlayStation face buttons can be found embedded on the shoes as part of the design. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/12/01/unboxing-the-nike-pg-25-playstation-shoes"] The shoes will be available with drops starting on May 14, via the Nike SNKRS app if it's available in your country, or you can keep an eye on Nike's website for availability. Each pair will come with a special hangtag in honor of George and PlayStation's continued celebration. For more on the past collaborations, you can see IGN unbox a pair of PG 2.5's above, as well as take a look at the PG 2's PlayStation and George previously released. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Netflix has put the kibosh on another one of its series. The streamer has canceled its new Sherlock Holmes drama The Irregulars after only one season, as reported by Deadline and confirmed by Variety. The series was based on works by Arthur Conan Doyle and followed a gang of teens who are manipulated to solve mysteries by Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes before they take on a supernatural threat. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/11/how-does-netflix-choose-which-shows-to-cancel"] The series' cancellation comes despite its notable amount of promotion and apparent popularity on Netflix. Streaming data from Nielsen indicated that The Irregulars was the most popular streaming show during its debut week on March 26, edging out the flashy MCU series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney Plus. The Irregulars pulled in an estimated 643 million minutes streamed across its eight episodes. After beginning its original programming with multi-season series like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, Netflix has been wont to cancel programs within one or two seasons in recent years. With such an immense amount of content to promote, the streamer is less lenient about giving shows the opportunity to grow if they don't become massive hits like Stranger Things or The Witcher. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-netflix-original-movies-and-tv-shows&captions=true"] In our review of The Irregulars, IGN gave the season a 7, saying that "the warmth [the actors] generates as a ragtag crew of unlikely crusaders smooths out the bumps and transforms the story into a nifty binge." [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Netflix has put the kibosh on another one of its series. The streamer has canceled its new Sherlock Holmes drama The Irregulars after only one season, as reported by Deadline and confirmed by Variety. The series was based on works by Arthur Conan Doyle and followed a gang of teens who are manipulated to solve mysteries by Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes before they take on a supernatural threat. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/11/how-does-netflix-choose-which-shows-to-cancel"] The series' cancellation comes despite its notable amount of promotion and apparent popularity on Netflix. Streaming data from Nielsen indicated that The Irregulars was the most popular streaming show during its debut week on March 26, edging out the flashy MCU series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney Plus. The Irregulars pulled in an estimated 643 million minutes streamed across its eight episodes. After beginning its original programming with multi-season series like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, Netflix has been wont to cancel programs within one or two seasons in recent years. With such an immense amount of content to promote, the streamer is less lenient about giving shows the opportunity to grow if they don't become massive hits like Stranger Things or The Witcher. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-netflix-original-movies-and-tv-shows&captions=true"] In our review of The Irregulars, IGN gave the season a 7, saying that "the warmth [the actors] generates as a ragtag crew of unlikely crusaders smooths out the bumps and transforms the story into a nifty binge." [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Zack Snyder says he feared retribution from Warner Bros. if he publicly supported the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement that began shortly after the theatrical version of Justice League was released in 2017. Speaking to The Sunday Times (behind a paywall), Snyder shared that he was worried that Warner Bros might retaliate with a lawsuit if the director showed support for the online fan movement that demanded a version of The Justice League fully shot and edited by Zack Snyder. "I was more worried the studio would sue me. Do something to silence me," Snyder says in an interview when asked about the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement. Though initially quiet, Snyder began to share snippets of his Justice League movie online, and stars like Ray Fisher, Ben Affleck, and Gal Gadot also publicly called for the release of the Snyder Cut. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/22/justice-league-the-snyder-cut-trailer"] Snyder, who directed Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, was hired to film DC's big team-up movie. But his daughter's death led Snyder to step down from his duties. Joss Whedon was later hired to reshoot and rework Justice League for its theatrical release. Following the poor reception of Whedon's version, fans gathered online asking for the release of the film dubbed "The Snyder Cut." Fans pointed to promotional materials, images, scenes, and casting that didn't appear in the theatrical version as proof there was a different version of Justice League in existence. Some fans even paid for billboards and an airplane messenger for public stunts calling for the release of the SnyderCut. "Here's the reality. That fandom raised $750,000 for suicide prevention and mental health awareness," Snyder says when asked about the fandom's reputation for toxicity. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/13/army-of-the-dead-official-trailer"] The Snyder Cut was eventually released as an HBO Max exclusive under the name Zack Snyder's Justice League. The four-hour movie was edited using only the shots Snyder originally filmed, plus a few new shots including one featuring Jared Leto's Joker. You can read IGN's full Zack Snyder's Justice League review here, and check out our own interview with Zack Snyder from IGN Fan Fest. His new movie Army of the Dead will premiere on Netflix and some theaters. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. 

Zack Snyder says he feared retribution from Warner Bros. if he publicly supported the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement that began shortly after the theatrical version of Justice League was released in 2017. Speaking to The Sunday Times (behind a paywall), Snyder shared that he was worried that Warner Bros might retaliate with a lawsuit if the director showed support for the online fan movement that demanded a version of The Justice League fully shot and edited by Zack Snyder. "I was more worried the studio would sue me. Do something to silence me," Snyder says in an interview when asked about the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement. Though initially quiet, Snyder began to share snippets of his Justice League movie online, and stars like Ray Fisher, Ben Affleck, and Gal Gadot also publicly called for the release of the Snyder Cut. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/22/justice-league-the-snyder-cut-trailer"] Snyder, who directed Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, was hired to film DC's big team-up movie. But his daughter's death led Snyder to step down from his duties. Joss Whedon was later hired to reshoot and rework Justice League for its theatrical release. Following the poor reception of Whedon's version, fans gathered online asking for the release of the film dubbed "The Snyder Cut." Fans pointed to promotional materials, images, scenes, and casting that didn't appear in the theatrical version as proof there was a different version of Justice League in existence. Some fans even paid for billboards and an airplane messenger for public stunts calling for the release of the SnyderCut. "Here's the reality. That fandom raised $750,000 for suicide prevention and mental health awareness," Snyder says when asked about the fandom's reputation for toxicity. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/13/army-of-the-dead-official-trailer"] The Snyder Cut was eventually released as an HBO Max exclusive under the name Zack Snyder's Justice League. The four-hour movie was edited using only the shots Snyder originally filmed, plus a few new shots including one featuring Jared Leto's Joker. You can read IGN's full Zack Snyder's Justice League review here, and check out our own interview with Zack Snyder from IGN Fan Fest. His new movie Army of the Dead will premiere on Netflix and some theaters. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. 

Shocking no one, Call of Duty continues to do very, very well for Activision-Blizzard — especially now with Warzone. And in response to that success, Activision is poised to take the formula that's bringing in big bucks from each new Call of Duty game and fitting all of its other major franchises into that same mold. Today, the company reported its earnings for the first quarter of the year, with a record first-quarter revenue of $2.28 billion — a whopping $2 billion of which was digital. Activision-Blizzard has a lot of segments contributing to that revenue, including Blizzard and its King mobile games, but its reporting today was clearly most proud of how well Call of Duty was doing. Activision cited that of all the 435 million monthly active users [MAU] across all of its properties, 150 million of those MAUs were from Call of Duty alone. In fact, free-to-play Call of Duty and Call of Duty mobile have nearly tripled total MAUs across all Call of Duty games since their launches last year, and the recent launch of Call of Duty Mobile in China brought in "tens of millions" of new players, further helping things along. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/23/call-of-duty-warzone-review"] We got even more numbers during the earnings call, with Activision sharing that player spending on Call of Duty Mobile in China alone in its first quarter was on par with the rest of the world combined, and that Call of Duty Mobile has now surpassed 500 million downloads and over $1 billion in lifetime revenue since its 2019 launch. In summary? Call of Duty is still enormous, growing even more with each new release and update, and Activision's current favorite child. Which means that it wishes all of its other children would grow up to be just like Call of Duty, and that's exactly what Activision is trying to make happen. During its same earnings call, Activision honed in on the "multiple entry points" for the Call of Duty franchise across premium, free-to-play, and mobile, citing this as a recipe for success it intends to implement into its other major properties. "Call of Duty is the template we're applying to our proven franchises as well as our new potential franchises as we attempt to grow our audiences to a billion players," CEO Bobby Kotick said. Kotick later in the call said that Activision-Blizzard would be ramping up its operations over the next year, planning to hire over 2000 developers, effectively tripling the size of "certain franchise teams" compared to their sizes in 2019. This expansion also includes new studios and expansions to existing studios, with Kotick citing Poland, China, Australia, and China as regions the company was looking at for growth. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/10/world-of-warcraft-shadowlands-review"] It's not quite clear yet what Kotick means about using Call of Duty as a "template," even as the publisher likely ramps up development efforts on the franchises it wants to expand in that vein. One more obvious guess is the focus on multiple entry points, especially as the company recently said it had "multiple" free-to-play Warcraft mobile games in development and is clearly taking a similar mobile tactic with Diablo. What's a bit more clear is who is getting left out of this new plan, as last week it came to light that Crash Bandicoot 4 developer Toys for Bob is pivoting from Crash development to Call of Duty support. While Activision has denied any explicit layoffs, a number of former employees have voluntarily departed the studio recently, and several contractors did not have their contracts renewed. This all comes as Activision and Sledgehammer gear up for the next Call of Duty premium release this fall, which Activision says is "on track" and being developed for next-gen consoles. But given the interconnectivity of Call of Duty Mobile, Warzone, premium games like Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War, and possible integrations with Sledgehammer's new game, it's clear that whatever happens to Activision's other properties, making a Call of Duty universe of sorts is quickly becoming even more of a top priority than it already was. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Shocking no one, Call of Duty continues to do very, very well for Activision-Blizzard — especially now with Warzone. And in response to that success, Activision is poised to take the formula that's bringing in big bucks from each new Call of Duty game and fitting all of its other major franchises into that same mold. Today, the company reported its earnings for the first quarter of the year, with a record first-quarter revenue of $2.28 billion — a whopping $2 billion of which was digital. Activision-Blizzard has a lot of segments contributing to that revenue, including Blizzard and its King mobile games, but its reporting today was clearly most proud of how well Call of Duty was doing. Activision cited that of all the 435 million monthly active users [MAU] across all of its properties, 150 million of those MAUs were from Call of Duty alone. In fact, free-to-play Call of Duty and Call of Duty mobile have nearly tripled total MAUs across all Call of Duty games since their launches last year, and the recent launch of Call of Duty Mobile in China brought in "tens of millions" of new players, further helping things along. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/23/call-of-duty-warzone-review"] We got even more numbers during the earnings call, with Activision sharing that player spending on Call of Duty Mobile in China alone in its first quarter was on par with the rest of the world combined, and that Call of Duty Mobile has now surpassed 500 million downloads and over $1 billion in lifetime revenue since its 2019 launch. In summary? Call of Duty is still enormous, growing even more with each new release and update, and Activision's current favorite child. Which means that it wishes all of its other children would grow up to be just like Call of Duty, and that's exactly what Activision is trying to make happen. During its same earnings call, Activision honed in on the "multiple entry points" for the Call of Duty franchise across premium, free-to-play, and mobile, citing this as a recipe for success it intends to implement into its other major properties. "Call of Duty is the template we're applying to our proven franchises as well as our new potential franchises as we attempt to grow our audiences to a billion players," CEO Bobby Kotick said. Kotick later in the call said that Activision-Blizzard would be ramping up its operations over the next year, planning to hire over 2000 developers, effectively tripling the size of "certain franchise teams" compared to their sizes in 2019. This expansion also includes new studios and expansions to existing studios, with Kotick citing Poland, China, Australia, and China as regions the company was looking at for growth. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/10/world-of-warcraft-shadowlands-review"] It's not quite clear yet what Kotick means about using Call of Duty as a "template," even as the publisher likely ramps up development efforts on the franchises it wants to expand in that vein. One more obvious guess is the focus on multiple entry points, especially as the company recently said it had "multiple" free-to-play Warcraft mobile games in development and is clearly taking a similar mobile tactic with Diablo. What's a bit more clear is who is getting left out of this new plan, as last week it came to light that Crash Bandicoot 4 developer Toys for Bob is pivoting from Crash development to Call of Duty support. While Activision has denied any explicit layoffs, a number of former employees have voluntarily departed the studio recently, and several contractors did not have their contracts renewed. This all comes as Activision and Sledgehammer gear up for the next Call of Duty premium release this fall, which Activision says is "on track" and being developed for next-gen consoles. But given the interconnectivity of Call of Duty Mobile, Warzone, premium games like Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War, and possible integrations with Sledgehammer's new game, it's clear that whatever happens to Activision's other properties, making a Call of Duty universe of sorts is quickly becoming even more of a top priority than it already was. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

More emails from the Epic vs Apple court case are trickling out along with plenty of high-level conversations between various CEOs. One email exchange between Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Xbox president Phil Spencer reveals that Xbox's interest in bringing xCloud on other consoles is ongoing. There was regular chatter that Xbox had ambitions to bring its services to systems that weren't, well, the Xbox. At its height, there were rumors the entire Xbox experience could come to the Nintendo Switch. Instead, some Xbox Live functionality exists on the Switch and xCloud is currently available on PC, Android, and iOS (through a slight workaround). But according to an email between Spencer and Sweeney, Xbox is interested in getting its cloud streaming service to other consoles. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] "At the highest levels of [Microsoft] we are committed to pushing on these policies and continuing to expand our console platform capabilities," Spencer writes. "You can chime in as you feel comfortable. But I did want to just let you know that I have your point on xCloud on other consoles (haven't given up), F2P outside of Gold (we will get there and I want to partner with you), and our Store entitlement ideas as items I'm going to review with you to make progress." Microsoft's xCloud is a cloud streaming service where users can play console games on their phones or PC directly from the cloud with no need to download or install a title. This is a service that's included for subscribers of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is Xbox's popular service where users can download and install games from a library so long as they pay the monthly subscription cost. While xCloud is exclusive to smartphones and PCs at this time, cloud streaming to consoles is possible and something PlayStation and Nintendo already do with PlayStation Now or Switch Cloud Streaming. Getting xCloud on other consoles will be a hurdle and there are many financial deals needed to clear the way for it to happen. Especially since companies like PlayStation are hesitant to open their platform to external parties as seen in its conversations with Epic Games over cross-play. But xCloud on non-Xbox systems will help Microsoft expand its footprint beyond hardware and potentially help further its Game Pass service. More details are coming from the Epic vs Apple case, and you can check out our overview from today's proceedings here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.