'Overwatch' pushes Activision earnings, shares higher

Shares of video game publisher Activision Blizzard are up more than 3% in early trading Friday after blasting past Wall Street estimates during the second quarter.

Activision Blizzard reported $1.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, easily topping analyst forecasts of $1.45 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Earnings also bested projections at 54 cents per share.

The strong quarter is largely attributed to the success of first-person shooter Overwatch, which boasts 15 million players since launching in May.

"This quarter was a record quarter in large measure because of the unique capability we have as a company to create new franchises," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick during a call with investors Thursday.

Overwatch helped Activision generated its most monthly active users ever, at 491 million, up 13% compared to last year. Meanwhile, players have spent nearly a half-billion hours playing the game, where players choose one of several unique characters and compete in team-based matches.

To push deeper into the market of competitive video gaming, also known as eSports, Blizzard will launch an exhibition featuring international teams of players called the Overwatch World Cup. The final competition will take place during this fall's Blizzcon fan event.

"We think Overwatch has strong potential as an eSport," says Blizzard head Mike Morhaime. "The recently announced Overwatch World Cup ... is a good first taste of that, but we'll talking more about our Overwatch eSports plans later in the year."

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.