The company behind 'Call of Duty' says it's funding COVID-19 treatment research while it figures out how to produce video games remotely (ATVI)

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare"/Activision

• The latest "Call of Duty" game produced record sales numbers, even for an annual blockbuster franchise, in the first quarter of 2020.
• The game "sold through more units and has more players than any prior 'Call of Duty' title at this point after its release," according to its publisher, Activision Blizzard, which announced first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
• The game has done so well partially due to "shelter-at-home tailwinds," as the company puts it. Simply put: With millions of people stuck indoors due to the coronavirus pandemic, many are turning to games like "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare."
• But "there's no 'winning' in an environment like this," CEO Bobby Kotick told Business Insider in an interview on Tuesday afternoon. "I'm spending virtually all of my time focused on employee health."
• Activision Blizzard is going so far as to fund clinical trials of coronavirus-fighting drugs, Kotick said. "We're funding trials right now on blood serology tests. We're funding a clinical trial on an antiviral drug that was used in Japan," he said. "If you were to ask me a year ago would we be funding a clinical trial on a drug? I wouldn't even know how I would've answered that question."
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Every holiday season, you can expect a new "Call of Duty" game. 

It's become an annual tradition in gaming: Like "Madden" in August, so can you expect a new "Call of Duty" come October or November. And every year, also like "Madden," the new "Call of Duty" game sells a ton of copies. 

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See Also:

• Microsoft tells employees they can keep working from home through October
• Apple just announced when it's holding its biggest event of the year, which is happening virtually for the first time
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SEE ALSO: Video-game sales spiked in March as the coronavirus pandemic forced millions of Americans to stay indoors. Nintendo was the big winner.

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