Activision Blizzard has announced that the publishing giant has achieved record revenues in its second quarter, when ended on June 30, 2011.

Compared to $967 million in sales in the same period last year, Activision Blizzard jumped to $1.1 billion in its last quarter. Profit also spiked to $335 million versus $219 million in the same reported period last year.

Overall revenues for the first six months of the year were up to $2.6 billion over $2.2 billion in 2010.

Helping Activision Blizzard to fill its dollar sign shaped swimming pool with gold were digital sales, which saw a 27 percent increase year over year. According to its quarterly report, digital sales--like World of Warcraft and Call of Duty map packs--made up 37 per cent of Activision Blizzard's total net revenues, equaling $423 million. Retail also performed strongly, increasing 13 per cent, which is equal to $660 million of the company's net revenue. Non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), revenues were set at $699 million, compared with $683 million a year earlier.

The report drove Activision Blizzard's stock upwards in after-hours trading, increasing 3.6 per cent to $12.25 per share.

Activision Blizzard has relatively weak guidance for the third quarter of the year; however, the company has yet to include any expected revenue for Diablo 3 in its report. During its investor relations call, Blizzard's Michael Morhaime noted that while the developer would like to launch Diablo 3 before the end of the year, it is not ready to commit to a date.

Morhaime said the game's release comes down to "refining all the moving parts" of Diablo 3 before it is ready for launch, including the recently announced real money auction house, which he referred to as "really good news for Diablo 3" during the investor-focused conference.