Blizzard’s new AA games team: new IP titles coming?
Blizzard’s new AA games team formation seems to promise new titles based on its existing franchises, such as Overwatch, Warcraft, StarCraft, and beyond!
According to Windows Central, the new Blizzard team, mostly made up of King and other Activision studios employees, is drawing on its experience in creating smaller, mobile-friendly games. Yet, their focus is much broader, as Microsoft aims to cover console, PC, and mobile gaming. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned that the company plans to expand its content across all gaming platforms, from PC to Xbox.
Currently, the developers are working on new mobile games for their franchises, with some made with outside partners’ help. Sadly, despite the success of Diablo Immortal and Warcraft Rumble, Blizzard doesn’t share much about these new games. Still, the fact that the company has more titles in development than ever is definitely a positive sign.
It’s also worth noting that Microsoft plans to capitalize on the franchises acquired through its Activision–Blizzard acquisition. As an example, former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick implied that a new Guitar Hero game could be in the works. Microsoft’s Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, has also shown keen interest in revitalizing franchises such as King’s Quest, Guitar Hero, and HeXen.
Similar to Nintendo’s approach, achieving success with smaller teams merging into one large organization is an excellent way to enhance teamwork. This strategy addresses the rising costs of creating AAA games by promoting closer collaboration between studios to reduce expenses. As a result, by accelerating its development process, Blizzard can work on three expansions simultaneously while also launching new mini-game modes such as Plunderstorm and Mists of Pandaria: Remix, Cataclysm Classic, and an accelerated version of Wrath of the Lich King Classic in China. With an increasing focus on mobile gaming in response to the shift from desktop to mobile, Blizzard’s future seems promising.
With that in mind, what do you make of the foregoing? Do you have any ideas about what kind of titles Blizzard is currently working on? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Comments