Over the past week, Activision Blizzard remains to stay in the headlines following one of its biggest stories in the industry: Microsoft is to acquire the conglomerate publisher for more than $68 billion. And while the deal is still set to be in motion well into the next fiscal year in 2023, many questions linger for the firm. One that is suggested to be underway is the departure of CEO Bobby Kotich which The Wall Street Journal reports knowledge of his planned leave after the arrangement is settled.
Additionally, fans are interested what the Xbox firm will do with the licenses at its disposal once the deal is closed. From an interview with The Washington Post, Xbox lead Phil Spencer expressed excitement for the IPs that he realized comes with the purchase. Kotich in a separate interview shared optimism with Microsoft’s involvement for the firm to utilize retired IPs.
In a new announcement from Blizzard Entertainment, the developer shares it is to explore a new genre, online survival. From the blog post, the firm reveals that the new unannounced project has entered development and will share more on the matter when appropriate to do so.
Blizzard is embarking on our next quest. We are going on a journey to a whole new universe, home to a brand-new survival game for PC and console. A place full of heroes we have yet to meet, stories yet to be told, and adventures yet to be lived. A vast realm of possibility, waiting to be explored.
Every story needs a teller. And every world needs builders. What if that could be you? For thirty years, Blizzard has been creating universes for millions of players around the globe. This requires a diverse team of developers willing to lend their voices, to listen and to be heard. That is our mission.
At the moment, it is uncertain if the recent purchase from the Xbox company influenced Blizzard Entertainment to tackle this new venture or if it was internally planned ahead of the deal. But, what has been affected is future games from Activision – namely Call of Duty. For now, Phil Spencer has pledged to honor all marketing deals between Activision Blizzard and Sony Interactive Entertainment.
However, it is speculated that Microsoft is planning to wall future entries from reaching PlayStation. Despite that, it is reported that Activision is still adamant to ship on the hardware well into 2023. You can read the full report by heading here.
What do you think about the new project from Blizzard Entertainment will be?
Source: Blizzard Entertainment
