While much of what we can expect Activision Blizzard to look like under Microsoft will remain to be seen until we get closer to the finalization of their Acquisition in 2023, some details are starting to emerge as to what we might be able to expect moving forward, including Phil Spencers’ excitement to dive into the library of games that comes with Activision Blizzard.
Speaking in a brief interview with the Washington Post, Spencer avoided discussing the ongoing questions concerning blockbuster franchises such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, instead opting to speak about some underappreciated gems in Activision’s library that Microsoft will now own.
Phil Spencer excitedly stated “I was looking at the IP list, I mean, let’s go! King’s Quest,’ ‘Guitar Hero.’… I should know this but I think they got ‘HeXen.'” He went on to state that once the deal is finalized, which they expect will be in the Summer of 2023, the Xbox team intends to talk to its many developers about which franchise from the acquisition they might want to work on.
A recent trend at Activision Blizzard in recent years was to ultimately funnel their studios toward major franchises, with studios like Skylanders’ Toys for Bob having been moved to a supporting role on Call of Duty and Diablo IV. With this change in leadership, many of these studios could see themselves free from supporting roles and available to develop other IPs.
While nothing concrete has been decided, Phil Spencer released a tweet today addressing what will happen to Call of Duty. In it, he stated that he had spoken to sony leadership concerning it and intends to honor past agreements. Without knowing what those past agreements are, it is hard to say if the franchise will remain on PlayStations past this transitioning year or not.
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