Blizzard acquires Proletariat to bolster World of Warcraft team

Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard that's based in California, US, has completed its acquisition of Proletariat.

The basics: It was confirmed on July 1 after reports of the deal surfaced a few days prior.

• The value of the transaction is unknown at the time of publication.
• Proletariat is a Boston-based studio which was formed by experienced workers from Harmonix, Insomniac, and Harmonix.
• While it's developed games like World Zombination and Spellbreak, it'll be utilized by Blizzard to bolster the workforce on its massively multiplayer online role-playing game title World of Warcraft. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that Blizzard is looking to hire "hundreds" of developers over the next two years.

The future: Blizzard is betting big on one of its legacy titles.

• While Activision Blizzard hasn't been a significant player in the world of acquisitions in recent times, it's currently in the process of being bought by Microsoft for almost $69B.
• The World of War player base contains a lot of fanatics with a thirst for new content, much like the upcoming Dragonflight expansion that's due later in 2022. The acquisition of Proletariat and further planned hires prove that Blizzard is looking to serve that demand.
• With teams now spanning both coasts of the U.S., Blizzard may well be able to (at least) get somewhat closer to the expectations of WoW players. The topic of workplace conduct is a sore one over at the games giant and Proletariat CEO Seth Sivak said he has had a "very kind and open and transparent conversation" with his new bosses regarding such issues.