Blizzard president believes the company will have more freedom than ever following acquisition
Blizzard president believes the company will have more freedom than ever following acquisition
Blizzard president Mike Ybarra has stated that the company will be given more creative freedom as a result of Microsoft's recent acquisition.
The details:
In an interview with The Verge, Ybarra declared that the acquisition marks the beginning of a "new era" for Blizzard, complete with a focus on culture and freedom, resulting in better releases for fans. “I think the way [Spencer] approaches building teams and focusing on culture and enabling creative freedom is going to give Blizzard a lot more of that sense of being an independent studio than ever before,” Ybarra says. “That’s what I really mean when I talk about a new era of possibilities, of empowerment, of serving players even better than we ever have.”
Ybarra has stated that things are "pretty much business as usual" at the studio, despite Xbox boss Phil Spencer's recent visit. The president also stated that Spencer's visit was "more about meeting people" than business, so major changes aren't likely any time soon.
It's unclear whether the company's newfound "freedom" will eventually result in the creation of new franchises; however, as demonstrated at BlizzCon last week, World of Warcraft, Diablo IV, and Overwatch 2 will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future, with numerous expansions and additional content set to be released in the coming years.
Spencer has previously stated that fans can expect Activision Blizzard titles on its Game Pass service to arrive no sooner than 2024, with Call of Duty and Diablo being among the first games available. This may allow Blizzard to take bigger risks by making its titles available to a wider audience, and even bring WoW to consoles.
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