For Activision Blizzard, 2021 is undoubtedly a shaky year.
First, the development of all new games has been affected, and the operation of old games has caused player dissatisfaction; second, there has been a discrimination scandal within the company, which has led to a sharp decline in stock prices; and finally, they have mishandled the overwatch and Call of Duty esports events, leaving Blizzard esports behind.
Still, with 2022 ahead, Blizzard fans have some good news, with Microsoft announcing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard last week. This week the gaming company unveiled new projects that they hope to win the support of old players and try to attract some new fans by developing new survival games.
On Jan. 26, World of Warcraft and Overwatch developer Blizzard Entertainment announced that they would launch a survival game based on a brand new universe, which they see as the company's "next chapter." Their last brand new IP was Overwatch in 2016, but the game has been stalled for nearly two years, and Overwatch's crowd is still gathering.
Blizzard Entertainment has a lot of IP universes, and the new game looks like a magical fantasy universe. Of course, Sara doesn't have much information, and the official has only released a promotional poster for now, without any explanation of the game. Honestly, this is the first time Blizzard Entertainment has announced a new game so simply, they have announced new games in previous years at Blizzard Carnival, and they will make related promotional videos.
However, due to the epidemic, Blizzard Entertainment canceled the offline carnival in November last year, and also canceled the online carnival in February this year. Blizzard Entertainment in the past few years is known for "fried cold rice", without developing a new IP game, the establishment and production of this survival game should not be long, after all, the company has fallen into great turmoil in the past two years.
Therefore, it is normal that we do not see the promotional video of this survival game. After being acquired by Microsoft last week, the official said that it would announce a blockbuster new news next week, revealing that the new game can indeed bring some information to players.
"Blizzard is embarking on a new journey of discovery, and we're heading to a new universe with a new PC and console survival game. There we will meet heroes we have never met, listen to stories that have never been told, and experience lives that have not yet been experienced. This is a vast world full of infinite possibilities, waiting for us to explore. ”
In addition to the new survival game announcement, Blizzard Entertainment also announced that they are looking for some new employees to participate in the adventure, and they released some job postings on the art, programming, levels, sound effects, and design. The call to Blizzard Entertainment has been issued, and they are looking for some experienced people to join the development team.
After all, Blizzard Entertainment has launched quite a few games before, but they've never made a survival game. As the name suggests, survival games are games that aim at survival, and such games generally test the player's ability to collect supplies and confront the player, often set in the context of the environment of the end times. The survival game that domestic players are most familiar with may be famine, this is my war, and homelessness.
But survival games have never been really hot, there are already many works of this genre on the market, and it is not easy for Blizzard Entertainment to make new ideas. The project is still in its early stages and is likely to take a few years to complete, so Blizzard Entertainment did not provide further information or announce the release date of the game. For a troubled game company, developing a new IP can be an important step out of the mud and show their confidence.
Of course, Sara also hopes that Blizzard Entertainment will not forget the current IP, there are still many players waiting for Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, they are better able to give you some information as soon as possible. In any case, even if this new game is only the stage of creating a new folder, if there is a cake, it will always make fans have some hope.