In recent weeks, King employees have updated their LinkedIn profiles to say they now work at Blizzard. The latest explanation is that Microsoft and Activision have formed a new team within Blizzard. The new team includes employees from King and Blizzard and focuses on developing Blizzard's "double-A" games, such as "World of Warcraft," "Overwatch," "StarCraft" and more.
Microsoft officially acquired Activision Blizzard last year for $72 billion, so this expansion is not surprising. This gave Microsoft control of some IP, including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. With this acquisition, Microsoft's gaming division has achieved significant year-over-year growth of 61%, driven primarily by Activision Blizzard's current titles.
To continue driving growth, Microsoft and Activision have joined forces to create a new team within the Blizzard subsidiary. The aim is to continue curating and keeping alive the most beloved game franchises such as Diablo, World of Warcraft and Overwatch. StarCraft has been dead for some time, and this new team has the potential to revive the beloved series and give it new life.
Since many of the employees joining the team are from the King subsidiary, it's likely that they are working on mobile ports of these games., or make a better game for those who continue to play Diablo Immortal. In addition, they may also be developing a new game that will be released on the Xbox mobile game store, which plans to launch on iOS and Android.
When developing AA games, Microsoft is keen to try to leverage smaller teams that are more flexible and have greater potential. These teams will also be integrated into larger teams, allowing them to work on larger projects when needed. At present, 2A games have great potential. Games such as "Joker Cards", "Pallu", "Vampire: Survivors" and "Stardew Valley" are performing very well in the current market and are not restricted by age.