A Blizzard executive has an interesting statement coming out under the heels of Microsoft winning in the case vs FTC.
In a tweet sent after the decision, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra had this to say:
“We have so much coming from such talented teams.
Some people told me years ago Blizzard was a “sleeping giant”. To them I say, the sleeping giant is awake and in full force.
Players are the center of everything we do – and always will be.
We are just getting started.”
Mike’s little rally the troops tweet certainly looks like something to motivate the company after it now seems more likely that Blizzard, alongside Activision and King, are set to finally be acquired by Microsoft. But it probably goes deeper than that.
Blizzard itself has been through some recent struggles. While they remain one of the biggest and most successful game developers today, a series of missteps across their active franchises has actively harmed their reputation.
The most recent of these flubs has been their failure to commit to PvE content in Overwatch 2. While it hasn’t been bad enough to get people to abandon the game, it does relegate Overwatch 2 in a position where shooter players will lean towards many of the other alternatives taking a piece of their pie, such as Valorant and Apex Legends.
Activision Blizzard King as a whole has itself been rocked by multiple scandals, which haven’t actually been fully resolved yet.
Lastly, and of course, the status of the Microsoft – Activision Blizzard King deal was a real concern to Blizzard’s employees. Certainly, Activision was fully capable of moving on if the deal wasn’t to push through. But if that ever came to pass, that would be a lot of lost opportunities for the company, and their games as well.
Of course, Blizzard does also have the successful release of Diablo 4 on their hands right now as well. While the verdict on the franchise’s shift to live service is still out, it can be said to have been enough of a success to put Blizzard’s name in the green among fans at the moment.
And what of the opportunities that will now open up as it seems the Microsoft deal will push through after all? While court documents indicate the company will continue to run independently, we have seen how that shift in ownership has changed Bethesda, for good and bad.
As Ybarra points out, this is a moment for hope in Blizzard, more hope than is found in Sanctuary. We hope for good things in the studio’s future as well.
