Activision isn’t exactly a game company you think of who needs to have a new IP. Even if you take Blizzard and King out of account, the company is swimming in money from Call of Duty.
For many years, gamers have assumed that Activision is so committed to Call of Duty that they will have to make any new games ever again. We have literally already seen that they are willing to retire franchises they just brought back, such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. But it looks like that has actually changed.
As originally shared by CharlieIntel, Activision’s posted a new job opening, specifically saying they are working on a new IP.
We traced the listing on Activision’s website, and Activision is still looking for an Animation Engineering Director. The listing says this:
“Activision is looking for a Director, Animation Engineering to join the development of a new IP.
You will help direct and define our project’s game engine technology, and how we optimize content, workflow, and performance.
By leading a team of engineers and working in close partnership with fellow directors and leads across the project, you will boldly craft, coordinate, and prioritize explicit and attainable objectives for the engineering teams within the Engine organization.”
The rest of the listing does not share any clues on what kind of game the company is working on, but it just seems that they need anyone qualified who has had experience making other AAA games.
So we should address the big question here. Why would Activision need to make a new IP? They already have Call of Duty, one of the big reliables in the industry. Call of Duty has proven so successful that the company has justified putting multiple studios, many of which already known for other franchises, has all been committed to help make these games, and they did this for decades.
Certainly, there must be some creative malaise from within the company. But it isn’t likely that Activision has changed, to allow their developers to make small passion projects like other game companies do.
It’s more likely that Activision wants to do business with a completely different game type than what they already have with Call of Duty. Call of Duty‘s battle royale like DMZ mode hasn’t worked out, for example, but they may have decided to make one that’s closer to PUBG and Fortnite so they can properly compete with those games.
Or maybe Activision is taking risks with something that’s really new to them, such as a racing game. We may not learn about this game for a while, but given that Activision happens to be one of the biggest and most successful game companies today, this is bound to be a big deal.
