Blizzcon 2023 showed us a whole new world of possibilities for Blizzard games; with a ton of new titles coming up, and the possibilities afforded by Microsoft's acquisition of the company, it seems as if we're entering into a new era - a breath of fresh air for many long-term players.
We've already seen the release of a new Warcraft strategy game, Warcraft Rumble, as well as a new hero, announced for Overwatch 2, and even the reveal of an eerie new Diablo 4 expansion, Vessel of Hatred. It was a great few days for Blizzard players, but it looks like the fun isn't over yet.
In an interview with The Verge, the President of Blizzard, Mike Ybarra, talked about how he wishes to see the developer expand in this new era and what it will take to meet player demands.
“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 said. “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.”
With three new Warcraft expansions on the way and a seriously exciting Overwatch 2 competitive rework coming in Season 9, it sounds like this new era is right around the corner. We don't yet know how well Blizzard manages to pull all of this off, but it's great to see that the developer wants to take full advantage of this new chapter.
However, despite these aspirations, it's "business as usual," Ybarra said. While the CEO of Microsoft gaming, Phil Spencer, has visited the Blizzard offices, it was more to meet people than to start plotting a serious game plan. “I literally haven’t [yet] sat down with Phil [Spencer] and said, ‘So what does all this mean?’”
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