
It's no doubt a pretty huge task to incorporate a team like Blizzard into your organisation - we've already seen evidence of this back in January when a studio shakeup resulted in a cancelled Blizzard project. However, things seem to have settled down since, and a new comment from one Blizzard dev suggests that the team is already benefitting from Xbox integration.
Speaking to VGC, World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale says that Blizzard has had "helpful" meetings with Minecraft developer Mojang and the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online - mere months since being acquired by Microsoft.
"We got time with Helen Chang from Mojang, and we were sharing information, so it’s almost as if we have access to what worked for them. We got to speak to the Elder Scrolls Online team and share what we’re up to and what’s been working, it’s almost like we get a benefit."
Longdale went on to say that, ultimately, Xbox has "let Blizzard be Blizzard" so far, and that the WoW team hasn't been asked to do anything specific - they've just kept working on the MMO, allowing them to "let it [World of Warcraft] keep being awesome".
As for Blizzard's future, we'll have to wait and see what it's working on under the Xbox banner. Diablo 4 has marked the first ActiBlizz title to come to Xbox Game Pass, and we're excited to see what else comes from them down the line.
Will Blizzard become one of Xbox's most important studios? Tell us what you think down below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 23
That's good to hear!
That's great news!
Holly Longdale needs to stop putting the word "almost" in sentences. Are you benefiting? Almost benefiting? What?!?
6 months out and I have exactly Zero, Blizzard games installed on my Xbox. Please do something with these great IP's asap. You could put SC 1 & 2 on console with the AOE radial dials and mouse/keyboard support and rake in the cash. Microsoft seems more interested in how to monetize as a third party than use the 69billion$ investment on their own hardware.
/rant off.
Now get rid of Battle.net and make it part of my Xbox account. Battle.net is awful and not needed. MS account is much better. I would like to see Blizzard go back to the studio that was my #1 favorite in the world at one point. They have the Ip’s to do so, only time will tell. Wow on Xbox would be a system seller tho. Especially if they did a limited edition console or controller bundle.
@HonestHick you're way more likely to get a limited edition WoW controller or limited edition (non-functioning) Series X than the actual game itself 🤣
@Markatron84 sadly you are right my friend. But that would be really cool if it came over. I really should just built a PC and get it over with. But i love console gaming.
Would anyone expect them to have said anything different?
Wouldn't letting modern Blizzard be modern Blizzard be a bad thing?
Blizzard's sucked since Blizzard North was disbanded and basically everyone that made Blizzard Blizzard left after Bobby butchered it. Their last great game was Diablo 2. Their last good game was WC3. Everything after that, WoW cash cow aside, has been varying flavors ranging from "meh" to "wtf." Modern Blizzard couldn't even manage to just successfully repackage Diablo 2. At least Diablo 4 is on the "meh" side of the scale, so there's that.
Please can you give us WoW on XBox Mr Blizzard……now that would be something! 🤯
It’s going to take awhile until Blizzard emerges from the abyss and proves themselves… going from a competitor to a collaborator can be a task in itself…
@HonestHick if you were just going to play WoW on it, you could probably run it on a cheap as chips PC nowadays.
@Markatron84 oh for sure. But if i am going to start gaming on the PC, i would built a killer rig and play most titles on it. I’m just not much of a PC user. For work i do. But at home i have all Apple products for the last 18 years of my life. I own all 3 consoles and a LG Oled and $4k in surround sound audio. So i have invested my money into this style over PC. So not sure i will ever make that switch. My MacBook Pro can run Wow. I just don’t do it. I used to run Diablo 3 on it and it ran really well. 😀
@HonestHick I own a gaming Laptop and the only game I play on it is WoW. Yeah I can play Gamepass games on it and other games but I have a Series X for that.
@Tasuki yeah thats awesome. I really should install WOW on my Mac again. It’s been 8-9 years since i last had it on there. Think i said this earlier but i used to play Diablo 3 on my Mac before it came to 360. Ran like a dream and i enjoyed it so much. Keep grinding levels my friend 😀
@HonestHick I recently came back to WoW last December after a long break, last time I played was the end of Mists of Pandaria. They really made it easy to jump back in With the Time Walker scenarios and even if you wish to there's WoW Classic now. I am really enjoying it now and it was pretty easy to catch up.
@Tasuki thats awesome. I have heard it’s easy to get back into which is nice to hear. Unlike Destiny which is a mess for new players. I’m excited to see what the future holds for Blizzard they are one of my favorites in the industry. I would love to see them have big success on Xbox.
@HonestHick Yeah my son who's a new player (He wasn't old enough to play WoW back when I played) and I a returning have found it really easy to get into. At first it seemed overwhelming but that's because I had to catch up on 5 expansions but after starting a new character to run with my son it was easy to figure stuff out and I was able to hop back into my old characters.
@Tasuki thats so cool. I bet he enjoys that. I used to really love WOW. It alongside diablo 3 was my games. I forget why i took a break from it and then once i did i just never picked it back up. Crazy to think it’s about to celebrate its 20th year.
@HonestHick I grew up playing consoles but then during Lich King some friends of mine talked me into playing WoW and something just clicked with me and WoW. I loved the lore behind it and just exploring the world. If I could only play one game for the rest of my life it would be WoW.
I tried other MMOs too, ESO, Everquest, Final Fantasy etc but none of grabbed me like WoW.
@Tasuki yeah i wouldn’t call myself a MMO player. But i did enjoy WOW for around 7 years. I just might build a PC someday to have and if i do then i will for sure get WOW again. At the moment i have plenty to play on all 3 consoles. I am just hoping we get a good Xbox Showcase in June and they have even more coming. I think they do and i think they are about to turn the corner on their releases soon.
@HonestHick Agree I am hoping that they add the older CoD games to Gamepass and clean up the servers so that way they exploits that hackers use can't anymore. Maybe Hearthstone to console would be nice too. But anyway you slice it Xbox is at a good place now. It's exciting to be a part of it.
Yeah i think they will make sure when the older COD’s come to GP they will be fully cleaned up as much as they can. Which should at least make them better and gain excitement for players to go back and play some of them. Xbox is getting to a great place and should be even better once the heavy hitters start to release.
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