Blizzard Reveals Plans For Overwatch’s Future; Mobile Gaming Still A Possibility

Activision Blizzard said that the company is looking into ways in order to develop the Overwatch franchise even further. This was revealed during the company’s first quarter earnings call held last May 2.

Blizzard President J. Allen Brack reminded everyone during the earnings call that it was last quarter when the company revealed that they had “very large ambitions for the Overwatch universe and how it can develop over time.” He went on to say that Overwatch has long been “a huge tentpole franchise for Blizzard and we're continuing to dedicate the resources and the attention, so that we can continue to grow the community and the franchise over time.”

To make this happen, Brack added that for the rest of the year, Blizzard will “continue to add new heroes and new maps and new experiences.” The company continues to make sure that the team is working on the existing game while also completing other work already being done.

Back in April, Blizzard launched the Overwatch Workshop. With this “simplified game scripting system,” players are able to develop and create their very own custom games. For example, players can create a mode similar to “The Floor is Lava” wherein players receive damage if they are on the ground. Overwatch players have been having fun with the Workshop, with one creating Torbjorn Golf, while some are working on recreating Mercy’s old ultimate.

With this announcement, the Overwatch community has started to discuss what these upcoming projects could be. Some are hoping for a sequel, with others are predicting it is a spin-off.

It is possible that they may be overlooking one obvious fact, and that is mobile gaming. In the same earnings call President and Chief Operating Officer Collister Johnson revealed that one of the four key long-term strategic growth drivers is extending Activision Blizzard's franchises to mobile. Johnson related that the company has increased “the number of developers working on mobile initiatives.” One game in the pipeline is the mobile version of the Call of Duty game.

Overall, Johnson said that the company plans to “extend our acclaimed console and PC franchises to the largest and fastest-growing platform.” It should be recalled that when Blizzard first disclosed plans for a Diablo mobile gaming, titled Diablo Immortal, it was met with overwhelmingly negative response. However, Diablo Immortal is still listed in Google Play and continues to accept pre-registration.