Financial Analysts Say New Overwatch, Diablo Titles To Be Released In Two Years

It is believed that Blizzard might soon reveal new installments of two of its most successful titles: the dungeon crawler Diablo and the first-person online shooter Overwatch. The latest updates on these highly anticipated sequels surfaced following a June report, which suggests the studio had decided to cancel the development of a supposed StarCraft first-person shooter in hopes of making the titles a reality.

Apparently, Blizzard has yet to confirm – or even deny – these reports. However, reports say that the video game company could be announcing these new titles come November 1 at BlizzCon 2019.

As we have previously reported, a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst by the name of Matthew Thornton said that he’s confident about Blizzard teasing Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 at this year’s gaming conference in Anaheim, California.

Interestingly, a new report has emerged and suggested that a good number of financial analysts are expecting these titles to be released in the next two years. A research analyst at Stephens Inc. (a private investment banking firm) named Jeff Cohen said that they are “expecting a lot more coming in 2020.”

According to the report, Blizzard’s stock has climbed to 7.9 percent after releasing WoW Classic and announcing that Overwatch will arrive in Switch on October 15. “They did a good job of framing 2019 as a transition year and sort of the bottom in terms of the content cycle," Cohen said in the report. "We’re expecting a lot more coming in 2020."

While it is true that most Overwatch players already have the game on one or two systems, the analyst believes that the studio will still experience a successful release for the game on the hybrid console. “There’s a great deal of overlap between the Switch install base and the Xbox and Playstation install base," Cohen said. "But I do think there’s an opportunity out there for them to basically sell a second copy to people who already have the game."

All this excitement about Overwatch on Switch has made Cohen and other financial analysts optimistic, believing that Blizzard will finally introduce a new Overwatch game, or expansion, at the upcoming BlizzCon 2019.

“I do think a big part of the strategy is to focus on those kind of tent pole brands,” Cohen said.