blizzard Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer Enthusiastic About Reviving Blizzard Franchises

[Staff 1,502]

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer expressed a lot of excitement for the possibilities of reviving Blizzard franchises, according to an interview with Windows Central.

Windows Central discussed the future of Activision-Blizzard games including dormant franchises like Guitar Hero, StarCraft, or Skylanders. Phil said he cannot directly compare Xbox's strategy in reviving niche games like Age of Empires and Killer Instinct, versus Activision-Blizzard's approach, as he wasn't involved in Activision's decision-making.

Windows Central specifically asked if there are any plans to revive and port games like WoW, Starcraft, and Heroes of the Storm to Xbox.

Phil is excited about back catalogs of Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard. He wants to discuss with Blizzard leadership titles they are passionate about. That will effect which titles they decide to revive. Phil also wants to let fans and customers know he doesn't bring up games just to tease to no end.

"You did a good job at laying out some of the examples from the past. Thinking about Age of Empires, we're on the 10th anniversary edition of Killer Instinct, which is another nice example to think about. There has to be passion in the team behind the projects. That doesn't mean that the team has to be the original team, every time. I'm not one — and maybe this is just my approach — I'm not one to come in and take a franchise from a team and remove them from the discussion or development process on how something new gets built. I think the original creators, the culture — frankly, some of the lessons we've learned from past experiences here are very important. You've seen from our history that we haven't touched every franchise that people would love us to touch — Banjo fans, I hear you. But it is true that, when we find the right team, and the right opportunity, I love going back to revisit stories and characters that we've seen previously.  In the case of Blizzard games specifically, really what I'd want to do is work with Blizzard's leadership to see where they have passion. I say all this, but I'm not at all suggesting that Blizzard doesn't have passion for reviving franchises too, I know that from my visits to the team. They absolutely have the passion in this area. There's a lot of excitement for possibilities that we can all do together. But also, I want our fans and customers to know that I don't bring up games just to tease to no end ... if people have watched how we've teased things in the past. There's usually some kind of reconciliation of those hints later on ... I'm not one to try and lead people on. It might not happen on the timeline that people would love, but usually when I tease, there's something there." Phil Spencer

Heroes of the Storm is a really great game and we hope it will get the attention it deserves.

Make sure to read the full interview on Windows Central.

[Swarf 111]

Rock n Roll Racing reboot confirmed!  /s

[Nkara 3]

I really hope they will kickstart HoTS, it's such an enjoyable game - both playing and watching!