Phil Spencer, the director of the Xbox division, spoke regarding the strategy that might lead Microsoft following
the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, whose takeover was announced for an amount approaching 70 billion dollars (61.7 billion euros), on January 18. In an interview at Washington Post, he expressed excitement regarding resurrecting old franchises from the publisher, such as Guitar Hero Where King’s Quest. In addition to Call of Duty, Warcraft and Tony Hawk, the publisher is sitting on a formidable portfolio of licenses that have not been exploited for years.
“Franchises of my childhood”
“I took a look at the list of intellectual properties. Let’s go! I see very beautiful names: King’s Quest, Guitar Hero, I believe they have witches also ! Once the deal is done, hopefully we can allocate resources to the revivals of my childhood franchises, and their teams are up for it. I look forward to having these conversations with them,” the division director assured.
Xbox.
Under Microsoft, a lot of things might therefore change at Activision Blizzard: the way of working of course, but also the selected projects. Xbox Games Studios enjoys a great deal of freedom in choosing which projects they can work on. However, this does not mean that the “classic” franchises will be put away. Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk should always have the attention of the studios.
