Activision's Past and Future
There is a lot to look forward to in 2020, two new consoles are on the horizon, which means new titles for them, but as we get to the tail end of the two they are replacing, games are getting bigger and bolder, as developers have learnt how to leverage all the power and technical know-how from them, to craft worlds the demand to be enjoyed. So, let’s take a look at what we have to look forward to for 2020 from Activision.
Activision had a strong 2019, with the releases of Crash Team Racing Nitro Fuelled and Call of Duty Modern Warfare, with both titles bringing back classic series in new ways. Spyro also saw a second resurgence, with a release of the Reignited Trilogy happening on Switch and PC, both versions utilising the most of their respective platforms.
Activision stepped into the mobile market in a big way, with the release of Call of Duty Mobile, a fully PvP experience for those on mobile, giving anyone a way to shoot other players, no matter where they are. The overall number of games released by Activision may have dropped of late, but the quality has been increasing, with the Skylanders series seemingly dead, there are entire studios now devoid of regular work, so it is not out of the realm of possibility that the have been working on things in the background.
Another title that Activision helped bring to market in 2019 was the incredible, if challenging Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, from developers FromSoftware, this was the second title from the developers of Dark Souls in a while that saw release outside of Bandai Namco and it was a hit for all involved.
Another facet of Activision is Blizzard, I mean the official name is Activision-Blizzard, so it is hard to forget and in 2019, they really only had one major release, Overwatch on Switch, oh and a little expansion for World of Warcraft. Their other titles, Diablo III and StarCraft 2 also got more content, as the games seemingly have no end in sight, or do they.
Now that 2019 is done, it is time to turn our attention to 2020 and for that, we honestly have no idea, Call of Duty is as likely to happen again, as much as the sun will rise tomorrow. We are now back to Sledgehammer Games as the lead studio, after Infinity Ward last year, but it is unknown if they will keep their WWII series going, or something new again.
Toys for Bob managed to create Spyro the Dragon in the modern day in 2018, but have been silent since then, are they working on remaking the second trilogy of Spyro games, or are they doing something new, perhaps the sequel to the Disney Skateboarding title they made all those years ago. Beenox is another studio that Activision own and while the studio does more in regard to supporting other games, than their own main line development, though they have been known to create original content in the past.
The other two studios that Activision own are High Moon Studios, whose last titles were those of the Transformers Cybertron series, which are now a few years old. The studio has been known to support other developers, but I expect they have been working on something as well, it would be odd not to, given how successful the Transformers games were. The final game developer that Activision own is Raven Software, which for years created some amazing titles, in the Star Wars universe, then they started helping out other studios and have been stuck there since. They did flex their muscles with the remaster of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare a few years ago, but they have been silent since then, however given their support status, I would not expect to hear about anything original from them this year.
Blizzard, as I mentioned above, saw plenty of content release for Diablo, StarCraft and World of Warcraft, but this year is going to be big for them. In just a few weeks, we will see the release of Warcraft 3 Reforged and more content for StarCraft 2 but is the Diablo series that will see the most growth. Diablo Mobile has been in alpha for a bit, so seeing it release into beta or in full is likely this year, though Diablo IV is not likely to release. Overwatch 2 is also not happening this year, so taper those expectations now.
Finally, we have the business partnerships, previously we had Bungie with the Destiny series and last year with FromSoftware, but will we see something new again. FromSoftware’s next title is being published by Bandai Namco, so it is unlikely they would have something this year for Activision. There are plenty of studios around the world that could easily partner with the publishing giant, but now it is a matter of waiting and seeing.
Activision have little announced for the calendar year 2020 and what we expect is about the same as normal, but they have proven to be willing to surprise in the past few years and another one would be very welcome.
