What are Activision-Blizzard working on - A look at their studios
Activision-Blizzard maybe one of the biggest companies around, in terms of money they make, but somehow, they put out the fewest titles, year on year. In 2021 alone they shipped four titles on consoles and PC and only one of those was a new game.
2022 looks like it could be shaping up to be more of the same, unless the studio has some big surprises waiting to show off, with some amazingly talented studios in their stable of developers, that could happen. The Blizzard situation is a little harder to get a read on, the company is normally quite secretive, but we know two of their games won’t release this year.
So without any further delay, let’s see if we can work out what Activision-Blizzard might have going on in 2022.
ACtivision
Activision Shanghai
Series known to them: Call of Duty Online
Activision Shanghai is a studio that most western players won’t have had much to do with, because the game they were responsible for, and oversaw the development for, was Call of Duty Online, which was a Chinese exclusive release. While the team did the initial work, Raven Software took over most of the main development once the game went live, but sadly with the success of Call of Duty Mobile, the game went offline in August of 2021.
The studio has also helped with development and support of other mainline titles, mostly around the Call of Duty series, but there is no word on what the team are doing now that CoD Online is done.
Beenox
Series known to them: Skylanders series, Spider-Man series
Beenox first started out porting a lot of content to PC and Mac for Activision, but it was in 2009 when the studio got their chance to flex their development muscle, creating a new Guitar Hero title. Since then the studio has developed Spider-man games, Skylanders - both solo and sharing work with other studios, and then in 2019 they remade Crash Team Racing.
A lot of their work lately though has been supporting other titles, including porting again and while they have done some work on recent Call of Duty titles, there are reports of them hiring more staff members. The studio is around 400 members strong, so even with work on Warzone taking some of their focus, odds are we might see something new from them this year.
Demonware
Series known to them: Game development support
Demonware are not a traditional developer, the studio works on the network side of development, allowing companies to create their games, while they ensure they can be played online.
With this in mind, the studio doesn’t make games, just supports the other ones from the company, so if there is a new Call of Duty this year, there will be, this studio will have made things happen for it.
Digital Legends Entertainment
Series known to them: Battlefield Bad Company 2 for Mobile
A recently acquired studio for Activision, Digital Legends is a mobile developer and have spent a few years now creating mobile shooters, their most well know series being Battlefield. Their most recent release was the game Respawnable Heroes, but with the Activision buyout the game will go offline on January 13th.
As part of the purchase, Activision have confirmed that the studio will be switching to the creation of a new mobile game, set within the world of Call of Duty, but there are no details beyond that at this point.
High Moon Studios
Series known to them: Transformers: Cybertron series
What started out as a Sammy studio, once Sammy merged with Sega, events took place and High Moon Studios was born, their most notable series so far is the Cybertron series of Transformers titles, which released back in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Over the past few years, the studio has been used to support development of Call of Duty titles, leaving them without much in the way of new and original content.
Even now, while the 200 or so members of the studio are working on Call of Duty Warzone content, they are looking for new staff, sadly though, there is no word on if that is for a new game, or just for more support for existing titles.
Infinity Ward
Series known to them: Call of Duty series
Infinity Ward is the studio were Call of Duty was born, it is the studio where the Warzone mode was created and as they rotate through with the other two studios in being the main developer, it gives them time to create the games we know today.
With this being the off year for Infinity Ward, don’t expect them to lead development on this years Call of Duty title, though they may have updates for Warzone released later in the year.
Raven Software
Series known to them: Star Wars: Jedi Knight series, Soldier of Fortune series
Raven Software used to be a big deal, they developed some fan favourite Star Wars titles, along with the Soldier of Fortune series and working with id Software, kept the Wolfenstein name alive for many years. Since they were bought out by Activision though, the studio has been tasked with supporting the development of Call of Duty.
The studio has taken the lead on some modes over the years, they also did the work on the remastering of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, but they are always the bridesmaid and never the bride. When the next Call of Duty title is announced, the studio will be connected to its development in some fashion, there is just no telling how much they will be involved at this time.
Sledgehammer Games
Series known to them: Call of Duty series
Sledgehammer Games was founded by the folks from Visceral, that brought Dead Space to players and while their first title was supporting Modern Warfare 3, since then they have been able to be the lead developer on many titles, all within the Call of Duty space. Their most recent game was 2021’s Call of Duty Vanguard, meaning that it is unlikely we will see anything from them this year, outside of content updates and patches for Vanguard.
A little piece of trivia though, the studio does have a Melbourne office, so if you wanted to get into making games and Call of Duty is your thing, this is an option for you.
Solid State
Series known to them: Nothing yet…
One of their newer studios created for mobile development, all we know right now is that they are going to be supporting development of Call of Duty titles on mobile. A job listing was posted, and then removed, that used the phrase ‘Warzone mobile’, which could point to where they were looking at heading, but until we see a product, there really isn’t anyway to know.
Toys for Bob
Series known to them: Skylanders series, Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Some folks will know this name from their early days with Star Control and others will know them as the creators of the Skylanders series, they also created the most recent entry in the Crash Bandicoot series as well.
Sadly since Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time released, the studio has primarily been put to work supporting Call of Duty development and there is no word on that changing anytime soon, so if you were hoping for a new and original Spyro game from them, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Treyarch
Series known to them: Call of Duty series, Spider-man series
Treyarch gained their time in the spotlight, when they made Spider-man 2, which was based off the movie, it was the game that redefined how good a superhero title could be. One that was out, the studio did another Spider-man game, this one though was original and then, much like a lot of Activision, they were allowed to work on Call of Duty, specifically the first console release and since then they have been pretty consistent with the series.
This year is Treyarch’s time to lead development on the next Call of Duty title, so that will be the big thing from them and while they did work on the zombies mode in Vanguard last year, there is no way that took all of their 500+ employees to create, either way, we might hear something about the new game in April at the earliest, September at the latest.
Blizzard
Team 1
Series known to them: Starcraft
The team that primarily work on Starcraft were also the ones to oversee the release of Warcraft 3: Reforged, but since then, there is no word on what the team is working on.
Team 2
Series known to them: World of Warcraft
The WoW team are keeping up with their pace of content updates, for both the mainline game and the classic edition, with things like season 2 of Burning Crusade wrapping up. Given how large some of the expansions can be for the game and if their timeline holds true, we should hear something in early February, even if they don’t have a Blizzcon event this year.
Team 3
Series known to them: Diablo
We know that the Diablo team is working on two games, or at least working on one and overseeing the other, Diablo 4 was delayed for 12 months, meaning its earliest possible release is April of 2023, so while the team are delivering their quarterly updates on the game, don’t expect anything big for Diablo 4. Diablo Immortal could release this year, they did have the technical alpha last year, which gave them some good feedback, but there is no word yet on when a beta or soft launch may take place.
Finally, with Vicarious Visions now apart of Blizzard, their work on Diablo 2 Remastered being done, outside of patches and updates, there is no word on what they are working on now, if its anything new of course, they could just be helping with Diablo 4.
Team 4
Series known to them: Overwatch
Much like Diablo 4, Overwatch 2 has been delayed until April 2023 at the earliest, so for now, expect seasonal events and the odd updates to the game across the board.
Team 5
Series known to them: Hearthstone
The team ended 2021 by launching the Fractured in Alterac Valley update for the game, and while they do drops quite often, larger updates are slower to release. Expect to see more content for the game, but no major changes are expected until later in the year, if their release cadence holds true.
King
King
Series known to them: Candy Crush series
King have been putting out mobile games for years and while they did release Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! for mobile last year, they haven’t put anything out from their big earner Candy Crush for a few years.
Given that the studio has countless titles, Bubble Witch, Farm Heroes and Pet Rescue to work with, seeing a new entry from one of those IP is likely this year.
So there you go, everything we know or suspect about what Activision-Blizzard are up to in 2022. Honestly, it isn’t a lot, most of the company is either working on Call of Duty, or if they are apart of Blizzard, they are making small content updates, while working on new games.
Is there any IP that you would love to see Activision bring back, maybe a developer you would like to see be unshackled from Call of Duty to create something new. Be sure to sound off in the comments.
