Xbox Creates a New Studio To Work On Smaller Games
Xbox has formed a new team of employees into a special division called “King”, that aims to revive dormant Blizzard franchises with medium-sized budgets.
After Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision last October, the studios and Ips from Blizzard Entertainment, such as franchises like Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft, and Overwatch, became part and property of Xbox Game Studios.
Following over 1,900 layoffs at Xbox and the cancellation of a long-developed survival game, Blizzard received good news with the formation of a new studio.
According to Windows Central, Microsoft and Activision approved creating a new team within Blizzard, mainly consisting of King employees, the creators of Candy Crush Saga. This new studio will focus on reviving Blizzard franchises that have been inactive for a few years, such as Starcraft.
Recently, many King employees updated their LinkedIn profiles from King to Blizzard. Windows Central discovered that Microsoft and Activision had formed a new, smaller team within Blizzard. This team, composed of King members and other employees, will work on “AA” games with medium budgets based on existing Blizzard franchises like Overwatch, Warcraft, StarCraft, and more.
Since many members of the new studio specialize in mobile games, it is possible that the return of these franchises will be in the form of mobile games. These games may support Xbox’s planned mobile game store for iOS and Android, though this is not confirmed.
According to some sources, Microsoft is very interested in exploring and experimenting to find success with smaller teams that are also integrated with the larger organization, almost in the style of Nintendo, to achieve smooth collaboration.
Microsoft and other major publishers are increasingly concerned about the enormous rising costs facing AAA game development, and getting studios to collaborate more closely with each other is a way that Microsoft is exploring for cost reduction.
For more Fextralife news, be sure to check outObsidian Has a Third Unannounced Game in Developmentand alsoThe Most Anticipated Games & Releases of August
gizmozgamer
Im Not a Furby ? Do not feed me after midnight ?