Kind of out of nowhere, Blizzard Entertainment today tweeted an announcement of a new survival game set in a brand new Blizzard universe, which they are still inexplicably calling Unannounced Survival Game. It turns out that in addition to not following work place sexual harassment guidelines, Blizzard also doesn’t know how words work.
We’re building a survival game in an all-new universe.
Join us in writing our next chapter: https://t.co/yf7W5p9ERQ pic.twitter.com/vWtkDYh1kX
— Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) January 25, 2022
The accompanying blog post states that the game is coming to PC and consoles and that it is not tied to any game in their existing portfolio. It’s an entirely new world, so people openly speculating about a survival game set in Warcraft or Starcraft worlds are missing the mark. The very, very early announcement is to drive recruitment for Blizzard, which is seeking immediate roles in art, engineering, and design for the title. This could either indicate it’s a big title or that they have had very rapid turnover in the last few years due to ongoing hostile workplace charges and policy clashes over things like the Blitzchung debacle. Or both, if we’re being generous.
Blizzard is also looking to finalize their integration under Microsoft by summer 2023, so this game is likely to be something that is developed and released under their purview. While no doubt this existed before any public announcement was made, it’s reasonable to think Blizzard is anticipating what kind of games would succeed in this arrangement on, say, a Game Pass-style service and is thinking ahead.
But, as always, remember that Activision-Blizzard is a company that desperately needs to clean house before we start thinking about ways in which a clean house would benefit us.
