microsoft officially acquired activision blizzard In October, it closed a huge deal worth $68.7 billion. The company is now firmly integrated into Microsoft’s corporate structure, and some may wonder what kind of influence the software giant has on Blizzard. But, at least for now, Microsoft doesn’t seem all that interested in interfering with developers’ affairs.
Microsoft can make “Blizzard Blizzard”
“No one is asking us for anything,” World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale told VGC. “World of Warcraft is going very well and they’re very proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish so it’s like they’re going to leave it alone and keep it great. It’s very collaborative and it’s like, “Let’s let Blizzard be Blizzard.”
As Longdale explained earlier in the interview, Blizzard is not isolated from the rest of Microsoft. “If anything, it’s just been helpful,” Longdale said. “We were spending time with Helen Chang at Mojang and sharing information, so we had access to what worked for them.・I got to talk to the team and share what we’re doing and what’s working. It’s like we’re benefiting from it.”
The latter details are very interesting. Released in 2014, ESO and WoW have traditionally been considered competitors. However, while both are certainly true in the sense that they are MMORPGs, they are still very different games. Still, it’s interesting to know that Blizzard and Zenimax Online are in close communication.
Either way, fans who are happy with how Blizzard is running should be happy to hear that Microsoft is staying out of the way so much. However, the studio’s more disgruntled fans might have hoped that the new owners would be a little more proactive.
