While all eyes have been glued to the recent announcement that Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard, life goes on for the company. Activision-Blizzard took to Twitter today, announcing a new IP and survival game in an all-new universe. And the news of a new IP that happens to be a survival game based in a new universe sounds like just the thing to get people looking at something else.
While the details of this game are scarce, we do know that the company is currently hiring to fill several positions for this game. These positions include engineering, design, and art positions. The positions that are currently being hired seem to be key positions. It’s fair to say that this game is still a few years away from being announced to the public.
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
While this game has been officially announced, Blizzard has been working on this game for the past two years. So far, it seems that the team working on this game seems to strike the right balance between diversity and creativity. In fact, one former Blizzard employee has nothing but good things to say about it. Of course, this person can’t say more due to NDAs that must be followed. Still, given the excitement expressed over this game, Blizzard has to be doing something right.
😍😍😍 MY HUSBAND AND MY FRIEND ARE ON THIS TEAM AND IT IS EXCELLENT AND HAS A CULTURE THAT REPRESENTS THE GROWING POSITIVE FUTURE FOR BLIZZARD 😍😍😍
This team has it RIGHT, people. I promise.
— Stephanie Krutsick (@skrutsick) January 25, 2022
Interestingly, Blizzard would choose to work on a survival game as its newest IP is odd. Given that this genre has flooded the gaming market over the past few years. Left 4 Dead, Dying Light, Valhiem, Subnautica, Dead by Deadlight, and The Forest, to name a few.
Given Blizzard’s track record of late, I’m hard-pressed to believe that Blizzard still has the spark that once made it one of the kings of gaming creativity. Still, if I could ask Blizzard to do me a favor regarding this game, can it please not include crafting? Please, let’s not do this — it’s one of the reasons I steer clear of most of the survival games currently available. And Fortnite.
Still, Blizzard has worked on several genres throughout its existence. From racing to first-person shooters, RTS titles, hack and slasher looters, and a few others. I suppose it felt it was time to tackle something else. While this game isn’t going to be seen in awhile, I’ll reserve some optimism on whatever this becomes.