A week after Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and amid reports of alleged union-busting, labor strikes, unionization, and the ongoing investigation into charges of discrimination and abuse, Blizzard has announced the development of a new IP.
The details have been few, but the developer's enthusiasm for the project on social media was clearly focused on recruitment rather than fans.
The new game is Blizzard's first new universe since "Overwatch" in 2016. It's also the studio's first effort into the survival genre, which has been popularized by games such as "Minecraft," "DayZ," "Don't Starve," and "Rust."
While it's typical for games to be announced early in order to attract new talent, Blizzard is having an especially difficult time hiring.
Employees have been leaving the developer at the center of Activision Blizzard's legal difficulties for more competitive jobs elsewhere, creating development delays.
Even before the recent charges of harassment, discrimination, and other forms of abuse at Activision Blizzard, the Diablo creator saw waves of senior departures, apparently as a result of CEO Bobby Kotick's increasing interference. Over the course of last summer and beyond, those resignations turned into an exodus, culminating in an industry-high attrition rate of 16%.
Production timelines for "Diablo 4" and "Overwatch 2," already delayed by the pandemic, were pushed back to 2023 last November as Blizzard cleans house and others leave on their own. Meanwhile, as "Overwatch 1" and "World of Warcraft" struggle, Blizzard is in desperate need of a new hit.
"Every story needs a teller. And every world needs builders. What if that could be you?" read Blizzard's hiring pitch for the newly announced "Unannounced Survival Game."
A piece of concept art depicted a hunter wearing a monster's head and animal fur trailing footprints in a forest, with a list of job openings in art, design, and engineering. The only other piece of information revealed was that the game will be accessible on both PC and console, adding to the ambiguity caused by the fact that Xbox exclusivity for future Blizzard games is still up in the air.
"Our top priority-now and into the future-is the work we are doing to rebuild your trust in Blizzard," Blizzard president Mike Ybarra wrote in an update on workplace culture last week.
Time will tell if the company keeps its commitments to its own developers, and if "Unannounced Survival Game" will bring back the enthusiasm people have for the disgraced studio.
