video game,star wars video gamesBlizzard President Looks To The Future And Admits "Not Everything's Going To Hit"

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Blizzard, and the company already has reason to celebrate the recent Overwatch rebrand that's revitalized the hero shooter. Blizzard President Johanna Faries is very optimistic about the company's future, but she's also fully aware that not every swing at the plate will work out in its favor.

"We've set a lot in motion with respect to [the future of Blizzard], making sure we're clear on it, making sure we’re coordinated on it," said Faries during an appearance on the Official Xbox Podcast. "There's sort of a reliability that players can depend on us to launch in big ways, launch in surprising ways. Maybe take some zags! Not everything's going to hit. That's gaming. But in many ways, let's understand where we are going--not only as a company, but by franchise, by game."

Faries may be referring to some Blizzard games that were in development but never saw the light of day. In 2019, Blizzard reportedly canceled a StarCraft shooter after two years in development in order to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.

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video game,star wars video gamesHighguard Dev Mourns The Game - "The Future Seemed Bright" Before TGA Reveal

In the wake of Highguard developer laying off staff and announcing that only a "core" group of developers will continue work on the game, one former developer has reflected on the entire situation surrounding the game, from its much-discussed reveal at The Game Awards to where it stands today.

Josh Sobel was a lead tech artist at Wildlight until he was laid off on February 11, and the developer began their message by discussing the time right before Highguard was revealed to the world at The Game Awards on December 11. This was an exciting time in Sobel's life. They were amped for the world to see what Wildlight had been working on in secret for the previous 2.5 years.

"The future seemed bright. Everyone I knew who had any connection to the team or project had the same sentiments: 'This is lightning in a bottle.' 'I trust this team wholeheartedly.' 'If there's one project nobody in the industry is worried will fail, it's yours.' 'This has mainstream hit written all over it.' 'There's no way this will flop.' 'I could play this game all day,'" Sobel said.

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video game,star wars video gamesAssassin's Creed Is Doing Better Than Expected

Business at Ubisoft continues to grow in some areas, as employees protest layoffs and game cancellations. A newly released Ubisoft earning report states that Q3's "overperformance versus expectations was primarily driven by partnerships and the Assassin’s Creed franchise." Net bookings for Q3 stood at €338 million (approximately $401 million), which is 12% higher than the same quarter in last fiscal year.

Most of the quarter's income (€297m) came from Ubisoft's back catalog. In particular, Assassin's Creed as a franchise had 28% more total players than the same time last year, thanks in part to free DLC for Assassin's Creed: Mirage and the Switch 2 release of Assassin's Creed: Shadows. The report also names The Division 2 and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora as games that saw significant growth in Q3--in the case of Avatar, it likely saw an influx of players as hype picked up for the latest Avatar film. Overall, 130 million unique players booted up Ubisoft games during the quarter, which the report claims is evidence of "the appeal and strength of the Group’s portfolio of franchises."

In January, the publisher closed Ubisoft Halifax, fired 70 employees, and canceled multiple in-development projects. Ubisoft also fired a 12-year veteran without stated cause, though the termination was shortly after he criticized the company's "return-to-work" mandate. The earnings report outlined further plans to "reshape [Ubisoft's] HQ into a leaner and focused organization" via "a voluntary departure plan." In response to the layoffs, 1,200 Ubisoft employees, primarily in France, have gone on a three-day strike.

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