Activision Blizzard recently wrapped up its quarterly earnings call, a call tense with awareness of the organization's ongoing lawsuit tied to gender discrimination. But Activision Blizzard tried to cut the tension by teasing some previously unannounced projects within the Warcraft universe. They won't include a new MMO or another reboot of Warcraft 3, however. Rather, Activision Blizzard says that the two new games are being developed for mobile devices.
Unfortunately, little other information was provided regarding these two Warcraft mobile games. All that was shared beyond their confirmation was that they're at different stages of development. As for how the two games were characterized, Activision Blizzard mentioned internal testing regarding encouraging players to check out classic games as well as introducing new experiences to classic franchises. It's unclear if these ideas are directly related to either Warcraft mobile game.
Warcraft obviously has a long history at Blizzard. Before World of Warcraft's incredible success, Blizzard created a trilogy of real-time strategy games that helped define the genre. It's possible that Blizzard could be working to bring these classic RTS titles to mobile in some way, though Warcraft fans are likely to be nervous about that given what Blizzard did with Warcraft: Reforged. As for a new Warcraft experience, there are a variety of ways a new mobile game could spin out of either the Warcraft trilogy or World of Warcraft.
Needless to say, it's unclear if Activision Blizzard's confirmation of two new Warcraft mobile games will be positively received within the Warcraft fandom. It conjures memories of Blizzard's announcement of Diablo Immortal, which didn't go over well with an audience wanting news about new PC-focused Diablo games. Warcraft fans are in a similar position to how Diablo fans were then, hoping for Blizzard to move the main franchise forward in exciting ways. Mobile games may come across as insulting to those fans.
Activision Blizzard did confirm that it had at least one other Warcraft-related project in development alongside these two mobile games. It's not a surprise, however. World ofWarcraft will receive a new expansion within the next 18 months, according to the report. That keeps to Blizzard's cadence for World of Warcraft expansion releases.
Clearly, Blizzard is currently in a challenging position. Fans are frustrated not just with Blizzard's games but with reports regarding gender discrimination at the company going back years. A shift in direction for the company is what players want, but a shift toward mobile games at Activision's insistence isn't likely what fans had in mind. Regardless, that's the direction Blizzard appears to be going.
Two Warcraft mobile games are currently in development.