Activision Blizzard will be bringing Warcraft to mobile, according to a detail tucked into the company's annual financial report that was released yesterday (via Gamesindustry.biz) . In the report, it says that Activision Blizzard plans on “getting all-new mobile Warcraft content into players hands for the first time“ in 2022.
This declaration of intent to get into mobile gaming is not exactly new, as last year's report issued around this time also indicated free to play mobile Warcraft titles were coming, but now it seems we'll see something soon. Since Activision Blizzard is also https://www.mmorpg.com/news/activision-blizzard-q4-2021-earnings-report-abk-maus-down-yoy-while-revenue-sees-small-bump-2000124264 from the beginning of 2021 through the end in the newest report. That the company is looking towards mobile development shouldn’t be entirely unexpected considering that Activision Blizzard bought King Digital Entertainment in 2016, but the company hasn’t really pursued mobile on a large scale otherwise.
However it seems like they’re trying to diversify some of what they offer, including trying to tap into the mobile market more firmly. It does of course have Hearthstone which does exist on mobile platforms, but there’s no info yet on just what mobile Warcraft will ultimately be like or whether it will be more strategy or RPG oriented. King does operate independently within the larger company, so we shouldn’t expect Warcraft Candy Crush down the line. Diablo Immortal is on the way from NetEase though, so this may be something to look at. (We previewed the beta here.)
Whatever form this new Warcraft on mobile will take, we won’t have to wait long to find out more considering that this plan was announced as a 2022 launch. With a recently announced new project with a completely original IP and new characters, Blizzard continues pushing forth with development on both long-running franchises and new ones, but some delays like Overwatch 2 and Diablo have been called setbacks.
Will putting Warcraft on mobile (possibly just the start of something much bigger should it work out well) be a key change the company needs as it continues planning out 2022? That remains to be seen, along with the approvals process for the takeover by Microsoft.
