Activision Blizzard announced some big changes following the release of its financial report today. According to the company, both Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV have been delayed to a “later launch.” There have been rumors that Overwatch 2 would in fact get further pushed, but today marks the company’s official confirmation on the move.
Activision delivered a series of slides detailing its Quarter 3 results, revealing the news in the one titled “Update on Our Pipeline.” In the slide, the company writes that “some of the Blizzard content planned for next year will benefit from more development time to reach its full potential.” That Blizzard content mentioned consists of both Diablo IV and Overwatch 2, which have been delayed until further down the road.
“While we are still planning to deliver a substantial amount of content from Blizzard next year, we are now planning for a later launch for Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV than originally envisaged,” Activision Blizzard writes in the financial report. “These are two of the most eagerly anticipated titles in the industry, and our teams have made great strides towards completion in recent quarters. But we believe giving the teams some extra time to complete production and continue growing their creative resources to support the titles after launch will ensure that these releases delight and engage their communities for many years into the future.
“These decisions will push out the financial uplift that we had expected to see next year,” the company continued. “But we are confident that this is the right course of action for our people, our players, and the long-term success of our franchises.”
Moving and shaking
Following the harassment and discrimination lawsuit against the company, there’s been a lot of shakeup at Activision Blizzard. And this has been especially true in regards to the teams behind the two aforementioned games. The original director behind Diablo IV was fired, and was later replaced by Blizzard veteran Joe Shely earlier in October. Overwatch 2 also lost its executive producer, Chacko Sonny, in September. With Blizzard leadership playing musical chairs, Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV getting delayed doesn’t come as a major surprise.
Of course, the company has been anything but clear on the release windows for either game. Two years ago, the Diablo team said the game would take a long time in development. Overwatch 2 may have been planned for next year, but I doubt we’ll even see it until 2023. Still, both games have been getting regular updates. Blizzard recently broke down changes coming to two Overwatch 2 heroes, after all. With today’s news, I wouldn’t count on hearing more about these games for some time.
