After Diablo 4 postponement: Blizzard suffers financial setback
Activision Blizzard’s recently released financial report included not only the postponement of Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, but also revealed a loss of active gamblers. News that, overall, did not do the company’s share price very good.
Update from November 4, 2021:
Blizzard share price falls
Publisher Activision Blizzard is currently grappling with a variety of problems. Following a lawsuit by a US federal agency in July 2021, some executives are forced to leave the company. After further departures, the message now comes that the releases of Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 are still a long way off. So when it comes to new content, Blizzard is down.
In addition come a 13 percent decline in active players am 26 million in one year (numbers refer to Blizzard games only, not Activision). That emerges from the latest financial report from Activision Blizzard. After the report was published the stock fell over ten points and marks the biggest slump in the past six months. Incidentally, the discrimination and sexism lawsuit had far less impact on the share price.
At Blizzard something should slowly be happening:
Original message from November 3, 2021:
Diablo 4: Blizzard is planning a much later release
If you’re longingly waiting for Diablo 4, Blizzard has bad news for you. The release window has been moved back as the game needs even more development time. By the way, you share the fate with the Overwatch fans.
Neither for Diablo 4 still for Overwatch 2 So far there has been an official release date, but Blizzard is postponing its own plans. In Activision Blizzard’s latest financial report, the company said that while Blizzard content can be expected in the coming year, the two sequels are unlikely to be part of it.
Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 will be postponed
It is still there no specific dates, but it is unlikely that either game will be released in 2022. It’s far more likely that the releases won’t happen until 2023 or even later. In the presentation of the financial report it says:
“While we continue to plan to release a large amount of Blizzard content over the next year, we are now planning a later release of Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 than originally planned.” (Source: Activision Blizzard).
While the teams have made great strides towards completing both projects, there is a lack of time to focus on the Focus on content to be released after launch. Blizzard wants to ensure that communities can enjoy both games for years to come.
Why the shift?
The need for more development time is also said to be due to the Change with some managers have emerged. This is what Blizzard says:
“While we’ve been working with new leadership at Blizzard and the franchises themselves, especially in some key creative roles, it has become clear that some of the Blizzard content planned for the coming year will need more development time to reach its full potential . “(Source: Activision Blizzard)
This refers to the departure of Game Director (Diablo 4) Louis Barriga in August 2021 in the course of the lawsuit that accuses the company of a major problem with discrimination and sexual harassment. The Overwatch team also lost Game Director Jeff Kaplan in April 2021 and Executive Producer Chacko Sonny in September.
So the year 2022 looks rather pale when it comes to new games from Blizzard. The postponement of Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 is not a big surprise, however, as the company is struggling with completely different problems with regard to a lawsuit.
