Blizzard is now officially part of the Microsoft family of companies after the $69 billion purchase was finalized in mid-October. With the studio now part of a larger company as well as under new management, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra says that the company is looking forward to having more freedom with its games than it has over the last handful of years.
In speaking with Bloomberg, Ybarra says Xbox boss Phil Spencer has made it known that he wants Blizzard to be more self-sufficient moving forward with its games and plans.
“I absolutely love that,” Ybarra told the outlet. “It motivates the teams.”
He continued: “Going to Phil and saying, ‘Hey, can we do this?’ I think he would look at me and go, ‘Run your studio.’ I do think our decision-making will be faster.”
With that mindset, Ybarra believes that it will allow Blizzard to work on past franchises that haven’t seen work in quite some time. One such series is StarCraft, which hasn’t seen a release since the single-player Nova Covert Ops expansion to StarCraft 2 in 2016.
That said, it’s not something Ybarra is going to just jump into without a real plan or goal.
“It’s not me saying, ‘Go make a StarCraft game,'” he said. “I need to have someone who has the vision and passion that comes with the idea, and I’ll bet on that team.”
What do you think the future holds for Blizzard’s games now that it’s a part of Microsoft and Xbox? For more Insider Gaming, check out what feature is coming to an end on both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
