The Blizzard we are familiar with is dead from today.
On January 30, Microsoft released the latest news, the new president of Blizzard Entertainment will take office on February 5, this sister named Johanna Faries graduated from Harvard University, and you know that it is very politically correct when you look at **.
She joined Activision in 2018 as Head of Call of Duty Esports and in 2021 as General Manager of Call of Duty IP. Prior to entering the gaming industry, she worked for 12 years in Major League Football in the United States. It's clear that this is a tool guy president, and Microsoft's purpose is also obvious, which is to completely dismantle the old Blizzard.
The same thing was done during Caldecott's reign, when he promoted a female president, Jen Oneal, to lead Blizzard alongside Mike Ibarra, and now Microsoft is the second Caldecott.
This may be the worst outcome for Blizzard, the new president will act as a tool between Microsoft and Blizzard in the future, and many things will not be decided by her, and Blizzard will be completely reduced to a game IP studio. Blizzard's founder, Lao Mai, was originally suppressed by Caldecott, slashing Titans, interstellar, and Storm Heroes.
Later, Blizzard's new president, Mike Ibarra, was also a gamer who loved Blizzard games, but he still didn't hold on to Caldecott, and even after being merged into Microsoft, he was fired and left, and the Odyssey that had been developed for 6 years was also cut. The intention to fire Mike is obvious, Microsoft doesn't need a person who really manages Blizzard, but only a tool person.
We'll probably never see Blizzard develop some new amazing games again, but will be completely Microsoft Studio, working on existing IPs like World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Diablo, and maybe StarCraft and Heroes of the Storm.
Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for players may have to wait for time to tell. But the old Blizzard that fascinated me is completely gone from today.