It seems Xbox head Phil Spencer is having a hard time keeping his excitement about becoming the proud of owner of legendary Blizzard legacy IP like Warcraft under control.
In a recent interview with Wired around Age of Empires‘ 25th anniversary, Spencer expressed his excitement about the possibility of reviving older Blizzard strategy games like StarCraft and Warcraft at Xbox, and “what could happen” if the stars aligned.
By the same token, Spencer’s trying not to get ahead of himself, making it clear to Wired that he ultimately has no say over what happens with Blizzard’s legacy IP. “The first thing I would say is, I’m not allowed to make any decisions about what happens at Blizzard or Activision or King. So this is all just kind of talking and thinking about what the opportunity is. … Not only StarCraft, but Warcraft, when you think about the heritage of RTS games that we’re talking about here, specifically from Blizzard.
“I’m excited about getting to sit down with the teams at Activision and Blizzard and King to talk about back catalog and opportunities that we might have,” Spencer continued. “So I will dodge the question other than to say it’s not something I can actively work on right now. But the thought of being able to think about what could happen with those franchises is pretty exciting to me, as somebody who spent a lot of hours playing those games.”
I mean, at least he’s being honest and halfway realistic about things, I suppose. That said, his deferential attitude may have more to do with Microsoft’s battle with regulatory bodies around the world, currently scrutinising its historically expensive bid to acquire Activision Blizzard. Nothing is set in stone, and Microsoft’s regulatory fortunes rise and fall by the day.
But Phil’s right in that it is nice to think about StarCraft and Warcraft — old-school, RTS-era Warcraft coming back. We’re in an age now where, for many younger players, Warcraft is and has always been an MMO. Attempts to revitalise its RTS past, like Warcraft III Reforged have not exactly gone well. Rumours of a prospective Warcraft IV have persisted, and World of Warcraft has been happy to stoke these rumours with expansions like Battle for Azeroth, but they’ve always ultimately come to nothing.
Should Microsoft’s Acquisition Blizzard make it through the regulatory gauntlet intact, perhaps there’s hope for those older franchises after all.
I for one won’t rest until Phil commissions an expensive Rock n’ Roll Racing reboot. Make it happen, Phil.
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