Daily Briefing: Wednesday 26th January

Blizzard announce new IP

Blizzard this week announced that they are making a “brand new survival game for PC and console.” Well, announced may be too strong a word, as we don’t even know what the thing is called nevermind actual gameplay details. The project was revealed in a job listing advertising for a number of key vacancies, though the fact that several senior roles are seemingly already filled does suggest that the game already has some time behind it.

• So far, all the information we have on the game is what Blizzard say in their job listing: “Blizzard is embarking on our next quest. We are going on a journey to a whole new universe, home to a brand-new survival game for PC and console. A place full of heroes we have yet to meet, stories yet to be told, and adventures yet to be lived. A vast realm of possibility, waiting to be explored.” It’s a curious time for an announcement, given that Activision Blizzard are in the grips of not only a multibillion dollar acquisition and just so many lawsuits, but are also combatting a serious problem with attracting and retaining staff.

Activision Blizzard won’t recognise Raven Software’s union

Staying with Activision Blizzard for a while longer, the embattled company also mentioned this week that they will not voluntarily recognise the workers union recently established by QA workers at Call of Duty Warzone developer Raven Software. In a statement released confirming their decision to not recognise the union, Activision Blizzard outline that “the parties could not reach an agreement” in negotiations related to the proposal.

• As for what’s next, the union will now likely file a petition with the National Labour Relations Board for an election. Activision Blizzard will have to formally respond to that petition. In the meantime, Activision Blizzard management seem determined to make the unionisation process as difficult as possible, with new structural changes at Raven Software designed to split up the QA department and an apparent plan to ask all Raven Software employees to vote on the union.

Capcom report record profits yet again

To be completely honest, this kind of thing just isn’t news anymore because Capcom have been thriving for the past few years thanks to a few uncharacteristically good decisions made in and around the release of Resident Evil 7. Their most recent batch of financial reports marks Capcom’s fifth consecutive year of record profits, with the company also approaching their ninth consecutive year of operating income growth.

• In terms of game sale numbers, Resident Evil Village has so far sold 5.7m units, while Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin has topped 1.4m copies sold. The Resident Evil and Monster Hunter franchises have accounted for 70% of Capcom’s total unit sales across the last nine-month reporting period. Monster Hunter Rise has now sold 8m copies since it released last year while Resident Evil 7 has now sold more than 1m copies every year since it released in 2017, for a total of 10m sales. Crazy numbers.