Here's what investors need to know about the latest major conference and controversy of Activision Blizzard – The Motley Fool

Activision Blizzardof (NASDAQ: ATVI) Three major divisions – Activision, Blizzard and King Digital – share some development and management resources, but generally operate with a high degree of independence. Each year, the Blizzard division hosts its own conference to highlight new games, updates to existing titles and other upcoming features and projects.

The BlizzCon conference is not always a source of huge news, but this year's show has seen the company announce a controversial new title in addition to content extensions, touch-ups and remakes of games in great franchise. Read on for a summary of the most important items for investors.

Source of the picture: Activision Blizzard.

Diablo Immortal is a promising and controversial new game

Diablo Previously, one of Blizzard's major franchises, but despite a satisfying performance after a rough launch period for the series release in 2012, Diablo IIIIt is fair to say that the property has been somewhat underutilized recently. This will change with Diablo Immortal, a mbadively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Android and iOS platforms. Like the previous games in the series, Immortal Players will team up to explore the dungeons, conquer enemies, and collect equipment to improve stats and character abilities, but the show comes out on mobile for the first time.

Activision Blizzard joins a Chinese game developer and publisher NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) for the game, which should have the effect of opening the title to the world's largest mobile market once the country has taken over the certification of new games after the current temporary suspension. Games outside China usually require a Chinese publishing partner to be able to go out into the country, and Activision Blizzard has clearly evolved with this market in mind.

Diablo Immortal is a promising step to bring more great franchises from the company to the mobile, and a chance to succeed – even if you can not guess how the game was received. The fans' first reactions to the title were decidedly negative, but that seems to be largely due to fervent franchise enthusiasts who were waiting for the announcement of a sequel to the main line of Diablo III instead of a mobile game.

Blizzard usually develops PC games, and BlizzCon is generally used to highlight upcoming games for the platform. Many hardcore players on PC and Diablo Fans are not interested in the types of simplified gaming experiences that are found on mobile. It is therefore no wonder that the last direction of the series was disappointed.

The next mobile version has also been criticized for apparently having been built on a game previously released by NetEase, which means that Immortal seems to reuse development resources, design mechanisms, and game elements of an earlier title despite different artistic style and content. This led to the qualification of the game as "cash-in" in online discussion forums – a criticism that may not be totally unjustified.

Immortal is a product of a partnership with a Chinese studio and is probably designed to be more user-friendly than the clbadic. Diablo In simple terms, it will probably not cost a ton of money compared to other Blizzard games, and it is fortunate to be very profitable.

Individual series outputs also need to be considered in the context of what they mean for the broad franchise, and Diablo Immortal is unlikely that hardcore fans of the franchise are less interested in a master suite. Activision Blizzard has not announced a release date for Immortalbut investors can probably count on the success of the game as soon as it is ready for the market, provided it offers a quality experience.

Expansion Warcraftthe world of

The BlizzCon 2018 brought a lot of news on the Warcraft franchise front. Blizzard showed new game sequences for World of Warcraft clbadical – a version of the very popular MMORPG of the company, which will restore the gameplay as it was during the first release of the game in 2004 and which will be included in all standards World of Warcraft (Sensational) subscription. Sensational loses subscribers in recent years, but its longevity remains impressive and the new option to return to the old style of the game could bring some players back. WoW Clbadic The release is scheduled for the summer of 2019.

Warcraft returns to its roots in more ways than one. Before Blizzard releases the MMORPG, its Warcraft The franchise consisted mainly of strategy games. Warcraft III, a 2002 version which was the last installment of the series, receives an updated version to be published in 2019. Warcraft III: Reforged will present updated high definition graphics and a new story mode.

Blizzard has also launched an upcoming expansion pack for home, his digital card game located in the World of Warcraft universe. home has demonstrated an impressive endurance capability and has proven to be a reliable sales generator for Activision Blizzard since its release in 2014. The new set of cards should allow franchise fans to continue to play and build a solid commercial success.

Destiny 2 go semi-free to play on PC

Destiny 2, a first-person shooter developed and released by the Activision sector and released last year, is now free for download on PC until November 18th. BlizzCon typically only offers games from Activision Blizzard's Blizzard branch, but the PC version of Destiny 2 was the first Activision game to feature on Blizzard's Battle.net online game platform.

Activision offers the game as a temporary free download highlights the fact that Destiny 2 did not live up to expectations, but this decision could benefit the Battle.net ecosystem in several ways. Manufacturing Destiny 2 free on PC for a limited time should bring new users to the game and Battle.net. This could also encourage the sale of items in the game Destiny 2 and other titles on Battle.net, open cross-advertising opportunities and encourage positive user sentiment about the platform.

New characters, content and merchandise

The addition of new characters and other fresh content helps maintain the commitment of the players and promote sales after the release of a game. This is an essential part of the Activision Blizzard's business model. It was therefore not surprising to see new characters Overwatch, Starcraft 2, and The Heroes of the Storm at this year's BlizzCon. Blizzard debuted a new, eight-minute Overwatch Animation short film featuring a character that will soon be added to the popular first person shooter. Meanwhile, Starcraft 2 and The Heroes of the Storm will each receive updates and new player characters next year.

In addition to new games and revealed content, Blizzard also introduced new toys, clothes and products featuring its video game characters. The company has gradually intensified its marketing efforts by seeking out the type of current licensing opportunities in the film industry and has forged new product partnerships with companies such as Lego, Funko, and Hasbro reveal. Blizzard even presented a Overwatch cereal brand, thanks to a partnership with Kellogg.

Overall, the 2018 BlizzCon introduced two exciting new games and introduced a range of upcoming content extensions that should help keep the company's main franchises. Diablo Immortal was the most important news in the series and the most interesting product to watch for investors.