In the same conference call that pushed Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 out of 2021, Activision Blizzard revealed that their plan for the year includes more remasters.
Which shouldn't come as a surprise considering that remasters have become one of the most reliable methods of extracting more dough from existing franchises with minimum effort, forgoing the risks creative work that's part and parcel of creating original IPs.
Then again, to dismiss remasters as mere cashing in on them nostalgia bucks is to overlook the fact that studios have already done the aforementioned work in the past. And there's also the issue of owning such an IP, something not many studios can boast about.
Thankfully the Activision Blizzard duo has been around since the age of dinosaurs, so there's no shortage of classic content to reach for. Which is exactly the company's plan for 2021, as confirmed by Activision Blizzard's chief financial officer Dennis Durkin.
"We have a few other things up our sleeve in terms of remastered content that will unveil in due course, which should provide further opportunity for us this year,” he said.
Durkin also mentioned the added convenience of today's digital distribution, which rewards players with added convenience, and Activision Blizzard with more revenue.
"All of this incremental opportunity is digital, which should allow us to continue to grow our margin as we did and we set record margins last year. So we should be able to build upon that”, Durkin added.
Activision
In addition to being lucrative, remasters also take some heat away from the development of original IPs, leaving teams more freedom to focus on being at their most creative. Which is what we're hoping for in the case of Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, but more on that during BlizzConline.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy by Vicarious Visions, Activision
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