During its quarterly investor call today, Activision Blizzard has announced the releases of Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV are being pushed back further than expected, enough to change the company’s financial outlook for next year.
While we are still planning to deliver a substantial amount of content from Blizzard next year,” reads a slide from the presentation,” we are now planning for a later launch for Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV than originally envisaged.” You can read the slide in its entirety below.
“These are two of the most eagerly anticipated titles in the industry, and our teams have made great strides towards completion in recent quarters.” The slide continues, “But we believe giving the teams some extra time to complete production and continue growing their creative resources to support the titles after launch will ensure that these releases delight and engage their communities for many years into the future.”
Release dates were not given for either title. Blizzard leader Mike Ybarra answered a question regarding how long the delays are expected to last. He suggested the extended timeframe for development was due to the change in leadership within the teams for these games, which falls in line with personnel changes throughout the year. Recently, Overwatch Executive Producer Chacko Sonny departed the company, as has former Diablo IV director Luis Barriga. Of course, there was also Jeff Kaplan, who left the company and the position of Overwatch director back in April.
Despite this delay to Blizzard’s two biggest upcoming games, the company will still be prominently using one of them next year. Overwatch 2 was reconfirmed to be played in the Overwatch League in 2022, albeit in an early, in-progress build of the game.
