After joining forces nearly 15 years ago, Activision-Blizzard has remained one of the biggest and most successful names in video games. In addition to housing legendary PC franchises like Warcraft and Diablo, Activision-Blizzard is home to Call of Duty, one of the most successful and culturally relevant video game franchises of the 2000s.
As of late, the mega-publisher has narrowed its focus onto its biggest franchises — CoD, Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch — though it also owns classic series like Starcraft, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Tony Hawk, and Guitar Hero — franchises that may see new life under Microsoft’s ownership.
For now, however, we’re focusing on the games we know are currently in development at Activision Blizzard. For this list we’ve compiled PC and/or console games (and their major expansions) only; mobile games are not currently included, and we're not referencing any rumored projects.
Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.
More on games in development:
- Every Nintendo Game in Development
- Every Ubisoft Game in Development
- Every EA Game in Development
- Every Square Enix Game in Development
Diablo Immortal
Blizzard’s next game is Diablo Immortal, a free-to-play Diablo spinoff coming to mobile and PC (open beta) on June 2. The MMO action-RPG tells an all-new story set between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3.
Immortal features six character classes: Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, and Wizard. For the first time in the series, you’ll be able to change classes mid-game while retaining your overall progress. Additional classes will be added after launch, according to Blizzard.
Wyatt Cheng, previously the patch lead for Diablo 3, serves as Immortal's game director. Rod Fergusson, meanwhile, is overseeing the project as Blizzard’s general manager of the Diablo franchise.
Diablo Immortal was notoriously revealed at BlizzCon 2018 to a wave of negativity from fans expecting to see the next proper Diablo game, which would be revealed at the following year's event (more on Diablo 4 below). We came away from some hands-on time with Diablo Immortals thinking it showed “enormous amounts of promise.”
World of Warcraft Classic: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion
Blizzard is also working on an updated version of its Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft Classic. As with the expansion's original release in 2008, Wrath of the Lich King adds the Northrend map; new dungeons, including Violet Hold and the Culling of Stratholme; new raids; an achievement system; and the Death Knight character class.
Unlike the 2008 version, Blizzard’s Wrath of the Lich King revival will not add a dungeon finder system. This decision was made to “keep what the team perceives to be the spirit of the WoW Classic community,” according to game lead Brian Birmingham.
Wrath of the Lich King ushered in the most popular era in WoW history, resulting in 2010’s peak subscriber count of 12 million players. The following expansion, Cataclysm, represented a drastic shift for the MMO. Blizzard has said it’s open to revisiting Cataclysm in WoW Classic if the community wants it.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the next entry in Activision’s historic FPS franchise. MW2 will be a direct sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot.
While Activision has made MW2 official, few concrete details have been revealed about the next Call of Duty. What we do know is that Infinity Ward is once again leading development on the sequel, reportedly with the support of 10 other studios, using a new game engine. The developer has also revealed the MW2 logo.
2019’s Modern Warfare campaign ends with Price requesting the formation of Task Force 141 (the protagonists of 2009's original MW2), likely setting up another story with Price, Soap, Ghost, and Gaz.
Infinity Ward is simultaneously leading development on the next iteration of Call of Duty Warzone (more below). Despite the pending acquisition of Activision by Microsoft, MW2 will be released on both Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
Call of Duty Warzone 2
Alongside Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward is developing the next iteration of Call of Duty Warzone. Activision describes Warzone 2 as “a massive evolution of [battle royale], with an all-new playspace and new sandbox mode.” Warzone 2 is being “built from the ground-up,” according to Activision, and will feature “groundbreaking innovations.” It will once again be free to play.
Warzone has been a massive success for Activision, amassing over 100 million players as of April 2021 — a number that’s certainly grown over the past year — and helping propel the company to record-high revenues in 2021.
The sequel is coming at a time when players are experiencing numerous issues with the original Warzone — issues Infinity Ward vows to fix with Warzone 2.
Diablo 4
Shortly after leaking by way of an art book advertisement, Diablo 4 was officially announced at BlizzCon 2019. The fourth mainline entry in Blizzard’s legendary action-RPG series takes players to Sanctuary, a more open-world setting that exists separate from heaven and hell.