Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Activision Blizzard will launch more ‘remastered and reimagined’ games this year

Aaron Mamiit
By

Activision Blizzard is planning to roll out more “remastered and reimagined” games this year, following the successful returns of beloved series such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro.

In the company’s earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2019, Activision Blizzard CFO Dennis Durkin revealed that in addition to new games, Activision Blizzard “will continue to tap into our portfolio of beloved IP to bring several remastered and reimagined experiences to our players in 2020, which we’ll announce closer to launch.”

Recommended Videos

The meaning of “remastered” in the video game industry has evolved in recent years. It started out to only include visual upgrades, but some recent projects have rebuilt classic games from scratch and may be viewed more as remakes, similar to the treatment with the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises. Durkin likely said “remastered and reimagined,” to hint that Activision’s plans cover different meanings of the term.

Activision’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited turned out to be popular remasters of the original PlayStation games. 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, meanwhile, is also considered to be a soft reboot of the 2007’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Activision Blizzard has no shortage of options for games that may undergo the remaster or remake treatment. Durkin did not provide any specifics, but choices include Diablo II, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, the Guitar Hero series, and the Tenchu series.

Activision Blizzard, however, missed the mark with Warcraft III: Reforged, a remastered version of the massively popular Warcraft III, which was first released in 2002. Just about a week after its launch, Blizzard had to roll out updates to fix game-breaking bugs in response to massive criticism from players.

Activision Blizzard is not the only developer banking on the popularity of remasters and remakes in 2020. Nintendo, for example, will reportedly port two more Wii U games to the Nintendo Switch this year. Meanwhile, one of the most expected releases this year, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, is a modern reimagining of the 1997 classic RPG, featuring a combination of the return of familiar faces, new gameplay mechanics, and tweaks to a timeless story.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
4 video game news stories that shaped the industry’s future in 2022
Living room with Microsoft Xbox Series X (L) and Sony PlayStation 5 home video game consoles alongside a television and soundbar.

With the video game industry in constant growth mode, it's rare we ever get through a year without some massive bombshell announcement with huge implications for the future. In 2021, for instance, we saw Epic waging war against Apple’s business practices, Valve disrupting hardware with its Steam Deck announcement, and a harrowing Activision Blizzard scandal that acted as a tipping point for the industry and its often difficult working conditions.

The news didn’t slow down in 2022 -- if anything, it escalated. The Activision Blizzard revelation in particular had something of a snowball effect this year, rolling its way into several major threads. Between high-profile acquisitions and a push for unionization, this year very much felt like a direct continuation of 2021. Nothing was a one-off story, but rather part of a historical moment that could make the 2020s the most pivotal decade in gaming history when all is said and done.

Read more
FTC files lawsuit to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition
Lilith appears in a Church in Diablo 4.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will sue Microsoft to block its acquisition of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard.
A 3-to-1 vote ultimately determined the FTC's decision to issue the lawsuit as the commission fears that the deal would give Microsoft an unfair advantage in the gaming industry and hurt innovation. FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova explained the FTC's intent in a press release.
"Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals," she said. "Today, we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets."
That press release also highlights the FTC's belief that Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media is problematic due to a track record of "using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles." In addition, after the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft could potentially "harm competition by manipulating Activision’s pricing, degrading Activision’s game quality or player experience on rival consoles and gaming services, changing the terms and timing of access to Activision’s content, or withholding content from competitors entirely."
This $69 billion acquisition has dominated gaming industry headlines all year as Microsoft has been doing all it can to make the deal seem favorable to the industry. As recently as December 6, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer emphasized the potential positives of this acquisition, confirming plans to continue to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms and Steam for 10 years if the Activision Blizzard merger is complete.
By filing this complaint, the FTC begins proceedings that will result in a hearing and trial before an administrative law judge to determine whether or not Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard. 

Read more
Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year Call of Duty deal for PlayStation, report says
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

Microsoft reportedly offered Sony a deal to keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation for 10 years, according to a report by The New York Times. The tech giant announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard earlier this year for almost $70 billion, but the deal has come under intense scrutiny from regulators such as the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the E.U.'s European Commission.

According to The New York Times, Microsoft said that on November 11 it had made an offer to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for another decade. However, Sony declined to comment on this specific claim.

Read more