Multiple free-to-play Warcraft mobile games are in ‘advanced development’

Activision Blizzard has announced that multiple free-to-play Warcraft mobile games are deep in development.

CEO Bobby Kotick revealed the news during the publisher’s fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday.

“In our Warcraft franchise, we intend to deliver more frequent premium content to sustain and expand the World of Warcraft community,” he said. “And we’ve made multiple, mobile, free-to-play Warcraft experiences and they’re now in advanced development based on our franchise’s beloved IP.

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“This will create opportunities for both existing players and new fans to experience the Warcraft universe in entirely new ways.”

Activision said on Thursday that World of Warcraft saw strong engagement across both the Classic and modern games in 2020, with full year franchise net bookings up 40% year-over-year, “reaching the highest level in nearly a decade”.

Blizzard released World of Warcraft’s eighth expansion, Shadowlands, in November 2020. It sold over 3.7 million units globally on release day, making it the “fastest-selling PC game of all time” until Cyberpunk 2077 took the record in December 2020.

During its earnings call on Thursday, Activision Blizzard also announced plans to launch a new premium Call of Duty game in the fourth quarter of 2021, but said both Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 will not launch until at least 2022.

Further reading

Blizzard promises ‘more frequent major’ World of Warcraft content launches as Shadowlands gets a release date

Developer has the “largest team ever” working on the game