When Bungie announced their very public split from Activision, both the studio themselves and fans around the world rejoiced. Following immediately after, many changes were made to their online game, Destiny 2, that made so many happy and seemed to bode well for a more independent future. With many Blizzard fans hoping the same thing happens with the Activision Blizzard partnership, some investors are calling for a unique solution – one that involves Disney stepping in.
Investment firm Gerber Kawaski’s Nick Licouris, in particular, is fully in favor of this move. With Activision’s Esports focus and Disney’s ever-expanding ventures in the TV-realm, Licouris mentioned recently that this sort of partnership could be a positive thing for all properties under Activision’s umbrella. Not only more access to beloved characters, but also a streamlined new avenue for revenue, which could also potentially provide relieve for the studios like Blizzard that have such a unique relationship with their community.
Given that Disney is already involved slightly by owning Activision’s Overwatch League, this buyout isn’t totally coming out of left field and the Mouse-driven company has definitely been pulling some major power moves in recent years. That being said, there is one major drawback: Disney doesn’t want to be in the business of publishing games, something that Activision is very much a part of. That being said, Disney is absolutely all-in in then gaming world through various other studios, such as their upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order game from Respawn and the famous Kingdom Hearts 3.
According to Bloomberg and Licouris himself, this year’s gaming community will generate over $152.1 billion, which means there’s a lot of incentive for Disney to go all in.
Published: Jul 22, 2019 03:20 pm