Blizzard, a division of Activision Blizzard Inc., unveiled a new game for mobile phones set in the popular Warcraft universe, one of two big projects that had been in development.<\/p>\n
The game revealed by the company Tuesday, Warcraft Arclight Rumble, resembles Supercell Oy\u2019s popular Clash Royale.<\/p>\n
Activision Blizzard chose to cancel the other project, an augmented-reality game that would have been similar to Pok\u00e9mon Go, said people familiar with the company\u2019s plans who asked not to be identified because the information is private.<\/p>\n
A representative for Blizzard didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Warcraft Arclight Rumble will be free-to-play and will enter beta testing<\/a><\/strong> for players soon, Blizzard said.<\/p>\n It features colorful sprites of recognizable Warcraft critters battling on maps inspired by the game series.<\/p>\n The upcoming game is part of a Blizzard initiative to conquer the lucrative mobile marketplace, which generated more than $93 billion in 2021, according to Newzoo estimates<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Blizzard, which has traditionally developed games for personal computers, found success with mobile versions of the digital card game Hearthstone in 2014.<\/p>\n Several years later, the company began developing games from the ground up for smartphones including Diablo Immortal, which will be out next month.<\/p>\n This burgeoning mobile initiative is one of the driving factors behind Microsoft Corp.\u2019s move to purchase Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.<\/p>\n Shareholders of the video game company approved the purchase last week, and it could soon see a regulatory review.<\/p>\n Activision is, meanwhile, facing an ongoing lawsuit from the state of California over allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.<\/p>\n The second, canceled project was modeled after the lucrative and incredibly popular Niantic Inc. game where players roam the streets around their neighborhoods in search of virtual creatures to capture.<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear why the game was canceled, but other attempts at aping Pok\u00e9mon Go in the Minecraft and Harry Potter universes were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
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