Following the success of series like Castlevania, it would seem that many video game publishers are looking for ways to leverage their catalogue of IP in the realm of streaming TV shows – and Blizzard appears to be the next in line.
Thanks to the LinkedIn profile of Nick van Dyk – co-president of Activision-Blizzard Studios – we can expect to see shows based on both Overwatch and Diablo in the not-too-distant future.
As part of his profile, van Dyk describes one of his roles as:
...executive producer of Diablo, a TV adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment's IP, rendered in anime style. The show is currently in pre-production for distribution worldwide through Netflix.
This isn't a confirmed project at the time of writing, but with Diablo 4 on the way, it would make for ideal timing. Elsewhere on his profile, van Dyk says that he has "developed and sold an animated series based [on] Blizzard's Overwatch franchise," but doesn't mention a distributor for that project, which suggests it isn't as well-developed as the Diablo series.
Would you be keen to see either of these properties turned into full series? Let us know with a comment.
[source kotaku.co.uk]
Comments 24
Considering Activision-Blizzard's newfound dedication to angering consumers of all stripes, I have to wonder why they decided this was the best idea.
Maybe Blizzard should fix the dumpster-fire that is Warcraft 3 reforged first.
@KitsuneNight I don’t think they have time for that considering development of the new World of Warcraft expansion sounds to be going about as well as development for Warcraft refotged.
If the Overwatch series has the same quality as the animated shorts, yes please, give it to me
@GrandScribe
So less dumpster-fire and more tactical nuke ? Okay.
I feel like Overwatch was over due for a proper TV series, Games like this broke the market for action animated series because kids today want to play with their video game action figures instead of plastic ones. You know the death of Saturday morning cartoons and stuff. It's about time games like this pay us back by giving us action series back.
Ideally it will be the cinematic team creating entire shows with that quality..
Realistically, it will be much less effort
If it is as good as Castlevania, sure, why not?
Diablo 4 reveal and Overwatch comics/animated shorts are pretty good already
Before we hate on it because its overwatch, lets remember how good the animated shorts were, and that the legal team doesnt work on this stuff. Keep an open mind.
@Bobb I'm not the biggest fan of the castlevania show. It's probably good for fans of the show but in an anime standpoint I think its bad
@PBandSmelly totally agreed. If we can expect that level of quality from the series, chances are that it could be great
@PickledKong64 That's a fair point. I really REALLY love the world lore (and the soundtrack. That one scene with Bloody Tears... oh boy)
It is a western animation somewhat based on the anime stylization, though, isn't it?
@Bobb I'm not the biggest castlevania fan (I only played Rondo of Blood and SOTN and loved both). I'm not entirely sure if its western or not but I guess it's not really meant for anime fans and more for long time fans
@PickledKong64 Yea. I don't think it classifies as anime/shonen
@PickledKong64
Yeah I had fun watching season 2, but not what I wanted out of Castlevania. I want to see the heroes raid the castle and fight though it encountering monsters and bosses from the game. Not a bunch of OC vampires bicker the whole time and then save the raid to be like the last episode and done.
@ReifuTD yeah it felt kinda boring. Again I'm not the biggest fan of castlevania bit I like the idea of the games because its ridiculous. It feels like an old tale and I was hoping for something more like that I guess
Threw up a little bit reading that headline...
It’ll be Fortnite next. Then we can all celebrate our collective entry into the first circle of Hell.
Fire up the grills, Mr Caffeine.
Yahoozerino.
Blizzards animated shorts for their games have been really awesome. So yeah, I can see this succeeding.
One Blizzard post without political comments... Could it be a true online game magazine?
Blizzard endangered innocent lives and sides with totalitarian regimes for profit. I will never support their projects for as long as I live.
I can't believe they waited so long to do this. Overwatch practically begged for an movie or show right out of the gate! And the art style was already there! I'm very glad they'll be sticking with animation and not doing yet another terrible live action adaption! The game bursts with personality and has tons of interesting lore and world building.
There's so many directions they could go with this. Is it a prequel? Talking about them before the old team disbanded? Is it set during the main game? Will it be based on the upcoming single player story? Maybe it will be a spin off and a new story entirely! Who will be the lead characters? Winston? Tracer? Soldier 76?
@Xiovanni I don't really play much anymore, but this could well pull me back in, and I'm sure I'm not alone. This plus the single player story they announced should go a long way to breathing life back into the game.
Oh, and I guess Diablo is a thing too... Yay? I don't know nearly as much about it, but what I do know doesn't really seem like much of a story.
Nice, guys no one forces you to watch it. I would like to see a World of Warcraft tv series as well.. By the way Warcraft 3 reforged wouldn't work on Switch mainly cause of controls. Real Time Strategy (RTS) games dont work well without keyboard and mouse.
Interesting. Maybe this will rejuvenated the overwatch franchise and bring in new players.
I would love an Overwatch cartoon. We're late to the Overwatch party in my family, just picking it up for the first time when it released on the Switch. But since then, my sons and I can't get enough Overwatch.
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