What are Activision-Blizzard working on... A look at their studios
Years ago, Activision-Blizzard were known to release a dozen games a year, some licenced, some original and players enjoyed the variety. 2025 was not like that, as apart from existing games getting new content, they released two games.
These are the games that were published in 2025:
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 - PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Yes, in 2025 Activision-Blizzard released two titles, well technically it was only Activision and the first of the two was developed by another company. Now to be fair they do have a number of games that got content updates across the year such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Diablo 4 and Call of Duty Warzone.
Thankfully, there were no studio closures in 2025, but there were a number of staff let go from a number of studios, including Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games and Blizzard Entertainment.
If you are curious to see how we did in years past, you can find our 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 Previews here.
One final heads up, for almost all of the Activision section, it is going to be Call of Duty and nothing but Call of Duty, so if you are not someone who cares about that franchise, you can either skip to Blizzard, or skip this preview entirely.
Activision
ACTIVISION SHANGHAI
Known for: Call of Duty Online | Last game released: Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
2025 saw this team work on content for Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, well up until it was shutdown in May 2025. Since then, the group has fallen back into a support role for Call of Duty, delivering content for games, which will be a running theme below. Given they were one of the leads on Warzone Mobile, there is no word on if they are going to be doing something more, or just more support.
BEENOX
Locations: Québec, Canada | Montreal, Canada
Known for: Spider-Man titles, Skylanders | Last game released: Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
Just like last year, the text for this group could be copied from above, as they were another studio working on Warzone Mobile. With that shutting down though, the studio has pivoted to supporting Warzone proper and being a quality control studio for Call of Duty work. The studio does not appear to be one of the developers on Black Ops 7, as they were more Warzone focused, but given their support and QC nature, there is a fair chance some from the studio worked on the game.
What does 2026 hold for them, all their current open roles reveal more Call of Duty, so just take what happened in the past 12 months and repeat for the next, just without the mobile game cancellation.
DEMONWARE
Known for: None | Last game released: None
This studio is not a game maker, but a network creator. If an Activision game has online components, then these are the folks to make them work. You will see their name in most credits, but you won’t hear about them directly.
DIGITAL LEGENDS ENTERTAINMENT
Known for: Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile | Last game released: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Last year the studio was all set to keep delivering content for Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, which they were the lead developers of, but with it shut down in May 2025, the studio pivoted. They ended up being a support studio to the Zombies experience in Black Ops 7 alongside Treyarch.
Given their support there, I expect that for most of 2026 they will be focused on that experience, as well as helping with whatever the next game is.
Elsewhere Entertainment
Known for: None | Last game released: None
Only just founded in mid-2024, Elsewhere Entertainment is Activision’s attempt to make something other than Call of Duty and they could be right. The studio is still doing a lot of hiring and it is from those job listings that we know the game is a brand new IP, so not a Call of Duty based product, it will also be an Open World RPG. Now that is more than we knew last year, but given a number of the folks that have joined the studio have worked on games like The Witcher, The Division and Uncharted, open world feels pretty accurate.
The question of course is, will we hear from them this year? No, not a chance. Given that many of the jobs they are still hiring for are animators, level designers, quest designers and such, they are clearly still trying to staff up. At most, I would think a tease in the Xbox June Showcase, if that happens, with something hinting at a full reveal in 2027.
HIGH MOON STUDIOS
Known for: Transformers: Cybertron, Call of Duty | Last game released: Deadpool
Deadpool was released back in 2013 and apart from some assistance work on the Destiny games, High Moon Studios has sadly become a support studio for the Call of Duty series. They provided some assistance back in 2014 and have been chained to it ever since and that is unlikely to change.
Given the studios support nature, they don’t have any open roles right now, but I would imagine we would see their name in 2026 on whatever the next Call of Duty game is.
INFINITY WARD
Locations: Woodland Hills, USA | Kraków, Poland | Mexico City, Mexico | Austin, TX | Barcelona, Spain
Known for: Call of Duty | Last game released: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
This is where Call of Duty began and if the cycle of development was holding true, Infinity Ward would be the studio that is back on deck this year. Having had a few years off after Modern Warfare II and having very little to do with Modern Warfare III, it seems that the pattern is holding and Infinity Ward are going to continue the series with Modern Warfare IV this year.
Now there are reports online from folks that claim to have seen the game already and it looks bad, given that most leakers are absolute idiots, I would not take those as anything other than someone sniffing glue. Modern Warfare II was considered a great game, so having the team follow up with a bad game makes no sense, never mind the fact that it has not been revealed yet. Infinity Ward generally have a solid track record when it comes to releases, though Advanced Warfare is questionable, and I suspect that after the bomb of Black Ops 7, a lot more effort is going to be thrown at this game to redeem the series.
RAVEN SOFTWARE
Locations: Middleton, USA | Shanghai, China
Known for: Hexen, X-Men Legends, Soldier of Fortune | Last game released: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
It has been quite a while since Raven Software was allowed to create their own games, for the longest time they have been the sister studio to Call of Duty. They were the studio that Infinity Ward turned to for Warzone and they work alongside Treyarch on all their games, but they have also done a heap of work on other games. 2025 was a good year for Raven though as players around the world got to experience Heretic and Hexen through the remaster collection that Bethesda did, though Raven were not directly involved.
As for 2026, expect to see Raven continuing to support Warzone and Black Ops 7, along with assisting on whatever the next game is. Beyond that, they are going to be very quiet.
SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES
Locations: Foster City, USA | Melbourne, Australia | Toronto, Canada | Guilford, England
Known for: Call of Duty | Last game released: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
2025 was a quiet year for Sledgehammer, they came off 2024 having been raked across the coals for Modern Warfare III and I imagine a lot of time was spent revisiting decisions and seeing what other options were available. The studio is not expected to be back on deck as the lead for a Call of Duty game until 2027, with reports saying that it will be a completely new series set in the modern day.
The only reason to be concerned about those plans is that Modern Warfare III was a modern day setting and they screwed it up big time. The studio has at least 18 months before whatever they are working on has to be revealed and I imagine the success of Battlefield 6 is going to give them pause and maybe even a moment or two of reflection on what their plans are. With them leading that, apart from some support work on this years release, as they often all do, I don’t think we will hear from them in 2026.
TREYARCH
Known for: Call of Duty | Last game released: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Treyarch did something that has not happened since the mid 2000s, they were the leads on back to back Call of Duty games and it seems in their eagerness to break that run, they delivered a bad game. It was so bad that the official website and social posts, delivered a message that apologised for the game. Now outside of monumental stuff ups, like servers going down on launch day, that has never happened in the series.
With that being the case and the team focused on fixing what players did not like about the latest game, expect to see their name a bit in the first half of the year, but then once the new game is announced, expect to see that drop off.
Blizzard
Blizzard Albany
Known for: Diablo | Last game released: Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred
The Albany team works as a support studio for the Diablo team, so with a new expansion on the way, they are all in on that. Beyond that, just more Diablo content and nothing else, which is a shame.
TEAM 2
Known for: World of Warcraft | Last game released: World of Warcraft: The War Within
After a big 2024, 2025 was quite a bit quieter for this team. They spent much of the year working on Midnight, the second chapter from the Worldsoul Saga, with it launching into an alpha state during the year, then a beta state at the end of the year. One of the major additions to the game is that of housing, something people have been asking for almost since the game launched some 20 odd years ago. We also pegged that Mists of Pandaria would release in late 2025 and while it did launch around the middle of the year, they were still dropping content at the end of the year for it, so I give myself half a point for that.
2026 will be a big year, Midnight is set to launch on March 3rd for those Down Under and it will bring new lands, mounts, enemies and a new race to enjoy, not to mention houses for all. With WoW Classic now sporting its fourth expansion, the next one to get some attention would be Warlords of Draenor. The only question would be around which year will they aim for, some expansions took 2 years to hit and some took only a single year, so will Warlords of Draenor be a 1 year or 2 year cycle. If it is the former, than I expect November this year, if it is the latter then April next year. Of course, Midnight is up first and that should keep a lot of players happy.
TEAM 3
Known for: Diablo | Last game released: Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred
The Vessel of Hatred DLC released for Diablo IV back in 2024 and then in 2025, it was just a lot of seasonal updates, which were pretty well received. It was not until the end of the year and via an awkward showing at The Game Awards, that the next expansion was announced. Lord of Hatred will release in April and offer players a new campaign, new classes and what Blizzard call, a final reckoning. In what is a weird release plan, if you pre-purchase the expansion today, you get access to the Paladin today, one of the two new classes coming in the expansion.
Given that the expansion is coming in just a few months, expect to hear more about it leading up to its release and then more about Diablo IV’s seasonal offerings again, once it’s out. The only thing that is unknown, is if the game is getting a Switch 2 port, with Microsoft opening up their plans, it is possible as we know Diablo 3 did incredibly well on Switch. There is no word on that happening, but it does make sense.
TEAM 4
Known for: Overwatch | Last game released: Overwatch 2
2025 saw this team keep bringing new content to Overwatch 2, with three new heroes in Freja, Wuyang and Vendetta. They also kept up the seasons to coincide with those hero launches, along with the usual array of content. Given that the team have a cadence and they don’t look to be changing anything in a big way, I don’t expect much from them this year, the only thing I would expect is a dedicated Switch 2 Edition of the game.
TEAM 5
Known for: Hearthstone | Last game released: Hearthstone
Much like Diablo, Overwatch and World of Warcraft, 2025 saw this team keep the content coming via seasons and mini-expansions. They launched The Lost City of Un’Goro in July and more recently Across the Timeways in November, which is their usual sort of cadence. Into the Emerald Dream launched back in March and as that is their usual window, barring any massive changes, I don’t see 2026 not getting an expansion then as well.
2026 will be a big year for the Hearthstone eSports scene as they work towards the finals at Blizzcon in September and while some plans for that are known now, expect more details for that as the year goes on. As for the rest of the year, outside of their likely planned expansions for March, June/July and November, I don’t expect any big changes for this one.
Incubation
Known for: Unknown | Last game released: Unknown
This entry is crossed out for one simple reason, we don’t know if they exist any more. When Blizzard were hitting with the 192nd round of layoffs from Microsoft, reports came in that this was the team that was basically gutted. Given that they were designed as a testing bed for new ideas and concepts, it is possible that they are still around, just much smaller, but we don’t know. Last we heard, Day Hay was leading a team here working on a Starcraft FPS, which given that series history with the FPS genre, if that has ended, it would just be another ghost of a dream. Dan is still at Blizzard, but doing what is the unknown.
King
Series: Candy Crush series, Bubble Witch series | Last Game Released: Candy Crush Solitaire
Known for games like Candy Crush, Blossom Blast and more, King generally flies under the radar of most gamers, due to their mobile focused nature. 2025 saw them release Candy Crush Solitaire for mobile devices and people seemed ok with it.
As for this year, the only game we know they are working on is Minecraft Blast, which is a match-3 game using Minecraft elements. The game has soft launched in Malaysia, so it could release globally this year, but there is nothing to say it will release at all, such is the joy of mobile games. If you want to learn more about it, you can do so here.
So there we go, Activision-Blizzard-King, or ABK if you want to be weird. What was once a glorious developer is reduced to making content for existing games and farming out new Call of Duty games, with incredibly varying degrees of quality.
Do you think there will be some surprises this year from them, or are you thinking they are gonna stick to the current trend they have established, let us know.
