I’ve long thought the Overwatch IP would be great material for an anime adaptation in the vein of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Castlevania, or Arcane. Likewise, the dark, gothic setting of Diablo’s Sanctuary would make for quite the moody horror flick. And while Blizzard has given me no indication that either of those things are happening or ever will happen, I do have some newly published hopium to indulge in.
Talking to Windows Central, Blizzard president Johanna Faries was asked about the potential for more of the studio’s IP to branch out into other forms of media beyond video games, and her answer was reassuring.
“The short answer is, we’re looking at everything, and I mean that very intentionally — and I can’t share anything specific today — but we talked again as recently as yesterday, that we have a strong collective belief that we are Blizzard Entertainment, and not simply Blizzard Games or Blizzard Gaming,” Faries said.
“Our universes, our iconic IP can vector off into many interesting dynamic directions. We have to be thoughtful, responsible stewards of those franchises, right? Not everything will fit, and execution absolutely matters. We do think about what we can do to show up for the entertainment industry, as broadly as we can describe, so Blizzard can continue to be a beacon of that sort of … magic making, fostering joy.”
Of course, Blizzard is no stranger to film adaptations, with 2016’s Warcraft movie being one of the highest grossing video game movies of all time despite lukewarm reviews.
It’s also worth noting that a credible report from September 2024 claimed Netflix was working on adaptations of Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, but seemingly scrapped them after Activision Blizzard filed a lawsuit against the streaming giant.
