Blizzard fans reportedly missed out on various StarCraft, Overwatch, and Diablo adaptations because it sued Netflix.
In a Reddit AMA to promote his new book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier revealed that all three Blizzard franchises were due the Netflix adaptation treatment, but then Blizzard sued Netflix for poaching the company’s then Chief Financial Officer.
In early 2019, former Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann was fired after breaching his contract to become CFO of Netflix. It seems this dispute was at the heart of the end of those Netflix adaptations.
Blizzard fans are now expressing their disappointment at what might have been, particularly for Overwatch, which seems tailor-made for an animated spin-off. Indeed the hero shooter has a number of impressive animated shorts already that flesh out its iconic characters’ backstories. Imagine that on a bigger scale for Netflix.
Then there’s StarCraft, whose cutscenes and promos are some of the best in the business. A StarCraft adaptation might have been truly special.
One Blizzard franchise conscious by its absence from Schreier’s list is Warcraft, which had an ill-fated CGI-heavy movie of its own back in 2016. That movie, while at one point the highest grossing video game film of all time, did not enjoy enough success to spawn a sequel.
Other revelations from Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment include yet another StarCraft shooter being in development, and that Blizzard staff unsuccessfully pitched WarCraft 4 and even a Call of Duty real-time strategy game.
Blizzard is currently preparing to release Diablo 4 expansion Vessel of Hatred, and has ongoing support for Overwatch 2 and all-conquering MMO World of Warcraft. StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection hit Game Pass in November.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
