Blizzard Leisure is reportedly Microsoft’s golden baby after Overwatch and Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred helped it develop into the “top-performing” Xbox studio.
The World of Warcraft sport developer’s president, Johanna Faries, celebrated its standing in leaked emails reported on by Windows Central. On the heels of a lackluster earnings report for Xbox, she was mentioned to have advised workers that Blizzard is firing on all cylinders.
“In FY26 Blizzard ended the yr as the top-performing studio in Xbox’s studios division,” Faries’ leaked emails said, “and this previous yr has marked our third highest fiscal for high line income in Blizzard’s historical past.”
Blizzard’s president then went on to affirm that FY25 and FY26 marked the studio’s “first back-to-back years of progress since FY17.” That is almost 10 years with out that type of progress introduced to an finish thanks to two video games specifically.
Blizzard oversees a wealth of IP, however solely two “drove distinctive efficiency” specifically: Overwatch and Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred. The latter, the second DLC growth for 2023’s Diablo 4, launched in April of this yr. It constructed upon its critically acclaimed action-RPG dungeon-crawler basis with extra story content material, a brand new area, the Paladin and Warlock courses, and extra.
Via even its most controversial moments, Diablo stays one in all Blizzard’s strongest performers. Overwatch, in the meantime, has fluctuated within the 10 years since its launch, however current years have proven the studio is keen to put the work into the hero shooter to not solely preserve it going however make it higher than ever.
The final two years have seen Blizzard ship resets for Overwatch. It first started in 2025 with the return of loot bins and the brand new perk system, whereas 2026 dropped the “2” to decide up the slack with 10 new heroes for the yr and a great deal of quality-of-life updates. Was all of it price it? Faries appears to assume so, with Overwatch just lately boasting “its strongest quarter since 2022.”
Faries mentioned its current wins will assist “form Blizzard’s future,” which, for now, largely stays a thriller to the general public. Home windows Central additionally reported that the corporate is engaged on cellular spinoffs and trans-media initiatives for a few of its franchises, whereas work on the subsequent primary Diablo venture progresses. Though nothing has been formally introduced, BlizzCon 2026 will hopefully supply a peek behind that curtain when it arrives September 12 – 13, 2026.
“It is my hope that the occasion can shine a lightweight on the work underway at Blizzard,” the e-mail continued, “and that it may well serve as a strong springboard into a brand new period of momentum and pleasure behind our mission to deliver pleasure and belonging for communities worldwide.”
Xbox, which additionally encompasses large IPs like Name of Obligation, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Halo, and extra, is in any other case going by means of a historic tough patch. Following CEO Asha Sharma’s promise to “reset” the model, Microsoft has introduced layoffs that may have an effect on 3,200 workers when all is claimed and carried out. As Microsoft sheds gaming studios and makes an attempt to refocus on its core IP, one id Software program developer has put Xbox on blast, saying executives on the firm “essentially do not perceive artwork.”
Michael Cripe is a contract author with IGN. He is finest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Make certain to give him a comply with on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).