Phil Spencer wants to revive old Activision Blizzard franchises

During an interview with the Washington Post, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer mentioned he’d like to see the return of currently inactive Activision Blizzard franchises.

“I was looking at the IP list, I mean, let’s go!” said Spencer. “‘King’s Quest,’ ‘Guitar Hero,’ … I should know this, but I think they got ‘HeXen.’”

While most people nowadays may remember the Guitar Hero franchise, the mention of the game Hexen, a fantasy first-person shooter released in 1995, may have surprised some gamers. Activision acquired Raven two years after the game’s release.

Activision also owns the popular Sierra Entertainment franchises it bought from Vivendi Games in since 2008. Under the Sierra brand, Activision owns King’s Quest, Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and IPs.

King’s Quest, a graphical adventure series, made its debut in 1980 with the game Wizard and the Princess. The franchise continued with nine more titles since 1984 under King’s Quest.

Spencer also mentioned people at Xbox will chat with Activision Blizzard to work on other franchises.

“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to work with them when the deal closes to make sure we have resources to work on franchises that I love from my childhood, and that the teams really want to get,” he said. “I’m looking forward to these conversations. I really think it’s about adding resources and increasing capability.”

[Source]: Washington Post: Xbox CEO Phil Spencer on reviving old Activision games as Microsoft positions itself as tech’s gaming company – [Archive].