Mario Bautista
We almost had Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft screen projects. That’s according to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, who says Activision Blizzard was working with Netflix on a series of projects and implies a lawsuit between the two seemingly put a stop to the collab.
In Schreier’s upcoming book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, he alleges that the company once had multiple Netflix series in the works based on some of the best PC games. These would have covered Overwatch, StarCraft, and Diablo. Schreier’s book isn’t out yet, but in the comments of a Reddit AMA, he seems to imply that the collab’s slow death had something to do with a conflict between Netflix and Activision Blizzard.
In a 2020 California lawsuit (via Variety), Activision Blizzard took Netflix to court for “intentional interference with [a] contract” and “unfair competition” around CFO Spencer Neumann. Neumann was a group CFO at Activision Blizzard until 2018, but the company alleges that Netflix poached him. Activision Blizzard’s suit says Netflix “is engaged in a years-long campaign of unlawfully poaching executives from Netflix’s competitors regardless of their contractual obligations.” Just two years earlier in 2018, Activision Blizzard terminated Neumann’s contract “for cause unrelated to the company’s financial reporting.”
While the excerpt of Schreier’s book detailing these Blizzard Netflix adaptations isn’t available yet, he appears to suggest that this lawsuit caused the collab to grind to a halt.
After the release of its 2015 Warcraft film, Activision Blizzard formed the Activision Blizzard Studios subsidiary. The aim was to adapt its popular game series into film and TV projects. On top of these alleged StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch Netflix shows, there’s a Call of Duty film franchise on hold. The only project that Activision Blizzard Studios has managed to get off the ground is Skylanders Academy, which ran for three seasons on Netflix.
We’ve reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.
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