Activision Blizzard has revealed that it’s working on a mobile version of Call of Duty: Warzone, the battle royale spinoff of Call of Duty.
This is the latest instance of big-budget console shooters making moves to deploy on mobile devices. Respawn Entertainment will soon be releasing a mobile version of its battle royale shooter Apex Legends.
Larger developers are definitely seeing reason to adapt these big shooters for mobile, as it’s a chance to attract players who prefer playing on smartphones and tablets using the design conventions of these already-popular multiplayer games.
The announcement for the game also came with something we’re seeing more of in 2022–a direct recruitment appeal for game developers to work on the game. This would imply that Call of Duty: Warzone’s mobile version is still in early development.
Why pair the announcement with a call for workers? Well like other major game studios, Activision is grappling with a competitive hiring pool that’s forcing companies big and small to offer better wages and hours to workers demanding better conditions.
And when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent at the moment, Activision Blizzard has admitted that it’s struggling. It might have something to do with the numerous lawsuits for alleged sexual harassment, abuse, and toxicity that has been reportedly said to run all the way up to CEO Bobby Kotick.
It also could have to do with the company’s very public decision to lay off QA contractors working on Warzone that sparked a unionization push at Raven Software.
Or…maybe it has to do with the infamously low wages that Activison Blizzard offers lower-level developers across its studios, especially to QA employees (the company did make improvements for contract QA workers in 2021 but…talk about closing the barn door after the horse already ran off).
A mobile version of Call of Duty: Warzone will be very attractive to Microsoft, who is working to finalize an acquisition of Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion deal.