According to a Gamespot report from Sunday, Blizzard Entertainment is readying animated series for both Overwatch and Diablo, with the latter series being an anime in the style of Netflix's Castlevania.
To support that report, Gamespot cited the LinkedIn profile of Activision Blizzard's co-president, Nick van Dyk. Note that a previous highlight on van Dyk's resume includes time as a producer for the Netflix animated original series Skylanders Academy, which gamers may note is also based on an Activision series.
At the moment, the Diablo transition, which had been rumored as far back as 2018, sounds more concrete. That series is said to be getting an adaptation that will, specifically, be "in anime style." That's said to be in pre-production, with an eventual release set to happen through Netflix.
As for the Overwatch news, van Dyk's profile reportedly mentioned that he and his creative partner have developed and sold an animated show based upon the massively popular franchise. No further info of value existed on the page, including details about who exactly bought that series. There's also yet to be a formal announcement that makes that official.
Mashable grabbed the relevant info in the event that van Dyk alters his profile (also Blizzard declined to give a comment either confirming or denying the rumors to that outlet). In either event, they quoted his LinkedIn as having the following bullet points:
- Executive producer of Diablo, a TV adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment’s IP, rendered in anime style. The show is currently in pre-production for distribution worldwide through Netflix.
- With my creative partner, authored development strategy for the Call of Duty cinematic and television universe. Secured development funding, developed writer compensation deals and oversaw negotiations to secure talent.
- With my creative partner, developed and sold an animated series based Blizzard's Overwatch franchise.
As also noted in those points, these reports would seem to fit in with the narrative that Activision is attempting big things with their IPs, as the Call of Duty movie mentioned in van Dyk's profile (which was reported as being on hold just last week) had also previously been revealed.
