Activision Blizzard's newly unveiled studio aims to showcase the "Skylanders" animated television series and the first "Call of Duty" movie by 2018.
The studio was revealed to the public on Nov. 6, Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The studio's first assignment is to produce an animated series based on the "Skylanders" game. The showrunner is "Futurama" writer Eric Rogers, while Harland Williams and Richard Horvitz serve as the producers of the upcoming show.
The voice cast for the adaptation includes Disney's Ashley Tisdale as Stealth Elf, "Dodgeball" actor Justin Long as Spyro, "Breaking Bad" star Jonathan Banks as Eruptor and comedian Norm Macdonald as Glumshanks.
Similar to "Lego Dimensions" and "Disney Infinity," the $3 billion game series acquires sales through toy figures. Since 2011, over 250 million "Skylanders" toy figures have been purchased by gamers.
Furthermore, the second massive project of Activision Blizzard Studios is to establish a cinematic universe based on the worldwide hit franchise "Call of Duty."
The company hopes to release the first movie by 2018 or 2019, with sequels possibly following the game series' timeline. The first "Call of Duty" games were set in World War II and were then followed by sequels depicting battles in the modern and future age.
Activision garnered over $10 billion through the sales of more than 175 million "Call of Duty" copies. The company's CEO recalled that Sony wanted the legal rights to adapt the franchise, but Kotick has not yet agreed to any studio regarding the acquisition of Activision's titles.
Meanwhile, former Disney executive Nick van Dyk will be part of the management responsible for developing the Activision Blizzard Studio.
Activision's CEO noted that what drove the company to establish the studio was the growing need to excellently cater to the audience. The fifth largest gaming company refused to rely on other companies to help expand the popular game franchises.
In terms of financial capacity, the chief executive remarked that Activision is worth $28 billion and has businesses and brands that continuously generate money for the company, according to Variety.