Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO, named Johanna Faries the new president of Blizzard, closing a pivotal moment in the ATVI-Microsoft merger. Faries faces the challenge of revitalizing Blizzard amidst declining revenue and engagement across its franchises. The situation is dire enough that Faries inherits a needed rebirth of Blizzard. The Blizzard of old is dead, and several causal agents are responsible.

After four days, Palworld, an early-access survivor game described as “Pokemon with guns,” grossed ~$108M over three days en route to the 2nd highest concurrent player count for a paid title on Steam. It’s an outstanding success for Pocket Pair, a 50-person Japanese team with $7m raised. But like early access hits Valhiem, Battlebit, and Temtem before it, an inability to quickly deploy capital hampers compounding return. Instead of these titles having their best days to look forward to, they’re in the rear-view mirror, the equivalent of peaking in high school, but this time, you get millions in cash for the ordeal. Teams should follow the Kikta Studio model: prove a trajectory and let someone else build the bow. When founders sell games, they retain control of their destiny and find themselves newly rich with modelable capital, allowing games to grow into their best selves.