After suffering through a post-pandemic downturn, the gaming industry is readying an onslaught of fall releases in the hopes of turning the sector back toward growth.
\n\nThe white-hot anticipation for the much-delayed “Grand Theft Auto VI” is expected to go a long way to juice the market with projections that it could bring in well over $3 billion in revenue in its first week of release. And there’s a slew of other titles ready to capitalize on the renewed interest in big-ticket games stirred up by “GTA 6” fever.
\n\nMicrosoft’s Blizzard Entertainment is also bringing back its BlizzCon fan festival for the first time in three years. The cosplay crowd and more devoted fans of Blizzard game franchises, such as “World of Warcraft,” “Diablo IV,” “Overwatch,” “StarCraft” and “Hearthstone,” are set to gather Sept. 12-13 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
\n\nThe last BlizzCon was held in 2023, just after Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft in a blockbuster $69 billion transaction that signaled a renewed investment in gaming by the software giant. The past few years have marked an intense period of restructuring and realigning, and not just within Microsoft. But Blizzard is ready to commune with its core consumer…
Original source: https://variety.com/