At BlizzCon 2015, video game company Activision/Blizzard announced the launch of Activision Blizzard Studios to develop movies and TV shows based on its intellectual properties.

According to THR, the first project will be an animated TV series based on Skylanders, its billion dollar video game/toy hybrid. IDW currently has a comic license for the franchise, and produces both comics and Micro Fun Packs (see “'Skylanders' Comic Gets 'High Six Figures' Launch”). The show is currently in production, with Futurama writer Eric Rogers acting as showrunner.  The voice cast will include  Justin Long as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks as Eruptor and Norm Macdonald as Glumshanks.

The new studio also plans to adapt its first-person combat shooter video game series Call of Duty into a feature film, with eyes on expanding it into a multi-movie franchise. Activision plans to release the first film in 2018 or 2019. Dark Horse recently launched a comic tied to Call of Duty: Black Ops III (see “Greg Pak's 'Kingsway West'”).

The new division will be co-run by current company CEO Bobby Kotick and Mick van Dyk, who was previously involved in the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm while working at Disney.