Microsoft Establishes “AA” Studio Inside Blizzard, Halo Dev Gets A Shakeup – Report

According to a new report, Microsoft and Activision are creating a new team inside Blizzard that will create “AA” games based on existing Blizzard properties. A report said this new team is staffed primarily with developers from the Candy Crush developer King.

The Windows Central report said it’s possible that some of the titles from the AA studio will be mobile games, which makes sense if it’s staffed primarily with King developers. It also tracks in part because Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch its own Xbox mobile store for iOS and Android soon. While some of the games might be made for mobile, it might not be all of them, the report said.

Sources told the site that Microsoft is looking to reduce costs and explore making games with smaller teams that exist within a larger organization.

A “AA” game as described in the piece would be one with a lower budget and made by a smaller team relative to “AAA” titles. Another benefit of making lower-budget games with smaller teams is that it could reduce the likelihood of “bureaucratic bloat” that can exist within big organizations, the report said.

This new AA studio would exist alongside Xbox’s larger teams making games on bigger budgets.

Separately, the report mentioned how Halo developer 343 Industries has undergone a shift with the aim of becoming a “more streamlined single-team organization.” Previously, the Halo studio had a “siloed multi-team format” that created communication issues, the report said.

GameSpot has contacted Microsoft in an attempt to get more details on these changes.

Recently, Xbox made another change that saw all Xbox employees at Microsoft HQ working under the same roof again at the company’s main offices in Redmond, Washington.