General Manager of Call of Duty Johanna Faries Becomes President of Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment, the now Microsoft-owned studio behind Diablo, World of Warcraft, and other cult-classic franchises has a new President with Johanna Faries, the current General Manager of Call of Duty. Faries, who is also a former NFL executive, will start her new position on February 5 and will replace Mike Ybarra, who is leaving the company.

Last week, we learned that Microsoft was laying off 1,900 employees at its Gaming division, with Activision Blizzard being mostly impacted. While the layoffs were not that surprising after Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68 billion, the departure of Chief Design Officer Allen Adham, the company’s co-founder, and Mike Ybarra, a former Xbox executive, were quite surprising. Ybarra was a self-confessed fan of Blizzard Games, and he suggested in an interview with Bloomberg from November that he was here for the long term. “Someone will drag me out of Blizzard,” Ybarra said at the time. “That’s how long I will be here.”

In an email sent to Blizzard employees today, Johanna Faries acknowledged that “the news of my appointment may no doubt bring up a range of reactions, questions, even concerns.” The exec also recognized that there are real cultural differences between Activision, the home of the annualized Call of Duty franchise, and Blizzard Entertainment.

“Activision, Blizzard, and King are decidedly different companies with distinct games, cultures, and communities,” Faries wrote. “It is important to note that Call of Duty’s way of waking up in the morning to deliver for players can often differ from the stunning games in Blizzard’s realm: each with different gameplay experiences, communities that surround them, and requisite models of success. I’ve discussed this with the Blizzard leadership team and I’m walking into this role with sensitivity to those dynamics, and deep respect for Blizzard, as we begin to explore taking our universes to even higher heights.”

If Diablo IV, Blizzard’s latest game and the first new Diablo installment in 11 years has been a critical and commercial success, some longtime Blizzard fans have also been disappointed by what could be described as the growing influence of Activision and a push toward more live-service games. Overwatch 2, the free-to-play hero shooter that Blizzard also released last year received a less positive reception than the original game, and it was review-bombed on Steam.

“I’m optimistic about our ability to serve our current and future player communities, and to further amplify the shared passion for greatness, polish, and creative mastery that is a hallmark of Blizzard’s approach to game-making,” Faries said today. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the layoffs Microsoft announced last week is that Project Odyssey, a new survival game developed by Blizzard has been canceled.