The last time Blizzard Entertainment recorded back-to-back years of growth, World of Warcraft was at the height of its cultural dominance and the studio’s biggest challenges still lay ahead. A leaked internal email circulated ahead of BlizzCon 2026 confirms that streak has finally returned — and Overwatch is at the centre of it.
Blizzard president Johanna Faries sent the email to staff last week, rallying the team before BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim on 12 September. In it, she revealed that Blizzard ended financial year 2026 as the top-performing studio in Xbox’s studios division — a significant milestone for a developer that spent nearly a decade working to rebuild its reputation and revenue base. The email was reported on by Windows Central journalist Jez Corden. It was sent ahead of BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard’s annual showcase event returning to Anaheim this September.
The Numbers Behind the Leaked Email
Faries was precise about the scale of the achievement. FY26 marked Blizzard’s third-highest fiscal year for top-line revenue in its history, and the studio’s FY25 and FY26 results represent the first back-to-back years of growth since FY17 — a stretch of almost a decade without that sustained momentum.
“In FY26 Blizzard ended the year as the top-performing studio in Xbox’s studios division, and this past year has marked our third highest fiscal for top line revenue in Blizzard’s history.”
— Johanna Faries, Blizzard President
The result carries extra weight given Xbox’s overall FY26 performance. The wider division was down 11% for the year, weighed down by a difficult period for Call of Duty and Candy Crush. Blizzard’s growth ran in the opposite direction, making it the clear outlier in Microsoft’s gaming portfolio.
How Overwatch Turned It Around
The franchise that drove the most exceptional performance was Overwatch — specifically the hero shooter’s strongest financial quarter since the launch of Overwatch 2 in 2022. That’s a notable turnaround for a game that has faced player retention challenges and community frustration in the years since its free-to-play transition. Faries described the game as growing across consecutive years for the first time since its original launch era — a signal that the recent redesign work and content updates are translating into sustainable engagement.
Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred Beats Expectations
The second key driver was Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred, the expansion that launched in April 2026. As Blizzard’s second major expansion for the 2023 action RPG, it was seen as a crucial test of whether the studio could sustain the commercial momentum it built with the base game and the first expansion. According to the leaked email, it delivered — Faries cited Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred alongside Overwatch as the two titles that drove exceptional performance in FY26.
Back-to-back growth: FY25 and FY26 mark Blizzard’s first consecutive growth years since FY17 — breaking a near-decade streak without sustained year-on-year improvement.
What BlizzCon 2026 Could Reveal
Faries framed BlizzCon 2026 as more than a celebration of recent success. She described the event as a “powerful springboard into a new era of momentum and excitement” and indicated that the FY26 results would allow Blizzard to invest further in game staff and future projects. World of Warcraft is widely expected to feature prominently, given the still-unconfirmed D&D crossover project and ongoing expansion announcements.
For a studio that weathered significant turbulence — including high-profile departures and cultural controversies — the FY26 result is a meaningful marker. Whether the momentum holds into a third consecutive growth year may well depend on what Blizzard announces on that Anaheim stage in September. Industry observers will also be watching to see whether Xbox’s broader portfolio can follow Blizzard’s lead — the studio has essentially carried the division’s reputation for growth through what has been a difficult year for Microsoft Gaming overall.
