Following the news of Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, the new owners at Microsoft want Activision Blizzard to work on a variety of franchises.

The news that Microsoft wants Activision Blizzard working on stuff other than Call of Duty comes via interviews with Microsoft head of gaming Phil Spencer, who confirmed he want their new acquisition to return to their roots.

“I was looking at the IP list, I mean, let’s go!” Spencer said to Washington Post. King’s Quest, Guitar Hero. … I should know this but I think they got Hexen.”

The interview confirmed Spencer said the Xbox team “will talk with developers about working on a variety of franchises” that are currently resting in “the Activision Blizzard vaults.”

So, this would presumably mean games, franchises, and IPs that Activision Blizzard hasn’t worked on in quite awhile.

“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to work with them when the deal closes to make sure we have resources to work on franchises that I love from my childhood, and that the teams really want to get,” Spencer said. “I’m looking forward to these conversations. I really think it’s about adding resources and increasing capability.”

Another interview between Activision CEO Bobby Kotick (via VentureBeat) – who is remaining CEO through the acquisition process – noted he would also like Activision Blizzard to return to older games.

Kotick noted he wants them to revisit “retired” games and franchises like Guitar Hero and the Skylanders franchise, the latter of which is a spinoff of Spyro the Dragon, another IP that Activision Blizzard also owns.

The Activision Blizzard CEO noted both Guitar Hero and Skylanders had to be shelved for numerous reasons, one of which was a lack of a manufacturing department – which he thinks Microsoft is naturally capable of handling.

Whatever comes of the new acquisition – we’ll keep you guys posted.