Blizzard Confirms it is Working on Multiple New IPs, But You Might Never See Them

[ffronw]

Blizzard Confirms it is Working on Multiple New IPs, But You Might Never See Them

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1387/1387265.jpgBlizzard confirms that it has multiple new IPs being worked on by incubation teams, but reminds us that they could never materialize.

During yesterday's Activision Blizzard earnings call, Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime said that while much of the company's focus right now is on supporting its current portfolio of games, it's also looking at new projects. He pointed out that Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham came back to the company last year to head the teams incubating those new projects.

Morhaime said that some of those projects were things that Blizzard was working on before Adham returned, while others are brand new IPs.

"In terms of new IP, our pipeline is in a better position than ever before in our history. we're committed to incubating new initiatives," said Morhaime. "We now have multiple dedicated incubation teams that are being led by some of our most experienced game designers at Blizzard."

As you'd expect from Blizzard, there's no mention of when, or even if, those games will see the light of day. To that, Morhaime said, "I should say that creating new, Blizzard-quality games on any platform will take time. And as we've shown in the past, we're not going to release any games that we don't feel live up to our expectations or those of our players."

If you've followed Blizzard at all, this shouldn't surprise anyone. After all, this is company that cancelled StarCraft: Ghost after having it playable at E3, and canceled an entire MMO (Titan) with four years of development time invested in it.

Of course, it also created the phenomenally successful Overwatch as its first new IP in 17 years (if you don't count Hearthstone as new), so maybe there's something to this "wait and see" approach. Of course, it helps to have that World of Warcraft money to fall back on.

If any of those new IPs do materialize, you can bet they'll garner the interest of gamers.


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[Bindal]

That's not really that surprising - several new games may start as different IP than they end up or get cancelled. It's just rare that someone just mentions it. Or that several of them are worked on by the same developer.

 

[Ishigami]

Considering StarCraft 2, Diablo 3 and Overwatch I don't mind not seeing anything from Blizzard in the future...

 

[ccggenius12]

The pipeline's looking better than ever? I'm dubious, given that Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, etc. Were all produced around the same time.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Supposedly Overwatch came from the remnants of Titan so its not a bad thing when new IP development fails, so long as the devs/pubs still manage to salvage something from it, whether be it a new feature innovation or whatever.

 

[Jadak]

Considering StarCraft 2, Diablo 3 and Overwatch I don't mind not seeing anything from Blizzard in the future...

Why? Taking up too much of your free time as it is?

 

[Charli]

Good, that's how to develop ideas properly. Not everything has to be a make or break development hell, this way the good gets weeded out of the bad and something great can be made.

 

[Hawki]

Supposedly Overwatch came from the remnants of Titan so its not a bad thing when new IP development fails, so long as the devs/pubs still manage to salvage something from it, whether be it a new feature innovation or whatever.

To an extent - Overwatch itself was built from scratch, but its character concepts were taken from Titan (e.g. Tracer was based on the "Jumper" class from the game).

To be honest, I'm curious as to whether more of Titan's content will make its way into released form. I mean, for instance, Lord of the Clans and Ghost were both cancelled, but both were novelized and had their content incorporated into lore.

The pipeline's looking better than ever? I'm dubious, given that Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, etc. Were all produced around the same time.

Lost Vikings III or bust!

But specifically, the pipline is known to include:

-The seventh and eighth Warcraft expansions
-StarCraft: Remastered
-An untitled Diablo project
-A Warcraft mobile game (not Hearthstone)
-An untitled first-person game (which could technically be one and the same as the Diablo or mobile game I guess)

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Supposedly Overwatch came from the remnants of Titan so its not a bad thing when new IP development fails, so long as the devs/pubs still manage to salvage something from it, whether be it a new feature innovation or whatever.

To an extent - Overwatch itself was built from scratch, but its character concepts were taken from Titan (e.g. Tracer was based on the "Jumper" class from the game).

To be honest, I'm curious as to whether more of Titan's content will make its way into released form. I mean, for instance, Lord of the Clans and Ghost were both cancelled, but both were novelized and had their content incorporated into lore.

I find it interesting though that Titan got cancelled and Overwatch just poofed into existence nearly directly following the cancellation. I know it wasn't directly lifted or anything, but that it was basically a salvage effort is kinda neat as companies that abandon IPs generally don't do anything with those assets or concepts really.

 

[RedRockRun]

I hope this pipeline doesn't cross over the school to prison pipeline.

 

[Ishigami]

Why? Taking up too much of your free time as it is?

Why would they?
SC2 story is a disgrace to SC. Diablo 3 was a mess and Overwatch is so much not up my alley it is in a different country altogether.
So whatever Blizzard is currently doing is most likely not to my liking

 

[hermes]

Not surprising at all. Many companies that size has several games in prototype constantly. Those that work get picked up, or at least, a mechanic is included in Overwatch or HotS. Those that don't are never seen again.

 

[Jadak]

Why? Taking up too much of your free time as it is?

Why would they?
SC2 story is a disgrace to SC. Diablo 3 was a mess and Overwatch is so much not up my alley it is in a different country altogether.
So whatever Blizzard is currently doing is most likely not to my liking

I don't disagree on the SC2 story, but Co-op mode, traditional multiplayer, and endless customization in the arcade mode? Good stuff going on there.

Diablo 3 *was* a mess, important key word there. Could use another proper expansion, and is certainly pretty dry beyond a certain point, but a pretty solid game these days, overall.

Overwatch, also not my thing. Haven't really played.

Not previously mentioned...

Hearthstone, played it a bit on the past, seems alright but also not really my thing. Mostly, couldn't be bothered with managing decks.

Heroes of the Storm. Usually fun, constantly getting new stuff to keep things interesting. Nothing to complain about from me.

...

Also, I was clearly just giving him a hard time. Obviously people exist who will not find any given game or games enjoyable, and even more obviously, plenty of people do.

 

[Hawki]

If we're on the subject of Blizzard's recent games:

-SC2: Improvement over SC1 in every way, and this is from someone who likes SC1 and played it back in the day. Better story, better gameplay, better everything, more or less. Well, maybe on-par music at least, but since you can play the SC1 songs in multiplayer anyway, it's kind of a moot point.

-D3: Favorite Diablo game. Granted, I'd say it's a "good" game rather than a "great" game, but I've never been that fond of the Diablo series in the first place.

-HotS: About the only ARTS I can enjoy playing.

-Hearthstone: Don't care.

-Overwatch: I'd like to play, but my computer doesn't have the specs for it, and it's not a game I'd like to play on console. But, I like the Overwatch universe, and it's good for some lighthearted fun via its comics and shorts.

So, there's that. On the other hand, the upcoming projects don't have much interest for me. Maybe the Diablo project, but like I said, I'm not that enamored in Diablo anyway, or its genre. D3 is fun, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over the next game. I've noticed that Blizzard has been shifting to multiplayer-only games, which isn't really to my taste, but at least they've kept up the worldbuilding with Overwatch.

 

[Arawn]

"In terms of new IP, our pipeline is in a better position than ever before in our history. we're committed to incubating new initiatives," said Morhaime. "We now have multiple dedicated incubation teams that are being led by some of our most experienced game designers at Blizzard."

Why does that statement make my eyes roll? Our pipeline is in a better position? Sounds like someone trying hard. "We have a good group working on things." "We have several ideas we're tossing around." "There's plenty of great things in development." There's a much more simply way to say that. The next part is equally annoying. "Incubating new initiatives"? Really now? Why does that sound like buzzwords they teach in management 101? That aside I think Blizzard is like just about everyone else; play it safe. Add-ons, DLC, remasters, and remakes. It might be just me, but it seems that risk isn't something companies like to take. I admit I like the style(art) of Blizzard games, but gameplay is pretty average.

 

[Zulnam]

Funny how much coverage Blizzard gets on this website.

 

[oRevanchisto]

Project Titan
:,(

 

[FalloutJack]

Funny how much coverage Blizzard gets on this website.

I would say that news like this is kind of poking fun at them. Take a bit of car-related info from The Grand Tour, where the guys are talking about cars that builders say "We COULD build this car...but we won't.". Here's abunch of games you'll never see, for...some reason.