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Blizzard confesses that new MMO 'Titan' will be awesome, impact industry, sell well

M

maniac-kun

Member
World of Warcraft has 12 million subscribers, StarCraft has a massive following and is virtually a national sport in Korea, and Diablo is firmly implanted in PC gamers' memories as one of the best action RPG experiences ever.

So while past performance is no guarantee of future results, it's easy to see why Irvine, CA-headquartered Blizzard is supremely confident that it can continue to deliver with expansions of existing franchises, as well as new IP.

"I think we have a very bright future," Blizzard COO Paul Sams told Gamasutra in a recent interview. "We obviously have Diablo III coming out, which we are very confident in."

"And we're very confident in the other products, supporting products like Warcraft and future expansions there," he said. "And there are future expansions to StarCraft II. Those are real mainstays for us."

World of Warcraft Business 'Effectively Protected'

But while future expansions for World of Warcraft and StarCraft II are poised to move millions, and Diablo III already has enviable buzz, Blizzard now has to answer the question that its competitors have had to try to answer for the past six years: Can you beat World of Warcraft?

Blizzard plans on answering that question with its upcoming unannounced "Titan," the codenamed full MMO that will follow World of Warcraft's extraordinary success.

"I believe [it's] the most ambitious thing we've ever attempted," Sams said. "And I feel like we have set our company up to succeed on that. We have some of our most talented and most experienced developers on that team. Many of the people that built World of Warcraft are full time on that other team."

That expertise in working with the most successful MMORPG in the world for the past several years will prove vital for the success of the new MMO. Sams assured that World of Warcraft is still under the watch of experienced staff, even though key members are moving onto Titan.

"We've spent a lot of time over the last number of years transitioning those people off [of World of Warcraft], and having great people below them that were trained up by them to run World of Warcraft," Sams said. "Those people have been doing it for the last couple of years without the assistance of those people that created it."

"So, I think we've effectively protected that business as it relates to our development resources and capabilities," he added, "and at the same time taking some of those other folks that had all that experience and unleashed them on this new thing."

"Many Years In Front" Of World Of Warcraft

In the coming years, World of Warcraft may lose some of the MMO spotlight to "Titan," but with such a massive, established worldwide player for World of Warcraft, the company will support the game as long as it is feasible to do so.

"I see World of Warcraft as having many more years in front of it," Sams forecast. "We have over 12 million subscribers. We're continuing to grow and we feel very good about them. We're going to continue to support that product for many, many years to come."

"As it relates to that other [MMO], we think that it's going to be very impactful in our industry and, we hope, very impactful to the world," Sams continued. "We think that that will be, after Diablo III, the next big thing from us. The thing that we hope will happen is that it will not stop World of Warcraft but we believe will eclipse it."

"We're very confident in that product. It's an awesome one," Sams added. "We're playing it already. It is a total ball to play. We think that the reach of that product is greater than anything that we've done before. We're very excited about that. I believe that it's the type of game that will have a very long life, much like World of Warcraft has."

"So, hopefully in 10, 15 and 20 years, that [new MMO] will still be growing strong and will have set a new mark in the industry for that type of product."
Click to expand...

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/..._COO_Sams_Says_Many_Years_In_Front_Of_WoW.php
 
S

Sn4ke_911

If I ever post something in Japanese which I don't understand, please BAN me.
i will not resubscribe

i will not resubscribe

i will not resubscribe
 
S

Shito

Member
I'm all for them starting to hype the shit out of Titan: this means Diablo 3 is just around the corner!
 
M

Malvolio

Member
"We've spent a lot of time over the last number of years transitioning those people off [of World of Warcraft], and having great people below them that were trained up by them to run World of Warcraft," Sams said. "Those people have been doing it for the last couple of years without the assistance of those people that created it."
Click to expand...

This explains so much.
 
B

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Just the fact that this game already exists excites me so much. I can't wait to see what it's about.

Malvolio said:
This explains so much.
Click to expand...
That's been known for ages.
 
A

AshMcCool

Member
wouldn't be all too suprised if it turns out free2play. I mean, if you already have the most successful mmorpg at hand, you probably try something different. I did noticed they never say its an MMORPG but rather a MMO game. So probably not an RPG after all?
 
C

C.Dark.DN

Banned
AshMcCool said:
wouldn't be all too suprised if it turns out free2play. I mean, if you already have the most successful mmorpg at hand, you probably try something different. I did noticed they never say its an MMORPG but rather a MMO game. So probably not an RPG after all?
Click to expand...
It's been rumored to be a MMOFPS for a year.
 
A

AshMcCool

Member
If its really a MMOFPS its even more likely that it doesn't have a monthly fee. I can't imagine the FPS-Audience willing to pay a monthly, when they can blow their hands of in thousand (sometimes excellent) multiplayer shooters for free, especially from a company that doesn't have experience in the genre.
 
M

maniac-kun

Member
AshMcCool said:
If its really a MMOFPS its even more likely that it doesn't have a monthly fee. I can't imagine the FPS-Audience willing to pay a monthly, when they can blow their hands of in thousand (sometimes excellent) multiplayer shooters for free, especially from a company that doesn't have experience in the genre.
Click to expand...
But you get new content every other month and events that no other shooter will have.
 
R

Raide

Member
Dilemma said:
Prediction: the new MMO won't support addons like WoW does.
Click to expand...

Over the years of WoW, Blizzard have pretty much added the addons to the core game anyway. I cannot see Blizzard just making another WoW, so they may not even need addons for additional functionality.
 
D

Dynoro

Member
Dilemma said:
Prediction: the new MMO won't support addons like WoW does.
Click to expand...
I would think it would definitely support mods - WoW features them heavily and the ability to tailor the UI to look and act exactly as you want is a big benefit. The WoW devs seem to support them quite nicely too (as long as they do not automate play). Blizz will just pick the most successful and integrate them over time (like they did with WoW) to accomodate more players
 
C

C.Dark.DN

Banned
AshMcCool said:
If its really a MMOFPS its even more likely that it doesn't have a monthly fee. I can't imagine the FPS-Audience willing to pay a monthly, when they can blow their hands of in thousand (sometimes excellent) multiplayer shooters for free, especially from a company that doesn't have experience in the genre.
Click to expand...
I thinks there's an an appeal of consistency and new content. You have a lot of FPS content on consoles but your favorite FPS runs out of content and controls and quality differ on all the other games. You have to wait a few years for a sequel that may or may not be a let down. It might do something shitty with controls too. After so many years the limitations of the MMO engine can suck bad tho.

They have to do something innovative imo. Bungie and them both.
 
K

Kunohara

Member
Here is what I am excited about. I'm really hoping that it's a new IP. I would love to see a new one from Blizzard. This would be the first one in decades. It would be pretty exciting to see if true.
 
Interfectum

Interfectum

Member
Bold words from Blizzard.

Unless its F2P or browser based I don't see how they can possibly beat WoW at this point. You really don't get much more mainstream than WoW.
 
C

C.Dark.DN

Banned
Kunohara said:
Here is what I am excited about. I'm really hoping that it's a new IP. I would love to see a new one from Blizzard. This would be the first one in decades. It would be pretty exciting to see if true.
Click to expand...
It was confirmed by blizz to be a brand new IP.
 
K

Kunohara

Member
DeathNote said:
It was confirmed by blizz to be a brand new IP.
Click to expand...

Awesome. They are finally branching out of Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo. I can't see them doing another fantasy MMO. If it turns out to be sci-fi, I will be very very interested.
 
H

hiryu

Member
I can see Blizzard moving to a Blizzard pass where for like 24.99 a month or something like that you get access to all the online games, similar to what Sony does. This way they can keep people playing WoW and Titan.

I could see it being free to play also with purchasable dlc.
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
Considering how long it takes them to release one game, this isn't coming out until like 2020 or something. I'm interested to see what it is, see this is the first new IP from them since well.. like ever.

Its not Diablo, Starcraft or Warcraft related, so hmm.
 
bengraven

bengraven

Member
I still would LOVE for a Diablo 3 MMO.

Here's hoping the toolset for D3 is as great as Starcraft 2's so some modder can do a "Diablo Universe".
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
AdventureRacing said:
Well depending on what bungie is doing activision may already have an MMOFPS coming.
Click to expand...
That's why I'm sure blizzard isn't making an MMOFPS. bungie and cod may fill that role in the years to come.
 
C

Cindres

Vied for a tag related to cocks, so here it is.
As if it could even get more accessible than wow at this stage? It holds your hand from start to finish...
 
S

StickSoldier

Member
A game I hope Titan will somewhat resemble is Global Agenda. I just bought the game for like $8 and its actually a blast. It has classes, gear, instances, raids, and pvp, so if it is indeed a MMOFPS, hopefully it's similar to GA. GA is in 3rd person perspective but it woud be just as playable if it was in first person.
 
A

alphaNoid

Banned
All I'm going to say is ... its not a new IP even though they are saying it is. Its a spin off of an existing franchise, so Blizzard is trying to spin it like a new IP.

Thats all I can say.
 
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