Ryan Reynolds once said, “When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment,” but despite Mister Reynolds rather sardonic take on video games, he makes a genuine point…one that resonates now with the crowd of people who had heard the “whispers in the trees” about Blizzard’s next gen MMO, tentatively called “Titan.”
Seven Year Itch
Does anyone remember where they were seven years ago? Me either, but I do remember rumors swirling amidst the announcement of Wrath of the Lich King at Blizzcon ’07 of another MMORPG Blizzard had began to develop.
A number of hints surfaced after the rumors as Blizzard began posting job positions for the development of Titan, toting it as a “next-gen MMO”. It was said to be a completely new intellectual property and disassociated from both the Warcraft and Starcraft franchises. Features, rumors and other hints were dropped during numerous interviews after 2007, which only seemed to fan the flames.
So after seven years of blood, sweat and tear-filled development for a game with barely any internet recognition, what the heck happened?
Given the Axe, Like Metaphorically
Blizzard co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime shredded the dreams of so many Blizzard-fanatics when he revealed that Titan had been cut because, “…we set out to make the most ambitious thing that you could possibly imagine. And it didn’t come together.”
Chris Metzen, Senior BP of story and franchise development was quoted as saying, “The discipline of knowing when to quit is important. We were losing perspective and getting lost in the weeds a little. We had to allow ourselves to take that step back and reassess why the hell we were doing that thing in the first place.”
Another important aspect missing from the game? “Fun”. During a reevaluation of it, Blizzard found the game to be lacking in certain fun factors, among other things, and this ended up becoming another nail in its proverbial coffin.
Blizzard’s Future Interests
Despite this setback, Blizzard seems keen on providing support for World of Warcraft. They also seem to be trying to distance themselves from becoming defined as an “online RPG company,” which would explain the release of such games as Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm.
All I can say is…when is the next Starcraft expansion coming out?!
Jon Schear is a part time gamer, full time graphic designer and when he finds time for it, wannabe digital artist. He also drinks PBR and plays WoW…don’t judge him.
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