Blizzard’s Next Move: The Future After Starcraft II

All right I get it, Starcraft II has been announced. I’d like to apologize for my recent “all-things-Blizzard” binge, but SCII is the first game I have been genuinely excited about in years! Anyway, let’s get to this article.

Predictions about the future are always difficult to determine. What’s worse is that people who tend to make predictions do so without backing up what they think. As ridiculous as it may sound, I’d like to take the opportunity to place some thoughts on the table regarding Blizzard’s next move in the video game industry. I know that Starcraft 2 isn’t even out yet, but this is the perfect time to explore my ideas.

By the way, it wasn’t even a conscious decision on my part, I just started thinking about it the other day while I was eating a bowl of ice cream and watching Mindhunters, that really crappy “mystery-thriller” starring L.L. Cool J, who, by the way, looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Introduction: Blizzard’s Patterns
A lot of what I’m going to write about may seem like common sense to many gamers. Nevertheless, how a particular game developer creates games can tell you a lot about what they plan on doing. Of course, it is a lot easier to draw patterns with smaller developers that only have 2-5 franchises such as Blizzard, rather than a larger developer/publisher such as EA. Nevertheless, things like release dates, the order in which games are developed, and everything above, below, and between are crucial. Blizzard has a rather straightforward and logical approach to how they develop their games. For example, they never take on too many projects at once as far as everyone outside of the company knows. They tend to have anywhere between 1-3 projects in development at one time. Right now, their websites lists three: Starcraft 2, WoW, and WoW: The Burning Crusade. A while back it was just WoW, and a little bit before that it was WoW and Starcraft: Ghost.

To better compliment the argument, we will begin with Blizzard’s first, overwhelmingly success franchise: Warcraft. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was a fantasy RTS released in 1994. While Blizzard had released several smaller games such as a Lord of the Rings game for the Amiga in 1991, most of the earlier titles had limited success. The only other Blizzard franchise worth mentioning is The Lost Vikings franchise, which began in 1992 and had a sequel titled The Lost Vikings II in 1995. Blizzard, seeing the success of Warcraft and the ability to expand upon its universe, decided to develop a sequel called Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1995, which saw an expansion pack Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal released the next year. By 1996, Blizzard was well on its way to establishing itself as a renowned developer in the video game industry.

Diablo, another one of Blizzard’s most notable franchises was established in 1996. Then, while Diablo gains a solid foundation and fan base, Blizzard develops and releases Starcraft in 1998! Therefore, by 1998, four years after the original Warcraft, Blizzard has established the three franchises for which it would be popular. Now, this is where we starting seeing the patterns. Blizzard isn’t interested in just capitalizing on the most popular of the three franchises. Instead, it sees each one of its universes as equally explorable and profitable opportunities. This why, after they release an expansion for Starcraft immediately following its release, Blizzard decided to return to Diablo in 2000, four years after the original was released. Interestingly, the original Diablo never had an expansion pack much the same way the original Warcraft didn’t. However, Starcraft did receive one immediately, so we are starting to see some deviations in our nice, finely ironed sheet of a pattern. Nevertheless, Diablo II did get an expansion pack in 2001, which fits the trend of sequels getting expansion packs. Perhaps the reason for why Blizzard released an expansion pack for Starcraft was because they already had plans to take Warcraft to the next level. This means Blizzard wanted to give gamers a little more of the Starcraft universe because it didn’t plan on revisiting it for some time.

After Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Blizzard went back to its roots and pumped out the third game in the Warcraft franchise, complete with an expansion pack in 2003. These two games furthered Warcraft’s plot and reinforced the development of its characters. By this time the stage was set for their international domination with World of Warcraft in 2004, which recently received an expansion pack earlier this year (2007). Interestingly, Blizzard spent nearly four entire years developing the Warcraft universe, noting the longest amount of time its ever spent on just one of their franchises. However, some may argue that this isn’t the case because Blizzard was developing Starcraft: Ghost around the same time they were developing WoW, but if it wasn’t released, then it doesn’t count. On the other hand, Blizzard’s attempt at taking the Starcraft franchise into a completely different genre as well as platform (Ghost was supposed to be a console-only game) is important because it needs to be factored into our predictions.

Of course, when Blizzard said it was announcing a new game at the World Wide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea, almost everyone and their mothers knew it was going to be a Starcraft game. Some thought an RTS sequel, while others thought and hoped for a World of Starcraft. Here are some of the patterns noticeable in Blizzard’s development:

• It spends roughly 1-2 years between releasing games, expansion packs, and sequels
• It releases expansion packs to all of its games with the exception of only two
• It fully develops its story through sequels of the same genre type before switching genres
• Its franchises represent the “if it ain’t broken, then don’t fix it” motto
• It sticks to its PC gaming platform well while catering to Apple gamers

The Future
There are only a few options that Blizzard has after Starcraft II. Each time Blizzard decides to develop another game it has two options on the table: return to one of the franchises already available, or create a new franchise and hope for success. Here are some of the more specific plans that Blizzard could run with after Starcraft II and in no particular order.

• An expansion pack to Starcraft II
• The development of Diablo III
• The development of World of Diablo
• A return to traditional Warcraft, with Warcraft IV
• Another expansion pack for World of Warcraft
• A return to The Lost Vikings franchise
• Create a completely new franchise

Starcraft II Expansion Pack
This option is probably the most likely to happen. With Starcraft II in development with a predicted release date of some time in 2008, an expansion pack doesn’t seem out of the question. This is reinforced by Blizzard’s pattern of always releasing an expansion pack for its sequel games (Diablo II, Warcraft II and Warcraft III). Chances are, if Blizzard does decide to do a Starcraft II expansion pack, it will be immediately following the sequel’s release. All things considered, you can expect this to be the next Blizzard development project.

Diablo III and World of Diablo
While the Diablo franchise remains incredibly strong despite its aging visuals, will Blizzard attempt to revisit this popular franchise? The answer is a profound, “yes,” but the real question is how will the developer return to it? While an action-oriented RPG similar to Diablo II would definitely be widely accepted by gamers, would the game have the niche it needs in order to succeed? One huge consideration is the developing of Hellgate: London by Flagship Studios, a game developer created by former Blizzard employees who worked on Diablo II. Hellgate: London will be an FPS/RPG action game that will be similar to Diablo II at its foundation. We can expect a huge item database complete with common, uncommon, rare, and unique items as well as diverse and interesting character classes. Would it really be in Blizzard’s best interest to compete head-to-head with its former employee’s creation? The other consideration will be how Blizzard develops Diablo III. As with Starcraft II, will Blizzard stay true to the franchise’s look and gameplay? Will it be a top-down RPG or will we have a fully 3D environment? There were some rumors floating around in early 2006 about Diablo III, but so far Blizzard hasn’t said anything final.

As for World of Diablo, it certainly is more plausible than a World of Starcraft. The Diablo franchise has more development to it than the Starcraft franchise, so an MMO isn’t out of the question. The only issue with an MMO is how does Blizzard make a fantasy MMO of Diablo without making it look and feel too much like World of Warcraft? The same argument can be made about switching genres with the next Diablo game. For example, if Blizzard develops Diablo III as an RTS game, how would they do it without making it look and feel too much like Warcraft III? Diablo is the only RPG franchise Blizzard has, so if they do create a third game, look for it to either be an RPG or an MMO, though the former is definitely more likely than the latter. Although the Diablo franchise is now, with the announcement of Starcraft II, the most outdated of the three, does it really have the ability to stretch into an expanding plot, a new genre, or a new platform without looking too much like Warcraft and without being beaten by competitors such as Hellgate: London?

Warcraft IV
This is definitely going to be a stretch, but what are the chances of Blizzard revisiting Warcraft with another RTS? Well, in reality, the chances are very, very poor. If they do revisit the Warcraft series it will probably be in the form of a World of Warcraft 2, but that won’t be until they draw out WoW with expansion packs.

I have one major and convincing reason as to why they won’t and can’t make another Warcraft RTS game, even if it is just for an extended period of time. The MMO is, without a doubt, an interesting genre to approach. One of the reasons for why World of Warcraft is so successful is because of the franchises development from Warcraft to Warcraft III. It is in my opinion that MMOs that are released as stand alone franchises that have no prior development are practically doomed from the start. While some MMOs get their development from movie franchises (Lord of the Rings Online and The Matrix Online), others get theirs from previous games (World of Warcraft), and the rest — the ones that do poorly overall — have no prior development. Regardless of this fact, however, the MMO genre should be classified as “the end genre.” Why? Well, think of it as a series finale for a television show. A series finale brings closure, but also brings an open-ended feeling. MMOs are usually defined as open-ended RPGs on a massive scale. The very nature of an MMO corresponds with that of a series finale. It would be hard to return to a franchise that currently has an ever-changing and continuing game.

World of Warcraft Expansion Pack 2
Besides a Starcraft II expansion pack, this seems like the most likely to happen, and happen soon. World of Warcraft marks the most profitable of all of Blizzard’s games, and while it was first released around three years ago, the game has some serious longevity. Blizzard obviously sees WoW as an opportunity to make a ton of money. In fact, there are already rumors floating around about the next World of Warcraft expansion pack. Never mind the details about the next expansion pack for WoW, everyone knows that Blizzard would be idiotic to not develop another one.

The Lost Vikings Return?
Could it be possible? Would Blizzard actually return to The Lost Vikings franchise? Well, it isn’t necessarily out of the question. However, the fan base for Vikings is definitely a lot smaller than the three mainstream Blizzard franchises. Not to mention the fact that the casual and random World of Warcraft noob, who is also unfamiliar with Diablo or Starcraft, wouldn’t have the faintest idea about The Lost Vikings. Therefore, there wouldn’t be much excitement except from a much smaller, Blizzard-dedicated group of gamers. In fact, The Lost Vikings is so old, and so unknown to most Blizzard fans that creating a completely new franchise might be a better idea, which brings me to my next topic.

Blizzard’s Next Big Franchise?
Blizzard’s current franchises are, for the most part, divided by the differences in genres. Starcraft is a science fiction RTS, Diablo is a fantasy-style RPG, and Warcraft was a fantasy-style RTS, but not a fantasy-style MMORPG. So where could a fourth franchise venture. Obviously, Blizzard would want the fourth franchise to be unique from the others in genre and style, but still maintain that good old Blizzard quality. The only mainstream genre Blizzard hasn’t officially tackled with any of its franchises is the FPS genre. Of course, the only current franchise that could be easily adapted to the FPS genre is Starcraft, which almost was with Starcraft: Ghost, Blizzard’s 3rd person shooter that was canceled during development. Given Blizzard’s tack record, I would say that they are perfectly equipped to handle the development of a next-gen FPS game. At this point in time, it is only a matter of when.

Conclusion
Blizzard’s future is definitely one that will shape gamers’ experiences in the years to come. We can all expect to see some huge developments, too. I’d like to leave you with my projections of the order in which Blizzard will release its upcoming titles.

1) Starcraft II (2008)

2) World of Warcraft Expansion Pack #2 (2008)

3) Starcraft II Expansion Pack (2009)

4) Diablo III (2011)

5) Diablo III Expansion pack (2012)

6) New Franchise (2011-2014)

The biggest prediction is between an addition to the Diablo franchise or a brand new franchise. Either way, we won’t see either one until 2011 at the earliest. And, of course, those dates depend upon the first three predictions proving true. The dates, once again, are determined by Blizzard’s past release dates. Generally, expansion packs are released the following year of the original game and full-fledged games are released about two to three years apart.

Let me know what you think about any one of these arguments, ideas, and predictions. There is definitely one thing that can’t be debated: Blizzard’s future is a bright one.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Why Blizzard Will Release Starcraft 2 Instead of World of Starcraft
• Starcraft 2: “Hell, it’s about time!”
• Another Diablo III Post – “Nobody ever listens…”
• Next Blizzard MMO to be completely original game