Blizzards Next MMO: Not What We Think?

Blizzard Entertainment vice president of development Itzik Ben Bassat spoke a bit about Blizzards future plans, albeit vaguely...

At last weeks London launch event for Blizzards latest Burning Crusade, Itzik brought up a bit about the future of Blizzard stating:

"We'd like to say to our fans of Diablo and Starcraft that we haven't forgotten we have these franchises," he said. "We cannot wait to be here in a few years, or however long it will be. It won't be a decade, and we'll be celebrating the launch of [the next] Starcraft together."

Does that confirm peoples suspicions which dictates a StarCraft MMO? The last successful Starcraft game (i.e. not Starcraft: Ghost) was released in 1998 - a long time ago technology wise. It isn't unreasonable to assume Blizzard would create another Multiplayer Online Game (MMO) with one of their other franchise babies:

• Starcraft
• Diablo

It was all a matter of which one would make the better MMO right? Maybe not. Itzik told Empire, a British film magazine "When we announce our next MMORPG it's not going to be another WOW--we're not a company that tends to tread the same ground" and hinting that "it'll be something innovative and new that really brings entertainment to another level."

Must marketing speak to confuse us and make us second guess the nature of the next big Blizzard investment? First, stating Blizzard doesn't like to tread the same ground, let us look at the Blizzard track record starting at their first hit game: Warcraft.

• Warcraft (1994)
• Warcraft II (1995)
• Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal (1996)
• Diablo (1996)
• Starcraft (1998)
• Starcraft: Brood War (1998)
• Diablo II (2000)
• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001)
• Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)
• Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (2003)
• World of Warcraft(2004)
• World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade (2007)

Can you see any patterns? To be quoted saying "we're not a company that tends to tread the same ground" seems like a lie considering their ability to hang on two and a half titles for thirteen years.

The only title in their library that has not been overused: Starcraft. It wouldn't be a total surprise if they took Starcraft into the realm of the MMO, would it?

A bit of background: Blizzard North, the group that gave us the Diablo franchise was purchased by Blizzard (originally named Condor) six months before the release of Diablo. Apparently, Blizzard found a new franchise worth picking up before its release. The only two true designs by the original Blizzard engineers would be Starcraft and Warcraft.

Perhaps they'll expand past their three title wonder and produce a brand new franchise with all the money they're making from the World of Warcraft success. Or, perhaps they'll follow the Blizzard pattern and reuse a title previously released for their next MMO.

If the do go the route of "innovation" and "new ground," will their next big title end in the world "craft"? Only time will tell...

source: gamespot.com

update_1: Fixed World of Warcraft date from 1994 to 2004 (Thanks JollyRoger)