Activision Blizzard’spurchase by Microsoft was a hot topic last month, and the ramifications of the deal won’t be clear until after it is finalized over the next year. However, one formerBlizzarddeveloper speculated on its future projects, statingWarcraft 4could now be a “distinct possibility” in light of the takeover.
David Fried started atBlizzard as a Quality Assurance analystforWarcraft 2andDiablo 2, worked as a lead campaign designer forWarcraft 3, and later worked onWorld of Warcraftbefore his departure from the company. A vocal, approachable developer who provides transparency in the world of game design, he recently streamed a Q&A for his fans in regard to the future of his former employer.
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The questions he fielded were speculative, but revolved around his knowledge of Blizzard, Microsoft, and the industry in general. With talk of revitalization of former projects, many wondered if the new Blizzard would make something new out of Warcraft, its classic fantasy franchise. Though many developers have left Blizzard over the years, some of the team responsible forWarcraft 3are still there–namely Samwise Didier, Senior Art Director at Blizzard. According to Fried, Didier would almost certainly be on board to makeWarcraft 4if given the chance–and that chance may just come after the acquisition is complete. Fried went on to say he would come back to the project in a heartbeat if Didier asked him, and hoped Chris Metzen, theproverbial father ofWarcraft, would do the same.
Fried spoke of several other Blizzard projects over the Q&A session, speculating on their futures as well. He believesWarcraft 3 Reforged–the remaster of the original RTS–may get the chance to fulfill the promises it never got to deliver on. Other abandoned projects, from existing ones likeHeroes of the Stormto dropped projects likeStarcraft Ghost, are more likely to be revisited now than before, though Fried is still skeptical that they would.
An outspoken critic of Activision Blizzard, David Fried’s positive outlook for Blizzard’s future felt strange, to his and his audience’s admission. According to the developer, Microsoft purchasing Activision Blizzard was the “best possible thing” that could have happened to the ailing company. He believes the next year will be focused on getting things in order–including theremoval of corrupt ABK CEO Bobby Kotick–after which Blizzard will see rapid, and hopefully positive, change.
Still, many jaded Blizzard fans wonder if it is even worth holding out hope for Blizzard after its myriad controversies and lawsuits. Fried urged fans not to entirely give up on Blizzard yet, namely because of the good people still working there. Though critical of it in the past, he believes there still may be a chance forBlizzard to redeem itself in the future, even if it can never reclaim the golden years of its past.
