First official confirmation that new Blizzard MMO is original IP
by Kyle Horner 
May 13th 2009 at 12:15AM
Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, News items
In a post on the official World of Warcraft forums, Blizzard community manager Zarhym came out and said the new MMO was in fact an original IP, saying, "We have nothing to advertise for the new MMO because it's a shell of a game thus far. We've already stated it'll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It's an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this." While it's no press release or big event reveal, this is certainly the closest we've come to someone officially with Blizzard saying that, yes, it's not a previously created franchise.
So now that speculation on whether or not it's a new IP is over, we can begin to speculate on what genre this new IP will be! Science fiction, steampunk, cyberpunk or another fantasy setting? It's hard to say, although our hopes go for something decidedly not fantasy since Blizzard has already spent plenty of energy in those genres up to this point.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
OrganiClockwork said on 12:29AM 5-13-2009
Please not more fantasy. Please?
Or at least give us a new flavor of fantasy. Some steampunk-fantasy would be great.
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Anticrawl said on 1:10AM 5-13-2009
Agreed, no more fantasy.
Bring on a cyberpunk MMO. I'd go for a steampunk MMO though.
Anticrawl said on 1:13AM 5-13-2009
My first MMO was Ultima Online and before that I played MUDs, they've all been fantasy based and it's making me a little sick.
erith said on 1:11AM 5-20-2009
Ok, call me noob, but this is driving me crazy. What the hell is "IP"? Internet Protocol? Intellectual Property? iPhone? Searching Google only gives me a flood of information about IP addresses.
NeuroMan42 said on 12:50AM 5-13-2009
NO MORE FANTASY!!! That horse has been ground up and beaten with ping pong paddles.
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@ said on 12:59AM 5-13-2009
If Blizzard developed a good PvP MMO they could dominate the market.. Blizz developed PvP MMO D: pretty scary stuff..
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Box said on 1:11AM 5-13-2009
Blizzard got a big enough income to have a huge budget MMO. They got experience from what works and what doesn't in WoW, and they also most likely try to get a new community than the one playing WoW. Which means that they got all that's required to make something new and different, and make it good, big and quality stuff. I'll definitely keep my eyes on this one.
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samn said on 1:18AM 5-13-2009
I agree, no more fantasy crap. I'm starting to get tired of everyone making game after game with wizards, magically lands, and fairy princesses. Don't get me wrong, when done right a fantasy game can be totally awesome. But it's like no one can stop trying to milk the fantasy genre for all its worth. Can't they start being a little more creative? Hell, they can make a game about cavemen fighting dinosaurs or a game about ancient Egypt for all I care. At least it would be something out of the ordinary!
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Ataraxy said on 1:44AM 5-13-2009
Whatever it may be, I hope they at least use a next generation graphics engine this time around.
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Nova said on 1:44AM 5-13-2009
1) Sci-fi and FPS MMOs tend to be gaining steam. 2) Blizzard has the 'track record' of taking a developing genera and doing it right. 3) I don't think they have any business doing a typical MMORPG (why compete with yourself-WoW). 4) Starcraft:ghost was randomly "indefinitely postponed" and was blizzards first attempt at an shooter type action game (developers working on the shooter had to go work somewhere).
All that said, my theory: a new fps/shooter mmo. I've already written rants on other forums about my belief that the next 'huge' MMO will be a FPS/MMO blend but in short, who wouldn't want a MMORPG?
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Jeromai said on 2:05AM 5-13-2009
Warcraft is fantasy. Starcraft is sci-fi. Diablo is fantasy.
That leaves yet another sci-fi, or a modern age setting, or superhero-esque, which are getting to be over-addressed soon. Blizzard might try and muscle out on one of these genres to "do it right" or maybe something more alternative - cyberpunk or steampunk or supernatural-occult?
If it does happen to be cyberpunk or steampunk, I'm going to have to check it out and pray they're done with the raiding tier model. *twitch*
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wowzer said on 2:10AM 5-13-2009
My gut says it's going to be a World War II genre MMO...
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Aetrix said on 2:29AM 5-13-2009
What's going to happen when the new Blizzard MMO is a flop and everybody goes back to World of Warcraft?
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KaiUno said on 4:05AM 5-13-2009
....Blizzard still rakes in teh moolah.
Kaiallard said on 2:33AM 5-13-2009
What will blizzard care...they will still have more money then most banks...
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ToyChristopher said on 2:35AM 5-13-2009
I want something that is like present day fantasy-- no elves or orcs or anything.
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starmonkey said on 7:38AM 5-13-2009
I have no idea what that means :)
Present day fantasy.. but without the fantasy parts.
Holgar said on 10:42AM 5-13-2009
Yea what IS THAT?
ToyChristopher said on 11:31AM 5-13-2009
Well there can be orcs and elves I guess but not playable. It would be a contemporary fantasy setting-- kind of similiar to normal fantasy except it isn't set in an imaginary world but is instead set one earth during present day. Think American Gods by Gaiman or the Dresden Files, or even the setting of Final Fantasy 7/8 a little bit, there is magic but there is also cars/television monitors/science experiments, etc...
Cowy said on 5:47PM 5-14-2009
Hmm... Actually It would be interesting to see a present-day fantasy MMO that tackles the problems that traditional fantasy races (orcs, elves, etc) would bring up. How would modern day look it there had been several races instead of one? What sort of problems would "magical creatures" cause in a modern world... Would sports like basketball and football all be dominated by Orcs? Could you be banned from the Olympics for using performance enhancing enchantments? Would Dwarves corner the market on microbrews?
Would we still have FedEx and UPS? Or would it be DragonEX (Fire insured)?
Would Elves dominate the runways as fashion elitists, or would they become eco-terrorists that put Greenpeace to shame?
Would Unicorn racing be banned, due to high risk of jockey impalement?
Would you be charged with murder if you killed a Centaur without a hunting permit?
I think with the right spin, a modern-day fantasy MMO could be quite interesting.