The Daily Grind: Is "Cataclysm" the name of Blizzard's next MMO?

by Shawn Schuster Jul 2nd 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Rumors

Yesterday, the news first broke that Blizzard had applied for a trademark on the name "Cataclysm", in the fields of computer games, paper-based products, and online entertainment services, according to an article at WoW.com. Speculation has spread across the blog-o-sphere as to what this new trademark could be. Could it be the next WoW expansion? More likely it's the name of their next-gen MMO they're said to be working on.

But what if it's not? As the WoW.com article points out, StarCraft: Ghost was also trademarked, and it never actually materialized. Is this Blizzard trying to throw us a curve ball, or is it really a solid lead into what could be Blizzard's second go at a successful MMO? Of course it's all speculation at this point, but from the information presented, do you think Cataclysm is the next Blizzard MMO?

Tags: blizzard, cataclysm, next-gen, the-daily-grind, world-of-warcraft, wow

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Harry said on 8:08AM 7-02-2009

I somehow doubt this is the new MMO. The name is somehow too generic for me. Cataclysm sounds like a Korean F2P game in perpetual beta.

Lemmo said on 10:43AM 7-02-2009

Sounds about as generic as "Diablo" or "Warcraft" to me.

newskooltrooper said on 8:15AM 7-02-2009

Starcraft: Ghost never materialized, but it was definitely in development (it was shown at E3 one year).

Lethality said on 8:38AM 7-02-2009

The timing is about the same as it was for the trademarks for Burning Crusade and WoTLK before their respective Blizzcons. So, my bet is that this is the next WoW Expansion name.

However, the cataclysm in WoW is something that happened in the past... so what could it mean? Another coming cataclysm? Or did they finally jump the shark and go back in time?

Harry said on 8:43AM 7-02-2009

Cataclysm something in WoW's past... Hm... perhaps the new MMO is a prequel to WoW? That would, erm, suck.

Please, no more Fantasy MMOs. We've got some of those already, thank you very much.

MCRaider said on 8:57AM 7-02-2009

With that statement please no more Fantasy, Sc-Fi, Space/Twitch, FPS/MMO, or modern day MMOs please. We have way to many coming to market.

So that leaves what? Medieval? Could be cool.

On topic: I am very sure this is the next WoW expansion name. A quick jump to the internet tells us.."The cataclysm is the Greek expression for the Deluge, from the Greek kataklysmos, to 'wash down' (kluzein "wash" + kata "down") and it has also been used to describe events such as the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the tenth plague of Egypt.

The modern usage of cataclysm is mostly confined to geological phenomena of high significance, such as the destruction of Pompeii, the Tunguska event, or the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake."

So either Blizzard is doing post-apocalyptic (I really hope not) or it is the Maelstrom.

surfpenguin said on 7:19PM 7-02-2009

"Is Cataclysm the next Blizzard MMO?"

Does it really matter? Blizzard could put a pile of steaming doggie doo into a box, call it an MMO, and it would get the same level of unabashed slobbering that every single one of their products gets. It seems that Blizzard is the only game company one earth that has a 'get out of criticism free' card.

Tony said on 11:54AM 7-02-2009

Apparently you don't read the WoW forums.

Borme22 said on 9:08AM 7-02-2009

Perhaps a Post-Apocalyptic MMO? With a Name like Cataclysm, you can guess they want something big. Or, it could be related to WoW, and although I'm not a fan of the game, it would be interesting.

fedfierce said on 9:22AM 7-02-2009

I'm pretty sure the "Cataclysm" is referring to the sundering in Warcraft's lore. They are definitely hinting something about a Maelstrom/Emerald Dream expansion. I remember before WotLK, they announced the book based on Arthas, and they just recently announced a book about Malfurion Stormrage who has been locked away in the Emerald Dream for all of WoW's lifespan.

Also, the Sundering is what caused the Maelstrom to form in the first place, so I think it's very likely this could be the next expansion, not their new MMO.

The definition on Dictionary.com says Cataclysm is "an extensive flood; deluge." and "a sudden and violent physical action producing changes in the earth's surface." Those definitions pretty much spell out the Sundering, and the Maelstrom.

Atnor said on 9:37AM 7-02-2009

Is it just me, or does Cataclysm sound way too generic to be trademarked? A cataclysmic event is at the core of many, if not most, MMO and even video game lore stories/backgrounds.

It would be analagous to trademarking the word "post-apocalyptic" or even "online".

Even if it is the next Blizzard MMO, like I said, the word is so generic that it offers us nothing else in the way of furthering our knowledge of the project, except that it exists, and we already knew that. :)

Dread said on 10:16AM 7-02-2009

Yay!

A Dragonlance MMO!

Poxus said on 12:05PM 7-02-2009

The only other IP that has its lore going as far back as Wow does. That's what I first thought of too...

wha? said on 9:43AM 7-02-2009

wowcataclysm.com just happened to expire on the exact same day that the trademark was filed, and it is now (and maybe was before, i dont know) held by the same company that handles all of Blizzard's domain names. points to the next expansion if you ask me

Pedro said on 9:52AM 7-02-2009

Post-apocalyptic MMO? They have a lot of potential with that.
I can see them doing something in the line of Hellgate: London. The IP, not the game features obviously.

Some Dude said on 10:14AM 7-02-2009

Does anyone even care? Wow fanbois will just keep playing wow, and anyone that's moved on from wow probably has a lot of blizzard-resentment at this point (myself included).

Let's face it, no matter what they promise it's not like it will be anything other than wow with new graphics/setting, further more when it comes to modern Blizzard "new graphics" doesn't exactly mean mature/adult/dark (even if it IS post-apocalyptic the style in all of their games is following a very specific common trend now) and "new setting" probably just means stolen ideas from someone else.

Blizzard is, and clearly always will be now, about mass market appeal. Honestly their games suffer as a result (though clearly their wallets do not, maybe more of the people who threaten to quit actually should). This is especially true when it comes to mmos where even keeping a specific niche group happy is a challenge and keeping everyone happy just results in numerous watered down and broken mechanics.

wha? said on 10:46AM 7-02-2009

why all the blizzard-resentment? did WoW steal your bike?

Xtofer said on 1:54PM 7-02-2009

I wonder why people like this are so resentful too. Like, you're a victim of Blizzard or something? It's not as if you're entitled to anything from Blizzard. Blizzard is successful because people DO like playing their games, contrary to what you may think is popular opinion. People ARE interested in what the next expansion is because there are a HUGE number of us that play WoW and enjoy it despite your arbitrary hatred for their game.

Your argument would hold more water if Blizzard wasn't so successful at what they do.

Dethgar said on 10:20AM 7-02-2009

They're just trade marking the impending events of 12/21/12.

mysecretid said on 11:01AM 7-02-2009

I think it's a stunt -- you know how Blizzard likes to play coy with the details of their releases. "It'll be released when it's ready" and all that

For whatever reason, I still think Blizzard's next MMORPG will be World of StarCraft.

And they'll make a gazillion bucks from it ...