diablo-3 posts

Will Blizzard show their next MMO at BlizzCon 2010?

by Kyle Horner Jan 8th 2010 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, News items, Opinion

WoW.com's Zach Yonzon takes a speculative look at BlizzCon 2010 and all the possibilities that lie ahead. The article predicts that Blizzard will officially announce their sophomore MMO effort this year, which seems likely given StarCraft II's impending release and Diablo III being a known quantity. To top it off, the developer probably wouldn't mind stifling some of the substantial buzz building up around Star Wars: The Old Republic.

We'd love to see the cyberpunk MMO described in the article, but who wouldn't want a sci-fi MMO that's like Diablo's dark fantasy to Warcraft's light-heartedness? Nobody (well, except for Blizzard) really knows what the future holds, although for now you can read about it and share your thoughts if that helps out -- at least, it helps us feel slightly less helpless when pondering our MMO gaming future.

Tags: activision-blizzard, bioware, blizzard, blizzard-mmo, blizzcon, cyberpunk, diablo-3, diablo-iii, ea, electronic-arts, lucasarts, predictions, speculation, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, starcraft, starcraft-2, starcraft-ii, swtor, the-old-republic, warcraft

20k BlizzCon tickets gone in eight measly minutes

by Kyle Horner Aug 7th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items

Klondike ain't got nothing on BlizzCon tickets when they're selling out faster than fiber optic internet on steroids.We're pretty sure there are thousands of people who would commit all kinds of unspeakable acts in order to acquire one. Maybe next year they're hold a Running Man style competition, or they could just hold a random lottery. Fans would probably do whatever Blizzard asked them, just to get the tiniest of peeks at their next big thing.

Surely though, people must be expecting some serious info to drop if the tickets sold out that quickly. Obviously there's a slim chance Blizzard's next MMO could be announced this year. There's also a chance we'll just hear more about already announced titles, but what else is there to know about StarCraft II at this point? No, we're holding out hope for MMO 2, because what's life without a little dangerous hoping?

Tags: activision-blizzard, blizzard, blizzcon, diablo, diablo-3, starcraft-2, world-of-warcraft, wow

Don't forget BlizzCon tickets go on sale today

by Lesley Smith May 16th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Events, real-world

If all goes to plan, tickets for BlizzCon 2009. the must-attend event of the year, are due to go on sale in a couple of hours time. This year's BlizzCon is being held on the weekend of 21st August at the Anaheim Convention Center in Los Angeles.

Our sister site WoW Insider will be updating all day and if you're planning on joining the queue for tickets, you might want to check out their guide to the event. If you are, set up a Battle.net Account right now and then read up on how the new ticket system is going to work. Remember the first batch of tickets is going on sale at 10am PDT today, the second batch will be released at some point on 30th May, but we suggest you try and get them today if you can, as they are sure to sell out fast.

Tags: blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, blizzcon, blizzcon-2009, diablo-3, diablo-iii, starcraft-2, starcraft-ii, world-of-warcraft, wow-insider

BlizzCon 2009 announced

by Krystalle Voecks Feb 17th 2009 at 12:35PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, real-world, News items

Blizzard, apparently deciding that listing BlizzCon so late last year was a bad idea, announced today that there will indeed be a BlizzCon 2009 according to a post on our sister site, WoW Insider. This year's BlizzCon will be held on August 21st & 22nd at the Anaheim Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. Among the many things that we're told to expect this year, Blizzard fans can look forward to:

Hands-on play time with upcoming Blizzard Entertainment games
Discussion panels with Blizzard Entertainment developers
Competitive and casual tournaments for players to showcase their talents
Community contests with great prizes
Commemorative merchandise based on Blizzard Entertainment's game universes
A silent auction
More exciting activities and attractions to be announced

With the further announcement that they're planning to open up additional space in the convention center, more people should be able to attend versus last year's numbers. Also, considering Blizz's love of announcing big things at events, perhaps we'll get some news on this new MMO they're working on. Now, if they can fix the issues with the failoc that cropped up last year, this should be an interesting event for all those who love Blizzard games.

One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

Tags: blizzard, blizzcon, breaking, diablo-3, new-mmo, starcraft-2, world-of-warcraft, wow

Blizzard humbly denies keeping PC gaming alive

by Shawn Schuster Dec 5th 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, Economy, Expansions, Interviews, MMO industry

In a recent interview with PC Retail, Blizzard's COO Paul Sams gives us a look into the present and future state of the company after the launch of the record-breaking Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft. Sams touches on the work Blizzard is doing between Starcraft II, Diablo III and their upcoming "unannounced" MMO, still in the works.

What we found most interesting about this interview was Sams' view on PC gaming, discouraging that water-cooler rumor that MMOs (namely WoW) are keeping PC gaming alive in this troubled market. He points out that their support of games like Starcraft II and Diablo III shows that they believe in the longevity of PC gaming across the board. "I think that there's always going to be a very big place for PCs – they are multi-use devices." Sams stated. "Consoles are brilliant, but at this stage are not multi-use devices, or at least not compared to a PC."

[Via WoWInsider]

Tags: blizzard, diablo-3, diablo-iii, paul-sams, pc-gaming, pc-retail, starcraft-2, starcraft-ii, world-of-warcraft, wow

Blizzcast #5 takes care of post-Worldwide Invitational 2008 business

by Samuel Axon Aug 30th 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Podcasts, Interviews

The latest Blizzcast is live! This fifth outing is the post-Worldwide Invitational episode. The bulk of its running time is dedicated to Diablo 3. If you're interested in that pseudo-MMO, action-RPG goodness, then there is a ton of information in there. Diablo 3 Community Manager Bashiok interviews Lead Designer Jay Wilson about the game. It's detailed stuff (e.g., several minutes dedicated to Blizzard's reasons for abandoning the grid-like inventory management of the earlier Diablo games), so Blizzard fans should check it out.

Of course, here at Massively we have a special interest in World of Warcraft. We're sad to report that Blizzcast #5 is a little light on WoW or Wrath of the Lich King discussion. Community Manager Nethaera participates in the first half of the podcast, and she talks a little bit about WotLK, but she mostly shares in the post-Diablo 3 announcement glee.

One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

Tags: bashiok, blizzard, blizzcast, diablo, diablo-3, diablo-iii, expansion, jay-wilson, nethaera, podcast, starcraft-2, starcraft-ii, world-of-warcraft, wotlk, wow, wrath-of-the-lich-king, wwi08

Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?

by Craig Withers Jul 17th 2008 at 9:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EverQuest, Game mechanics, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, Behind the Curtain

I've been thinking recently about loss. Having been incredibly lucky with my own brush with the possibility of losing my World of Warcraft characters, I got to thinking. Not only about what I would have done if things hadn't worked out for me, but about how loss works in MMOs today.

Last week, Gabriel wrote a fantastic column about item decay in games past, present and future. I've been playing Diablo 2 again lately, for obvious reasons, and I had found myself thinking on the similarities and differences between the durability system in Diablo and WoW.

I've said before that my MMO career started with Star Wars Galaxies, so I don't have the long-term experience many of the other writers here at Massively do. I've never had to worry about making corpse runs in Everquest, or had to concern myself with losing my items in Ultima Online. While Galaxies did have item decay, it wasn't set to a punishing degree – items did wear out eventually, but at a reasonable rate. When an item eventually gave out, you crafted yourself a replacement, or you picked one up from another player. By doing so, you knew you were contributing to the economy, so if you tried hard you could convince yourself that you were actually helping the game.

Tags: behind-the-curtain, ddo, diablo-2, diablo-3, dungeons-and-dragons-online, everquest, featured, imgdc, indie-mmo-game-devel..., item-decay, item-loss, permadeath, permaloss, player-death, richard-bartle, star-wars-galaxies, swg, ultima-online, world-of-warcraft, wow

Vivendi and Activision merge nears completion as Delaware Court denies preliminary injunction

by Matt Warner Jul 3rd 2008 at 9:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Business models, Events, real-world, MMO industry

It's a hectic summer over at Blizzard HQ. Inundating the masses with Wrath of the Lich King across the pond at the World Wide Invitational, announcing Diablo 3 on top of that, and battling it out in the courts against the kingpin responsible for World of Warcraft's bot brigade. Aside from all that, there's the whole pending merger with Activision and Vivendi approval process with Blizzard Entertainment right in the middle.

The latest legal development involves a preliminary injunction filed by some shareholders who weren't satisfied with the $27.50 per share offer. The injunction suit was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery last February by the Wayne County Employee's Retirement System in an attempt to halt the merger. Activision has announced that a Delaware Court junked that preliminary injunction, a decision made by the very illuminated and WoW-knowledgeable Chief Judge William B. Chandler III. Activision will be holding a stockholder meeting next Tuesday on July 8, if approved the merger will complete on July 9th and a new titan, Activision Blizzard will join forces and the gaming world will never be the same again.

We wonder how many level 70 characters the Judge plays or maybe he's already level 75 in the WotlK beta?

Tags: activision, activision-blizzard, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, corporate-merger, delaware-court, diablo-3, industry, legal, vivendi, vivendi-games, wayne-country-employee-retirement-system, world-of-warcraft, wrath-of-the-lich-king

Blizzard's "Next-Gen MMO" is not the project codenamed "Hydra"

by Samuel Axon Jun 30th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, News items, Rumors

We've been speculating about Blizzard's next MMO for quite a long time. We're not just talking about the splash screen from last week (which panned out to be Diablo III, a non-massive game). There have been job postings on the company's website advertising various positions in a team working on a "Next-Gen MMO," which is confirmed as a totally new title, not an expansion for World of Warcraft. There have also been murmurs of a project codenamed "Hydra." We've always wondered -- are Hydra and the Next-Gen MMO one and the same?

Now we have our answer: no. A reader of our sister site WoW Insider noticed a caption that read "Hydra" on an image (above) in Blizzard's Diablo III gallery. Yep, Diablo III is Hydra. So if your sole interest is Galaxy of Starcraft, move along now. Hydra is not the savior you've been waiting for. And as WoW Insider noted, Blizzard is working on three different projects at once. That's a lot on its plate. Now that Diablo III has been announced, we're not expecting any news about the Next-Gen MMO anytime soon.

[Via WoW Insider]

Tags: blizzard, diablo-3, diablo-iii, galaxy-of-starcraft, hydra, image, images, new-titles, next-gen-mmo, rumor, unannounced, universe-of-starcraft, world-of-starcraft, wow-insider

Blizzard to Activision: we choose you

by Chris Chester Jun 30th 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Business models, Interviews, MMO industry

We don't know if anybody has told you, but Blizzard is actually kind of a big deal. Not many companies can hold the attention of their target audience for an entire week with naught but a series of cryptic splash pages. They're such a big deal, in fact, that when it came time for Vivendi to choose a partner for their big merger, Blizzard's preference for Activision was instrumental in their ultimate decision. That is, if Blizzard COO Paul Sams is to be believed.

It was no secret that Blizzard was the real prize in the merger, having pulled in approximately $1.2 billion for Vivendi in 2007 alone. With the twin juggernauts of Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 looming on the horizon, and their "next-gen MMO" project still lurking in the shadows, it seems clear that Sams' comments are anything but idle boasting. According to Sams, the leverage they have in this arrangement is what is going to allow them to preserve their existing management structure that has proved so spectacularly successful. I think that's something we can all get behind.

Tags: activision, activision-blizzard, blizzard, diablo-3, interview, merger, paul-sams, starcraft-2, vivendi, vivendi-games, world-of-warcraft

The Daily Grind: What's Blizzard's next big thing?

by Akela Talamasca Jun 29th 2008 at 8:00AM

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

Now that Blizzard's finally announced Diablo 3, ending a feverish period of second guessing and rampant speculation, one thing is clear: Despite how you may feel about the big reveal, the specter of Diablo 3 can finally be laid to rest. Waiting in the wings, however, is ... what?

Starcraft 2 is in process, so it's extremely unlikely that Blizzard would dilute that audience by announcing a Starcraft MMO. Ditto with a Diablo MMO, and we don't even know what its release date might be. World of Warcraft has Wrath of the Lich King coming (probably) next year. Can we assume that the next announcement will concern their "next-gen MMO"? Is that project the oft-mentioned "Hydra"? With two active fantasy titles and one science fiction game, what could the next big thing possibly be?

Tags: blizzard, diablo-3, hydra, next-gen-mmo, speculation, starcraft-2, tdg, the-daily-grind, wrath-of-the-lich-king

The Daily Grind: Would you play a Diablo MMO?

by Kyle Horner Jun 26th 2008 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Rumors

Whether or not this Blizzard teaser has anything to do with Diablo -- and/or Blizzard's next-gen MMO -- we have to wonder how many of you would be interested in playing an MMO version of Diablo. There's definitely a segment of you out there who would be completely fine with an MMO-style Diablo 2 complete with modernized graphics, but somehow we're thinking Blizzard would try a bit harder than that. Mechanically speaking, a Diablo MMO would probably be very different from its older brethren, but it also couldn't be too similar to World of Warcraft either. There would probably be some mechanical similarities and head-nods towards the games that came before it but for the most part we imagine the Diablo MMO as a very different experience.

There's also the chance that a new Diablo game could be part singleplayer and part MMO, which would merely be an extension of previous games. So what do you think? Does any of this sound good to you or would you rather just play more World of Warcraft -- or even World of Starcraft -- instead?

Tags: blizzard, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, diablo-mmo, starcraft, teaser, warcraft, world-of-warcraft, wow

Amidst speculation, Blizzard VP implies completely new game

by Samuel Axon Jun 25th 2008 at 9:00PM

Filed under: New titles, News items, Rumors

Blizzard fans all over the internet have worked themselves up into a frenzy over a vague splash screen at the company's website -- a melting wall of ice adorned with rune or sigil-like markings. Everyone's speculating. Is it Diablo 3? Maybe it's just a promo for Wrath of the Lich King. After all, the ice motif seems to fit, right?

Maybe not. During a Q&A session at GDC Paris 08, Blizzard VP Rob Pardo was asked to comment on "the new game." He replied saying, "So you want me to announce the game before the announcement?" That was a classic press conference or Q&A blunder; you're not supposed to accept the premise of an unwanted or hostile question!

Tags: announcement, blizzard, blizzard.com, diablo-3, diablo-mmo, gdc, gdc-paris, gdc-paris-08, gdc-paris-2008, next-gen-mmo, paris-gdc, paris-gdc-2008, qA, rob-pardo, rumor, speculation, splash-page, website, world-of-starcraft, wrath-of-the-lich-king

Blizzard.com teases everyone with new splash page

by Kyle Horner Jun 23rd 2008 at 7:06AM

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Rumors

What does it mean when Blizzard teases us so? Well, it could mean many things. This very type of teaser has been used for several other announcements in the past, so your guess is as good as ours. If we had to wager an educated guess, we would say that a closed beta start date and release date is about to be announced for Wrath of the Lich King coinciding with the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. Although we'd also love to think that Blizzard was close to announcing their next MMO, but that probably won't happen for a very long time.

Then again, as far as we know Blizzard has never teased us about a release date. So if you want to start making your wild guesses now, that piece of information is a good place to start. If it's not WotLK-related, our second guess would be an announcement that Diablo 3 is being "thawed out" for everyone in the near future. Yeah, we know it's a (lame) stretch -- but that's half the fun of it!

Update: After some poking around, we've discovered something interesting. Out of all the Blizzard websites, diablo.com is the only one that points our browsers to this splash page. Simple coincidence or subtle hint? We'll let you guys be the judge.

Update 2: Apparently diablo.com has pointed to blizzard.com for a while now. It looks like simple coincidence is much more likely in this scenario.

Tags: activision-blizzard, blizzard, blizzard-worldwide-invitational, breaking, diablo, diablo-3, diablo-iii, teaser, wotlk, wrath-of-the-lich-king

The Digital Continuum: Single-player MMO

by Kyle Horner May 3rd 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Injecting the single-player special sauce into MMOs is hardly a new idea. In fact Phantasy Star Online has done it more than once in the past. It's also been done in small amount, though. Nobody has taken the chance to go all out and merge the single-player and massively multiplayer styles of gaming together like a tasty digital version of peanut butter and chocolate.

My recent excursion into the Age of Conan closed beta has made me realize that I really enjoy having some singleplayer flavor in my massively multiplayer online games. There is definitely something to be said for a game that can give you the best of both worlds: solo story and grouping experiences.

Tags: activision-blizzard, age-of-conan, baal, blizzard, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, eidos, featured, funcom, rpg, singleplayer, the-digital-continuum