Kotaku Timeline_ Blizzard's Next Big MMO... Titan

Are you ready for Blizzard’s next MMO? Their first since 2004’s World of Warcraft? Well, tough, Blizzard’s not done making it. The game is codenamed Titan and has been in development for a long, long time. What kind of game is it? We know it’s supposed to have broad appeal. We know that Blizzard has top people working on it. Hey, maybe it’s a sci-fi shooter. Who knows! All we’ve got is the second-ever Kotaku Timeline to show you how the game has been taking shape in the public eye. Rumors about the game began appearing as far back as 2005. And so that’s when our timeline—which we will update in the months and years to come—begins… September 23, 2005—Is Blizzard up to something? Sams: “We very much support our franchises. Whether those will go into the MMOG arena, I’m not willing to say.”cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"e3616d04-4972-4839-a63a-c6975e2e9731","settings":{"advertising":{"macros":{"AD_UNIT":"/23178111854/od.kotaku.com/article","CHILD_UNIT":"article","POST_ID":"5952444","POST_TYPE":"post","CHANNEL":"uncategorized","SECTION":"","SUBSECTION":"","CATEGORIES":"uncategorized","TAGS":"","NOP":"0"},"timeBeforeFirstAd":0}}}).render("cnx-player-main")}); In an interview with CNN, Paul Sams, VP for business operations at Blizzard, mentions that the company may or may not be working on new MMO titles—possibly foreshadowing Titan Read more» August 25, 2006—Blizzard is working on three unannounced games IGN talks to Blizzard’s Paul Sams, who mentions Blizzard working on three titles—what could they be? Warcraft? Starcraft? Diablo? Or perhaps something completely different? Read more» April 27—Yep, Blizzard’s definitely up to something Blizzard updates their job openings page, with positions pertaining to a next-gen MMO—Kotaku wonders if this is about WoW, yono arcade or something else entirely. Read more» August 29—Jeffrey Kaplan reveals Blizzard’s plans Kaplan: “Obviously as a company we’d be very interested in further exploring the MMO space.” CVG talks to WoW lead developer Jeffrey Kaplan (aka Tigole) who confirms that yes, Blizzard is definitely doing another MMO. Read more» December 13—A “blue” speaks; new project confirmed Drysc: “It is an unannounced Next-Gen MMO.” Blizzard staffer Drysc (nowadays known as Bashiok) reveals that the new MMO project is not related to WoW, but refuses to say anything else. Read more» October 13—WoW’s lead dev is working on the new project Jeff Kaplan, at Blizzcon ’08, reveals that he’s involved in the new MMO’s development as well. Read more @ MTV» October 16—Q&A with Blizzard’s CEO Morhaime: “We’re trying to create a different massively multiplayer experience.” In an interview with Wired, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime talks a little bit about the new project—although he doesn’t want to reveal too much. Read more @ Wired» November 13—Here’s some more vague adjectives to describe the game! VG247 interviews Blizzard COO Paul Sams about the upcoming MMO. He promises the game will be “cool, new, different, [and] next generation.” Read more» February 12—WoW Lead Moves To Blizzard’s Next MMO Jeff Kaplan announces that he is going to work on the new MMO full-time, leaving WoW behind. Read more» May 23—New MMO, new IP Zarhym: “It’ll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch.” During a Q&A session with WoWBlues.com, WoW community manager Zarhym mentions a few things about the new MMO. Read more» September 14—The new MMO will have a broader appeal Gamespot talks to Activison-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who drops the morsel that the game will have a broader appeal than the likes of StarCraft and Diablo, whatever that means. Guess it’s a shooter, right? Read more @ Gamespot» September 16—Blizzard licenses CityEngine CinemaBlend reports that Blizzard, according to CityEngine developer Procedural Inc’s press release, has licensed their procedural urban environment generation tool for use in their future games. Could this mean lots of random, variable settings for the upcoming MMO? (Thanks, anonymous tipster!) Read more @ CinemaBlend» October 23—Don’t expect news anytime soon During a Blizzcon ’10 interview, Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design, says (among a few other things) that Blizzard’s not planning an announcement related to their new project for at least another yono business sbi year. Read more @ Titan Forums» November 30—Whoops! Blizzard’s product slate leaked Chinese MMO news site MMOGameSite.com posts a purported leaked Blizzard timetable, which they’ve received yono business from an anonymous reader. It shows several release dates for a few well-known franchises, plus a new one, labelled Titan, slated for Q4 2013. (Later, Blizzard China’s general manager gets fired over the incident.) Read more @ MMOGameSite.com» December 17—Blizzard wants only the best working on Titan Destructoid talks to WoW executive producer Frank Pearce, who reveals that they’ve let the world know about the project only for recruitment purposes. Read more» February 10—The Blizzard CEO is still just teasing us about Titan Ars Technica grabs hold of CEO Mike Morhaime, and manage to wring a few bits of Titan-related info out of him. For example: “We’re not trying to make a WoW sequel.” Spill, man, spill! Read more @ Ars Technica» March 8—Titan’s already playable, apparently Sams: “We’re very confident in that product. It’s an awesome one, we’re playing it already.” Blizzard COO Paul Sams tells Gamasutra that they’re already enjoying the heck out of Titan Read more» June 29—Titan might end up being casual Gamasutra talks to an industry analyst who believes that Blizzard might have its sights on winning over the casual crowd with Titan Read more» September 29—No Titan at this year’s Blizzcon A Blizzard representative tells IGN that, disappointingly, Titan still won’t make its debut at Blizzcon ’11. Read more» November 8—Has Titan’s level designer been laid off? Massively reports that, according to an anonymous tipster, senior Titan designer John Staats no longer works at Blizzard. Read more» February 29—Massive layoffs at Blizzard Over 600 Blizzard employees are laid off. This supposedly doesn’t affect their upcoming titles (including Titan), as the majority of the employees were in departments not related to game development. Read more» September 6—Here’s some concept art from a man who’s working on Titan Kotaku takes a look at Blizzard senior artist Nick Carver’s work, who is currently working on Titan, among other projects. Read more» September 28—There are quite a few people working on Titan Pardo: “We are definitely in the middle of development at this point.” Blizzard’s VP of game design Rob Pardo reveals to PC Gamer that Titan’s development is already in full swing, with over a hundred people actively working on the project. Read more @ PC Gamer» developer: blizzard entertainment publisher: blizzard entertainment platform: tba release date: tba genre: massively multiplayer online game modes: online multiplayer only rating: tba wikipedia» unofficial titan wiki» unofficial titan forums»