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Topic: Blizzard North shutdown, Diablo III in the works? (Read 11386 times)
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23657
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From GameSpot: Blizzard shutters northern outpostBlizzard shutters northern outpost
Diablo studio closed; remaining staff relocated to Southern Calif HQ, put on "unannounced project"--likely Diablo 3.
The team behind the enormously popular Diablo franchise--most recently known as Blizzard North, the Bay Area outpost of Irvine, Calif-based Blizzard Entertainment--has been officially shuttered. Arguably, the office was moribund for months, those with ties to the Diablo franchise having departed months or even years ago to form studios of their own.
In a statement today, Blizzard president and founder Mike Morhaime said the relocation will "improve our efficiency as a company" and "represents an opportunity for all of our teams to have regular, direct input on each other's projects."
Those from Blizzard North who were offered relocation packages "will continue work on an unannounced project," which most believe is the third installment in the hugely popular Diablo series.
The studio that came to be known as Blizzard North was founded in 1993 by David Brevik and brothers Erich and Max Schaefer. The team--known then as Condor--pitched and sold Diablo to Blizzard. In 1996, the studio was fully acquired by Blizzard.
Blizzard North alumni have gone on to form at least three independent game studios of note: ArenaNet, formed in March of 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt, and Jeff Strain (and since acquired by NCsoft); Flagship Studios, founded in 2003 by Brevik, the Schaefer brothers, and Bill Roper (among others); and Castaway Entertainment, also founded in 2003 by brothers Stefan and Mike Scandizzo.
By Curt Feldman -- GameSpot
POSTED: 08/01/05 03:12 PM PST
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MrHat
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7432
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
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/jizz
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Paelos
Contributor
Posts: 27075
Error 404: Title not found.
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NOWISTHEWINTEROFYOURDISCONTENT!
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CPA, CFO, Sports Fan, Game when I have the time
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60350
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MrHat and I will be unavailable for comment after launch.
Even if it sucks.
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angry.bob
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5442
We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.
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Eh, you won't be able to alt-tab out of it and will be 800x600 only. And it will use the same engine as Diablo 2.
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Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60350
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Ok. Fine with me. Clickity click click.
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Samwise
Moderator
Posts: 19324
sentient yeast infection
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God forbid they work on something I'd play, like Starcraft 2.  |
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stray
Terracotta Army
Posts: 16818
has an iMac.
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Three words: Dawn of War
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MrHat
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7432
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
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God forbid they work on something I'd play, like Starcraft 2. /jizz Mother of God. |
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Llava
Contributor
Posts: 4602
Rrava roves you rong time
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I will so play this. I don't even like either of the Diablos much anymore, but out of loyalty to the name, I must play it.
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That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell. -Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60350
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They've been working on Starcraft II since at least last October. Don't ask how I know that.
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stray
Terracotta Army
Posts: 16818
has an iMac.
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but out of loyalty to the name, I must play it.
I don't know what's worse. Your statement or MrHat's repeated use of /jizz. |
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Llava
Contributor
Posts: 4602
Rrava roves you rong time
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I played Diablo obsessively when it came out. It was my introduction to online gaming.
Then when Diablo II came out, it reawakened the passion I had thought long dead. I've always been a gamer, but this was my first catass game.
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That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell. -Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
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Margalis
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12335
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I have low hopes for SC2 after Warcraft 3. War3 was a step backwards from SC in a lot of ways. Hopefully they will keep the psuedo-roleplay shit to Warcraft.
Edit: I never understood why there was a Blizzard North anyway. Seems odd to have 2 different parts of the company located in different areas. Especially when you aren't talking about some huge company with a wide portfolio of games.
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vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
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Samwise
Moderator
Posts: 19324
sentient yeast infection
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Honestly, if they made another SC expansion, same engine and everything, I'd still buy it. And I'd definitely prefer that over something like WC3, which just didn't grab me at all.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23657
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Edit: I never understood why there was a Blizzard North anyway. Seems odd to have 2 different parts of the company located in different areas. Especially when you aren't talking about some huge company with a wide portfolio of games.
Blizzard North was originally Condor Games who were contracted by Blizzard to do Diablo and then Blizzard acquired them. |
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Signe
Terracotta Army
Posts: 18942
Muse.
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but out of loyalty to the name, I must play it.
I don't know what's worse. Your statement or MrHat's repeated use of /jizz. What does that mean, anyway? |
My Sig Image: hath rid itself of this mortal coil.
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stray
Terracotta Army
Posts: 16818
has an iMac.
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It means that we now have billions of Blizzard fanbois in this thread alone.
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Roac
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3338
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Gah, never liked Diablo 1/2. Did like both SC and WC series, and thought SC > WC mainly because of the racial divides. WC seems too thrown together by comparison, but they're both fun.
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-Roac
King of Ravens
"Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us." -SC
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Mesozoic
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1359
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I wonder why people assume D3 rather than SC2. It would seem like SC is more due for a sequel, and that D3 would drain some WoW subscribers. Sure, their RTS side got a (relatively) recent sequel in the form of WC3, but theres no revenue loss for hoisting SC2 on those people who might migrate from WC3 to SC2.
(alphabet soup, I know.)
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...any religion that rejects coffee worships a false god.
-Numtini
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El Gallo
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2213
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PLEASE
WORLD
OF
DIABLO
PLEASE THX
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This post makes me want to squeeze into my badass red jeans.
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Mesozoic
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1359
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no, no...Diablo of Warcraft 4tw.
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...any religion that rejects coffee worships a false god.
-Numtini
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El Gallo
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2213
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I would get my legs run over by a bus just so I could collect disability and catass my life away.
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This post makes me want to squeeze into my badass red jeans.
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42666
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Am I the only motherfucker who just never got all that interested in either Diablo or Starcraft? I could give two shits if they ever made a sequel to either of those games again. I'd rather the bitches just fix the fucking Moonrunner server and smash the harvesting bug bullshit in WoW.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23657
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I wonder why people assume D3 rather than SC2. It would seem like SC is more due for a sequel, and that D3 would drain some WoW subscribers. Sure, their RTS side got a (relatively) recent sequel in the form of WC3, but theres no revenue loss for hoisting SC2 on those people who might migrate from WC3 to SC2.
(alphabet soup, I know.)
Well I don't know how many people were left at Blizzard North that worked on Diablo I or II but that was the whole purpose of the team up (t)here (making Diablos) so it would make sense to keep them on Diablo III if that was in fact what they were working on and they had been making good progress rather than shift them over to new projects. |
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tazelbain
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6603
tazelbain
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Starcraft done with instansizing like GW.
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"Me am play gods"
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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You people need to lay off the shit. Seriously. The braintrust has been dispersed, spawning three reasons I don't care about this news: GuildWars, Hellgate, and... uh... well I guess Castaway isn't doing anything, but you get my point. Mike O'Brien is working programming magic at ArenaNet and the Schaefers are working design magic at Flagship. I'll be bold and state DIII is going to be another WCIII, at best. So will SCII. You can't go home again, fuckers. Just ask Kerrigan.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Paelos
Contributor
Posts: 27075
Error 404: Title not found.
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I just liked the Diablo atmosphere. The music, the quests, the scenes. It felt more immersive than other games I've played, except Deus Ex. Most immersive game ever.
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CPA, CFO, Sports Fan, Game when I have the time
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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Thief II > Deus Ex, IMO. But I'm weird like that.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Rodent
Terracotta Army
Posts: 699
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Thief II > Deus Ex, IMO. But I'm weird like that.
No love the Dark project? Otherwise you are correct. |
Wiiiiii!
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Samwise
Moderator
Posts: 19324
sentient yeast infection
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So will SCII. You can't go home again, fuckers. Just ask Kerrigan.
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Merusk
Terracotta Army
Posts: 27449
Badge Whore
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Gah, never liked Diablo 1/2. Did like both SC and WC series, and thought SC > WC mainly because of the racial divides. WC seems too thrown together by comparison, but they're both fun.
The Diablo hate must be an age thing. I never got it either, and I really tried. The one thing I REALLY don't get about Diablo is the folks who bitch about MMOs just being 'click to win' games for 'the uber shiny.' Which is all Diablo is. My mind just can't bridge that divide and it makes me turn to porn browsing any time I try and reconcile it. I'm not sure I follow you on the WC seeming thrown-together thing. Maybe because Warcraft was the first RTS I'd ever played, but it all makes sense to me. (As logicly as a video game CAN make sense, that is.) Am I the only motherfucker who just never got all that interested in either Diablo or Starcraft? I could give two shits if they ever made a sequel to either of those games again. I'd rather the bitches just fix the fucking Moonrunner server and smash the harvesting bug bullshit in WoW.
I never got into Starcraft either, Haemish, so I'm with you there. I'm not as big a sci-fi geek as I am a fantasy one, though, so I think that has something to do with it. It was a good game, and all but really I enjoyed WC3 a lot more. Of course, given the hate a lot of RTS players have for WC3 I know i'm the oddball there, too. I enjoyed all the races, and actually LIKED the Hero characters. They weren't uber-tipping and you're exploring anyway, sojust send the hero with the group. All the BS people would give about "omg i have 2 lvl the h3ro!? sux!" was simply because it ruined their 'perfect' RTS build-order paradise. For folks with a big chunk of 'explorer' in them like me it was a great feature. But I digress. |
The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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Thief II > Deus Ex, IMO. But I'm weird like that.
No love the Dark project? Otherwise you are correct. Plenty of love, really. Probably a mood thing. Right now I am appreciative of T2's large maps. |
Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question.
They called it The Prayer, its answer was law
Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Samprimary
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no, no...Diablo of Warcraft 4tw.
World of Diablo of Starwarcraft of III |
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Shockeye
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 6668
Skinny-dippin' in a sea of Lee, I'd propose on bended knee...
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Am I the only motherfucker who just never got all that interested in either Diablo or Starcraft? I could give two shits if they ever made a sequel to either of those games again. I'd rather the bitches just fix the fucking Moonrunner server and smash the harvesting bug bullshit in WoW.
/agree |
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