Read above, in short they get job security and become cogs without design input since the design/system work is already done, mate.
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Blizzard Acquires Spellbreak Studio Proletariat
- Thread starter NeoRaider
- Start date
We still don't know their actual role in this. They've been with Blizzard since last month if I'm not mistaken
As their CEO said, their work is going to be included in Dragonflight. Surely Blizzard isn't going to add random things to the expansion
Lets also not forget post-release patches and new content
maybe for the short term, but a large patch/mini expansion during Dragonflight may take up new ideas they can contribute to meaningfully rather than "just tech support". Or the expansion after.
Yeah, and Blizzard will be owned by Microsoft soon barring the acquisition falling through unexpectedly, so that poster is correct.
The sad truth. What they turned the game into really pissed me off
I grew up on this and played it for 14 god damn years. I really hope they can bounce back but they need lots of convincing to bring me back
High expectations for the next WoW then? :P
I jest, they're probably filling gaps as you say.
I think what people mean is that this studio is being absorbed by Blizzard. It's not going to be another studio. It's part of Blizzard now. Like Vicarious Visions. It's part of Blizzard and working on Diablo 4. I highly doubt that when Microsoft's acquisition goes through they will separate Blizzard Albany to reform Vicarious Visions to work on their own games again. It's just a part of Blizzard now, helping and working on Blizzard's games.
When Sony bought Firesprite, Firesprite bought a smaller developer. But that wasn't another studio for Sony. That was just more developers for Firesprite.
Won't matter in the long run if Blizzard doesn't invest in QA, which has been a huge problem for the last 2 expansions.
ABK is really on a hiring spree. Blizzard especially. They seem to be working on quite a bit of stuff.
OR
hear me out
Keep them working with WoW teams and then after the unification is done
Phantom Dust reboot finally happens
I'm sorry i can't take anyone that brings up Phantom Dust seriously 😭
It almost happened
The dream realised
And then dashed before our eyes
"Why do they keep putting more devs on the game when it doesn't even have any content?" Gee, I wonder why.
They're a private company, they could have said no if that wasn't the best course of action for them. With the "success" of Spellbreak, I'd guess it was either that or shutting down.
I mean, that's all just semantics. It's obvious that poster just meant that is another studio that will now be part of Microsoft in some way, even if they will no longer be their own studio and absorbed into another that will be part of Microsoft. I have no idea what these responses are supposed to be or convey. Is this like some kind anti-fanboyism response or something? That post didn't come off as fanboyism to me, but I don't know
I'm worried for them given Blizzard and Activision Blizzard long history of worker abuse and mistreatment and the latter's history of mass layoffs of support groups regardless of record sales. Given that their still denying their wrong doing despite monsters of evidence now, I hope they can do a Raven Software and unionize.
I see this as they can't get people to work for them and talent has been leaving in mass, so the easiest way to get talented people is just buy a small studio. They aren't going to work on anything other than WoW so clearly they didn't get bought out for their BR experience or unique design... they want bodies.
If I had a nickel for every time the words "The WoW team is bigger than its ever been!" had been uttered, which started happening in between MoP and WoD, I'd be able to acquire Proletariat myself.
Mixed thoughts on this - I know people at Proletariat, and they're all very smart and talented. Many are ex-Turbine employees and have experience on MMOs like LOTRO/DDO, so I expect they'll be able to knock WoW content out of the park.
It's a little sad because I know they put their heart and soul into Spellbreak, and it sucks that it wasn't successful enough for them to be the captains of their own ship. I hope they're getting some nice compensation out of the deal.
It's a little sad because I know they put their heart and soul into Spellbreak, and it sucks that it wasn't successful enough for them to be the captains of their own ship. I hope they're getting some nice compensation out of the deal.
This might help explain why Blizzard may somehow be able to push out Dragonflight this year. And that is a hilariously ironic name for a dev studio considering this situation.
Remember liking a lot about Spellbreak, but it just not being a good BR, due to the match pacing, you'd just be chasing the zone never really seeing anyone until the end zone, which would be a blast, but a couple minutes of fun in a 15-20 minute match. Did mean to give it another try one day, but completely forgot. Is a shame they'll be gobbled up into Blizzard, but better than going under.
This is much less about launch and more about continued long term support. Which is why I don't understand folks calling them a support studio. They're being brought in as developers to add to the team.
I truely hope so. I'd hate to see nee blood just mining (with all due respect) away.
as the article mentions the studio is made up of a lot of live service / online ex-devs and they have experience with stylized graphics, medieval settings, and remote workforce.
A shame they're being absorbed instead of integrated and are being relegated to working on WoW of all things. Still at least they all have job security now and hopefully it came with a salary or QOL increase of some kind. Still think Spellbreak had potential if it only stepped out of the saturated BR genre
Partially this, partially the desire for content in live service games is ever growing, and with quality bars going up the manpower required to put out said content is rising rapidly as well. More efficient to buy up a studio with 100 devs in one go than have to go through 100 hiring processes to staff up organically.
My condolences. It doesn't sound fun going from working on your own original IP to being tossed into the WoW expansion grinder. I genuinely hope the work experience at Blizzard has improved, but I also don't have any confidence in it while Bobby is still in charge.
After they announced that Spellbreak was shutting down, I was sad for the devs because that means layoffs. This acquisition probably was their best choice to keep the jobs. So I'm glad they still have work. Hope they are safe and happy.
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Well, that would explain why Spellbreak is getting shuttered, company had already been allocated to the WoW mines. Better than the CoD coal-face, but not by much.
