Blizzard's unannounced first person game is a PvP focused FPS

[Nirolak]

Full listing of what we know:

• Blizzard has been hiring for an unannounced first person game
• Today, we found out it's a first person shooter
• The job postings say it's a competitive game and a PvP game
• The characters have powers and abilities in addition to weapons
• We know the game also has player usable vehicles
• The game also features organic "creatures" in addition to humanoids
• The game also has "units"
• The game features multiple game modes
• It's built on a proprietary engine, which seemed to exist previously, so presumably the Overwatch engine
• This seems to be the game StarCraft 2/Heroes of the Storm game director Dustin Browder moved to direct
• My personal bet is on it being a StarCraft game based on all the information thus far, maybe more on the scale of Battlefield than Overwatch
• To be clear, these job postings are all in a separate section from Overwatch, which is where the job postings for an "Overwatch 2" would go given how they handled job postings for every other sequel, including the upcoming Diablo 4.
• Since people keep asking, it's certainly not impossible it's a Battle Royale game, though I should note they started hiring for it in November 2016. Mind, even if it is more like Battlefield, I wouldn't be surprised if it had a Battle Royale mode.

New job postings:

SENIOR / PRINCIPAL GAME DESIGNER
Unannounced Project•Irvine

Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a talented and experienced Senior or Principal Designer with experience in developing weapons, abilities, and gameplay systems in action or first-person shooter games. As a Senior or Principal Designer, you'll work with numerous departments to shape the core gameplay experience for this unannounced project by defining the abilities, powers, and weapons our players will use.

The ideal candidate will design and implement great game experiences while helping to foster a creative and energetic environment. You have proven experience in game design, a strong aptitude for critical thinking and analysis, outstanding people skills, boundless creativity, and extensive knowledge and passion for competitive first-person shooter games.

Responsibilities

• Work with team leadership to design units, weapons, and abilities
• Implement units, weapons, and abilities using a proprietary design tool
• Work with team leadership to set direction for game modes, level design, and game systems
• Grow and mentor other designers
• Work closely with the art, level design, and engineering teams to ensure the highest quality player experience
• Act as a player advocate to ensure the highest level of usability, playability, and visual excitement

Requirements

• A minimum of five years of experience in the video game industry
• Designed, developed, and shipped major game systems in a AAA game
• Able to develop and champion a strong design vision for abilities and weapons, from concept to completion
• Technical experience building gameplay experiences using game tools
• Outstanding self-motivation and initiative
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Able to work creatively in a demanding team environment
• Absolute passion for playing and creating PvP game experiences

Pluses

• Prior experience as a lead
• Experience with current competitive action or shooter games
• Experience with technical design tools

Click to shrink...

Source: https://careers.blizzard.com/en-us/openings/olpl7fwW

 

[Silky]

Blackwatch

Tactical FPS

book it marks

(A StarCraft shooter sounds incredibly unappealing)

 

[Wololo]

Diablo 4 must but a ways off then :(

 

[IfSleepoversCouldTalk]

That's odd. I mean, obviously a company can have multiple games at once, but still. Huh.

 

[ShinySunny]

Blizzard Battlezone?

Control units and stuff, hop into a Siege Tank, nice.

 

[Q-Train]

 

[Cort]

Starcraft shooter akin to Halo, or a tactical slow shooter akin to rainbow 6. Just as Warcraft and Starcraft play completely differently, I am guessing it will be much different than Overwatch to avoid overlap.

I am also guessing it's a Starcraft game because the IP is by far their weakest.

 

[Morlas]

A starcraft shooter?

 

[Loxley]

Huh, interesting. Obviously they think this game can carve out a different section of the FPS market than Overwatch. Maybe it'll be a more grounded, tactical shooter akin to R6 Siege or Counterstrike?

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

I know the signs had been there for a while, but I'm a little disappointed that the SC2 core (not only Browder but much of the former senior staff like David Kim) apparently moved over to something that is not only not an RTS, but may even be a little redundant with Overwatch. I admire everything out of Blizzard to varying degrees, but I've always thought of them as first and foremost the premier RTS house in the industry, and a lot of that rested on Team 1. FPS was one of the least interesting of the possible outcomes.

Good to have these details, anyway, and I hope the project has a distinctive tactical/strategic character to it in the way that Overwatch had a MOBA-like character.

Diablo 4 must but a ways off then :(

Click to shrink...

Diablo has its own department. Unless Blizzard expanded and moved most of Team 1's leads to a new unit with the many staffing changes since Legacy of the Void, the prospect this really threatens is Warcraft IV.

SC2 is mostly under maintenance and continued balancing, HotS has slowed down its pace of content releases, and with this subdivision being the guardians of Blizzard's RTS legacy, at this point we have no idea what the future of RTS from them will be (though there might have been a lot of internal reorganization we don't know about). And that's a shame, as I'm literally planning my entire PC upgrade cycle around the next Blizzard RTS, whatever it is and whenever it shows up.

A starcraft shooter?

Click to shrink...

It does sound like one of the later abandoned iterations of StarCraft: Ghost, doesn't it?

 

[Corsick]

Diablo 4 must but a ways off then :(

Click to shrink...

Why follow up on a title that sold over 20 million copies when you can reap the GAAS cash cow?

 

[Mokujin]

Blizzards Battle Royale game?

 

[Finaj]

Diablo 4 must but a ways off then :(

Click to shrink...

The game was being developed for some time but was rebooted some time ago. I think Bashiok (from WoW's dev team) is heading it now. (Correct me if I'm wrong).

Correction: Ah. It's Kalgan/Tom Chilton from the WoW team. Thanks for that.

 

[Dakkon]

Blackwatch

Tactical FPS

book it marks

(A StarCraft shooter sounds incredibly unappealing)

Click to shrink...

A StarCraft version of Battlefield sounds really fun to me tbh, especially with some Savage Battle for Newerth level of asymmetry.

 

[Deleted member 32106]

It's must be Underwatch

 

[Nirolak]

The game was being developed for some time but was rebooted some time ago. I think Bashiok (from WoW's dev team) is heading it now. (Correct me if I'm wrong).

Click to shrink...

Kalgan/Tom Chilton (World of Warcraft's director), but correct team, certainly.

 

[Adventureracing]

Huh, interesting. Obviously they think this game can carve out a different section of the FPS market than Overwatch. Maybe it'll be a more grounded, "realistic" shooter akin to R6 Siege of Counterstrike?

Click to shrink...

Look at how many different massive FPS there are on the market. Fortnite, PUBG, overwatch, counter strike, COD, battlefield etc. There is a huge and diverse market for FPS.

 

[Deleted member 2507]

Starcraft FPS?

Ah, fuck off Blizzard, i've got enough to play already!

Want.

 

[MayorReynoldsTV]

My guess is that we will get some type of StarCraft game in the vein of Left 4 Dead/Evolve. I am still surprised that more developers haven't tried their hand at cooperative shooters like this, especially with the formula evolving to let other players control the "enemies." My guess is the we will get our choice of controlling Zerg against teams of humans, protoss, etc.

 

[Twilight Suzuka]

Why wouldn't it just be Overwatch 2? Maybe with an actual campaign this time. The IP and characters have obviously taken off and become a hit with fans.

 

[Nirolak]

Diablo 4 must but a ways off then :(

Click to shrink...

They have four unannounced games in development.

Diablo 4
This
An MMORTS for mobile
And a mobile RPG

(At least one of the two mobile games is Warcraft based.)

 

[i-hate-u]

Has to be Overwatch SP. You can't possibly be wasting opportunity on Starcraft, are you Blizzard?

This is a 10+ million seller that could get away with using assets already made from Overwatch. EZ MONEY.

 

[Kayo Police]

Damn Overwatch is going to be dead after this drops yea?

 

[antitrop]

A StarCraft FPS directed by Dustin Browder? Hell yes

 

[Heckler456]

Incredibly disappointing. Sucks when one of your favorite devs stops catering to your interests, but ah well.

 

[Skux]

Overwatch: Battle Royale

 

[Wololo]

Has to be Overwatch. You can't possibly be wasting opportunity on Starcraft, are you Blizzard?

Click to shrink...

Starcraft Ghost Lives! id actually be hyped.

 

[i-hate-u]

Damn Overwatch is going to be dead after this drops yea?

Click to shrink...

lul there's so much money in OWL for them to drop Overwatch.

 

[Venat Fan]

I'd rather a new IP over a Starcraft spin-off. Blizzard did a great job with setting up Overwatch's world, and I'd like to see them try to set up another one with the same team of writers, if possible.

 

[LiK]

SC action game would be nice.

 

[Nirolak]

Why wouldn't it just be Overwatch 2? Maybe with an actual campaign this time. The IP and characters have obviously taken off and become a hit with fans.

Click to shrink...

Three reasons:

1.) Blizzard has moved away from sequels in favor of "forever" platform games.
2.) Blizzard hires for new games in existing series under the series' header. For example, Diablo 4's jobs are all in the same Diablo bucket as Diablo 3.
3.) It would be weird to hire a totally separate team to make Overwatch 2.

 

[i-hate-u]

Didn't Jeff Kaplan say that they're planning to work on content to expand the lore of Overwatch? Maybe this is that initiative.

 

[texhnolyze]

So it's Overwatch 2?

 

[Nirolak]

Has to be Overwatch SP.

Click to shrink...

• "Absolute passion for playing and creating PvP game experiences"
• "Experience with current competitive action or shooter games"
• "You have proven experience in game design, a strong aptitude for critical thinking and analysis, outstanding people skills, boundless creativity, and extensive knowledge and passion for competitive first-person shooter games."

 

[quotethis]

Does it really make sense to have two competitive games? FPS at that? I just don't get how this makes sense. One will cannibalize the other and one will be rendered irrelevant. This seems strange to be honest.

 

[RPanda]

So it's Overwatch 2?

Click to shrink...

There's no way

 

[Nirolak]

Does it really make sense to have two competitive games? FPS at that? I just don't get how this makes sense. One will cannibalize the other and one will be rendered irrelevant. This seems strange to be honest.

Click to shrink...

We're talking about a company that already has three between Call of Duty, Destiny, and Overwatch.

 

[Dosmo]

If it turns out to be something like Command and Conquer Renegade, I'll be happy.

 

[Silver-Streak]

Does it really make sense to have two competitive games? FPS at that? I just don't get how this makes sense. One will cannibalize the other and one will be rendered irrelevant. This seems strange to be honest.

Click to shrink...

Technically Blizzard has 3 competitive games with Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone.

It's too bad. I would love for Blizzard to make a co-op style experience like Diablo but in a futuristic world. (not necessarily an ARPG, but something with story and repeatable content.)

 

[quotethis]

We're talking about a company that already has three between Call of Duty, Destiny, and Overwatch.

Click to shrink...

I'm just talking Blizzard, though.

 

[Riversands]

Plot twist: A battle royale game with overwatch element

 

[Deleted member 2507]

Does it really make sense to have two competitive games? FPS at that? I just don't get how this makes sense. One will cannibalize the other and one will be rendered irrelevant. This seems strange to be honest.

Click to shrink...

Blizzard is always cannibalizing its own base, sorta. Yet that never seems to really hurt them.
IIRC, stuff about Diablo 4 are making it more MMO-like. IE it'd be competing with WoW, no?

Plus, if Nirolak's guess this about being more Battlefield-like, there is less overlap with Overwatch. Small scale vs large scale.

 

[Nirolak]

I'm just talking Blizzard, though.

Click to shrink...

In that case, they ran two simultaneous RTS brands (Warcraft and StarCraft), and Titan was originally going to be their second MMO.

 

[Venat Fan]

Didn't Jeff Kaplan say that they're planning to work on content to expand the lore of Overwatch? Maybe this is that initiative.

Click to shrink...

I doubt it because it would be strange to have two active Overwatch competitive shooters at the same time. If it is Overwatch, I guess that it would take place during the Omnic Crisis considering the larger match scale than Overwatch.

 

[mindsale]

I really hope it's very very different from Overwatch. Starcraft sounds fine.

 

[Nimby]

I would guess something like Siege or CS then, more tactical and it doesn't interfere with OW

Maybe a battle royale mode for Overwatch?

 

[Cort]

If it's starcraft the sheer thought of them adding a vulture race mode...racing vultures through New Gettysburg...

 

[Nirolak]

I would guess something like Siege or CS then, more tactical and it doesn't interfere with OW

Maybe a battle royale mode for Overwatch?

Click to shrink...

While not impossible, I'm not sure vehicles fit very well in that model.

But... that might be a good way to distinguish it from other tactical shooters.

 

[Kid Heart]

I'm down for more multiplayer games with vehicles. Outside of Halo and Battlefield we've barely gotten any multiplayer shooters with vehicle action this gen.

 

[Yoshichan]

Still waiting for Titan

This will do in the meantime