Blizzard Responds to Rumors, Claims No More MMOs in the Works
- June 14, 2006 12:08 PM PST
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Recent rumors that MMO juggernaut Blizzard Entertainment will switch to an all-MMO game development model are "not true," the company revealed today. In the statement, Blizzard announced that it currently has no plans to develop any MMO games beyond the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion The Burning Crusade.
...we don't have any intentions to focus on only one genre or platform with our future games."
--Blizzard Entertainment on recent MMO-only rumors
The statement also tries to clear the air regarding how the rumor started in the first place. "We believe that the rumor circulating about this subject is based on a misinterpretation of information provided to industry analysts," the statement reads, although it doesn't provide any specifics.
The rumor started when gaming blog F13.net claimed that Blizzard's parent company, Vivendi, presented a plan to Wall Street in which "all Blizzard franchises will become MMOGs [massively multiplayer online games]."
The rumor piqued the interest of many gamers, who have been patiently awaiting follow-ups to older Blizzard titles such as Diablo II and Starcraft. Both those franchises have enormous followings, but don't qualify as massively multiplayer online games because they feature free online play.
Woo-hoo! I've been haunted by the possibility that my beloved Diablo series might turn into another World of Warcraft also-ran. But these rumors never made much sense anyway...why would Blizzard want to compete with its own MMO kingpin, World of Warcraft?
