Former Hearthstone Producer Ben Brode is making a Marvel Game
Former members of Blizzard's Hearthstone team have ventured out on their own and will tackle a project for Marvel as their first endeavor.
Hearthstone’s former Game Director Ben Brode and other former members of the Blizzard team have formed a new development studio under the name Second Dinner. The initials details of their maiden project indicate that they are developing a game based on Marvel Comics properties.
Second Dinner announced that they have secured 30 million dollars worth of funding by way of Chinese firm NetEase. This investment is expected to carry the studio through the development of the new Marvel game. The team announced that they are working on a prototype, but offered no other details on what the game will be about or even what genre it will fall under. The studio is also hiring new staff for its Irvine, California office for the project.
Brode and his team aren’t the only thing about this project with ties to Blizzard. NetEase, the company who is funding the studio, has worked with Blizzard on Chinese versions of Hearthstone and World of Warcraft and is also a co-developer on Diablo Immortal, the controversial mobile take on the demonic franchise. Diablo Immortal’s announcement closed the show at BlizzCon 2018, much to the dismay of die-hard series fans expecting a mainline sequel to Diablo 3.
2018 was a bit rough for Blizzard. In addition to losing top talent like Brode, the vaunted studio also experienced the squeeze from its parent company Activision-Blizzard, as management began extensive cost-cutting operations. Activision has been reducing the number of employees at Blizzard via buyouts to reduce overall costs. In December, the Heroes of the Storm team was downsized and a fork was put in the game’s esports program. The culture at Blizzard is expected to change over the next year as influence from Activision grows.
For more news on Second Dinner and their new Marvel game, keep it tuned to Shacknews.
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replyChris Jarrard posted a new article, Former Hearthstone Producer Ben Brode is making a Marvel Game
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One thing to note is that they are being funded by NetEase. The same company that is developing Diablo immortal. Probably won’t mean it’s mobile only but we will see how it goes.
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