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Blizzard acquires Spellbreak developer Proletariat

The Proletariat team will now work on World of Warcraft's latest expansion.

Donovan Erskine

June 29, 2022 8:10 AM

Image: Proletariat

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This week, we learned that Spellbreak servers would be shutting down in early 2023. Following the announcement, it was unclear what the team at Proletariat would be working on next. Now, it’s now been revealed that Blizzard is acquiring Proletariat. Upon joining the company, the studio will work on content for World of Warcraft.

Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment, provided a statement to GamesBeat in which he confirmed Blizzard’s acquisition of Proletariat. “A big part of caring for our teams is making sure we have the resources to produce experiences our communities will love while giving our teams space to explore even more creative opportunities within their projects. Proletariat is a perfect fit for supporting Blizzard’s mission in bringing high-quality content to our players more often.”

The Proletariat team is composed of 100 people, all of which will soon be put to work on World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s iconic MMO. Specifically, the team will aid in the upcoming Dragonflight expansion. As members of Blizzard, the Proletariat crew will find themselves within the Microsoft family once its acquisition of Activision Blizzard officially closes.

This is just the latest instance of Blizzard absorbing a studio and assigning it to one of its landmark franchises. Earlier this year, the Vicarious Visions team became Blizzard Albany following its work on Diablo 2: Resurrected.

In a Reddit post announcing the closure of Spellbreak servers, Proletariat stated that “the game industry is a difficult business” and that Spellbreak failed to reach a place “where we could continue to invest in it in the way we had dreamed of.” With the implication of the game not being financially viable, it’s likely that Spellbreak could have been on the outs regardless of Blizzard’s acquisition. Players can still enjoy Spellbreak and all it has to offer until the game's servers go offline next year. 

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_