Blizzard's Next-Gen MMO Hirings Tagged 'Top Secret'

October 31, 2007 10:27 AM

Recent Blizzard job postings seeking extra staff for a "Next-Gen MMO" were marked as "Top Secret" on the eve of Halloween, leading some fans to take the timing as a hint at the all-but-confirmed Diablo 3.

A follow-up to Blizzard's dungeon-crawler has been considered the company's next logical project, but as always with Blizzard titles, speculation continues to run rampant. Possibilities for the identity of the unknown title include the previously mentioned Diablo 3, an advanced version of World of Warcraft, or an entirely new IP. The term "next-gen," and the details of the positions, may also be indicative of PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 development.

Yesterday's update included a new posting for a "Game Physics/Collision Programmer," asking for applicants with experience in Havok, Ageia and O.D.E. physics engines as well as multi-threaded programming skills. Previous postings include a bevy of 3D artists, suggesting that whatever the game is, production has ramped up to the key phase of asset creation.

The company is currently in crunch mode, tearing into StarCraft 2 and finishing up development on the next World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

Nick Breckon

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[deleted] 1014085309

 reply
October 31, 2007 10:33 AM

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- greydog
  
   reply
  October 31, 2007 11:14 AM
  
  prepare to be disappointed. =(
- X-GOUKI
  
   reply
  October 31, 2007 11:45 AM
  
  yeah no joke.
  keep it like D2. take it up a notch and pretty graphics, but no MMO. if they would pull a guild wars i would say ok, but pay to play is the worst thing i have seen brought to gaming recently
- walker270
  
   reply
  October 31, 2007 11:48 AM
  
  I'd pay for monthly/bimonthly content pushes.
  
  An ever expanding Diablo will be the end of me. Much like Hellgate London might...
- gnoleb
  
   reply
  October 31, 2007 12:33 PM
  
  That is 100% going to happen, to some degree. It is just financially possible in this day and age to make it free to play online with the giant game budgets and the cost of running battle.net for years and years.
  - johnny rotten
    
     reply
    October 31, 2007 12:40 PM
    
    battle.net is not an expensive system to maintain as it (as i seem to remember) is nothing more than a tracking/matchmaking system. Games were never hosted directly on battle.net.
    - gnoleb
      
       reply
      October 31, 2007 7:43 PM
      
      You are wrong. Blizzard has a lot of employees world-wide that have to maintain battle.net.
- Fjornsvavne
  
   reply
  October 31, 2007 12:48 PM
  
  I dunno, I usually would agree with you any day of the week as I at first hand raged at the announcement of WoW. A billion hours later WoW is one of my favorite games. That matter aside, pay to play will make you think a second time before playing it, and that is something I, as of now, don't really want to have in the same sentence as Diablo. No doubting a game of such will be amazing, being Blizzard and all, but I also would like to argue whether they wouldn't want to differentiate from Warcraft a bit further. Not that they're alot, but Diablo is closer to WC, than SC, comparing with worlds of course.
  To sum it all up: D3, Yippi Ki-Yay *giggle*! -MMO, woopi difuck doo.. :P
- Nation
  
   reply
  October 31, 2007 1:27 PM
  
  Here are your options:
  
  1. pay to play
  2. one time fee of about $200 (give or take $50)
  3. less content per one time fee (expansion packs for additional fees)
  4. outsource everything they can to developers in countries with lower standards of living
  
  What would you rather have?