There’s a lot we can extrapolate from what’s already been announced regarding Blizzard’s next MMO. For those of you who don’t know, “Titan” is the official Blizzard code name for the new MMO they’ve been working on for the past several years. If you think back to the early days of WoW, certain names pop up that haven’t heard in awhile… names like Rob Pardo and Jeffrey Kaplan. Where did they go? They’re working on Titan. As for the game itself, two things can easily be surmised. The genre… and the release date. I’ll tell you both. First, let’s talk about genre.
For the genre, we need to focus on one specific fact from Blizzard: Titan will be an entirely new franchise. That tells us a lot. In fact, it pretty much tells us the genre.
First off, let’s face it– We alraedy know it’s either going to be science fiction or fantasy. It’s not as if Blizzard is going to release a Wild West MMO. Science fiction and fantasy are what they do and they’re sticking with it.
Fantasy is a genre you can divide in to two halves: high fantasy, and low fantasy. For high fantasy, think of Tolkien… or even more so, think of WoW. High fantasy is all about the fantastic. Prevalent magic, over stylized-armor, and countless humanoid races. Low fantasy is much more down to Earth. Think Conan the Barbarian, or Greek Mythology. Magic and monsters exist, but they’re rare. Human’s are effectively the only humanoid race.
Now… I’m going to make an educated guess here, and I’m going to stand by it. I don’t think Blizzard is going to have two franchises that use the same genre. There’s too much cross-over. It’d damage both games’ originality. You’d have two teams of artists creating virtually the same art every week. It just doesn’t work.
WoW is high fantasy…. *very* high fantasy.
Diablo is low fantasy. Granted it’s pretty high on the scale, but for Blizzard, a team that loves to lean towards “high”, yeah. Diablo is Blizzard’s version of a low fantasy.
And so we turn our attention to Science Fiction. Now– is there such a thing as high science fiction and low science fiction? Sure. It may not be as popular a divide as it is in fantasy, but it’s certainly there. So, what is high science fiction? It’s a space opera, like Battlestar Galactica or Star Wars. The fictional science is fantastic, yet so commonplace it isn’t even revered. Space ships look used and beat up. Confederations are made up of planets instead of countries. Spaceships are as accessible as airplanes. Does Blizzard already have a game like this? You bet they do… StarCraft.
So… that leaves us with only one choice… and there’s your answer. Low science fiction. What is low science fiction? Think “Blade Runner”, “Snow Crash”, Cyberpunk, or heck even Steampunk. It’s the future, everything is much more advanced, but man is still very much planet bound. And that is what Titan will be. Low science fiction
As for the release date? I’ve made this guess before, but I’ll make it again. 2015. Yep, four years. And yes, I’m aware that a recent leaked document from Blizzard pegged the release for sometime in late 2013. So what? Blizzard never meets their deadlines. Instead, they release each of their products “when they’re ready”. Sure, they’ve also officially stated that WoW will still be going on when Titan is released. But that really doesn’t mean anything. Heck, “Dark Age of Camelot” is still going on. This might sound cynical, but I think it’s true… When we ask, “When will Titan be out?” what we’re really asking is, “How far will Blizzard go over their internal deadline.” My guess is 18 months. 2015.
So there you have it. Four years from now, in 2015, Blizzard will be releasing their low science fiction MMO.
…Thank god the beta will be starting much sooner.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m still leaning towards Titan being either a grounded steam-punk genre, or a ‘space’ steam-punk (think Titan A.E.) I believe there was talk of it on this blog at one point too.
There’s no reason that they couldn’t go for a science encrusted wild west MMO, because realistically, Blizzard has only tried two genres of setting, and did well in both. They have the writers and the cash to spend the time to do a new genre right.
Along the same lines as not making two high-fantasy MMO’s, I don’t think they’d want to tread even close to the fantasy genre or the space battle genre, for fear of diluting the player base there. A steam-punk setting gives that sci-fi feel without being noticeably similar to the Starcraft setting, and gives the same range of options for character archetypes that a fantasy setting can.
Outlaw
Lawman
Tracker
Medic
Scientist
Entertainer (take your pick of type)
just to think of a few off the top of my head.
Quote from an MTV Interview
(http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/10/13/world-of-warcraft-game-director-on-new-mmo-and-console-games/)
So is Blizzard’s new MMO going to be sci-fi, near-future, post-apocalyptic or historical? “All of those combined!” he said, laughing.
It obviously won’t be fantasy because they don’t want to compete direclty with WOW. Personally I think a historical setting would work well and could potentially attrack a much larger range of players but I’m not sure if any historical MMOs have really been successful in the past.
I’ve read it will be a post-apocalyptic FPS but I think everyone is just speculating at this point.
There’s a great collection of information about Titan over at http://www.titanproject.net with links to a lot of the Blizzard comments ont he subject.
Thanks for the link, uvo. I’ll check it out! I’ll also enjoyed Perrin’s.
Chance are 90% sci fi 10% fantasy 0% high fantasy. that’s my bet.
Not to make them plagiarize, but I think it’d be great if they went more in the direction of kind of like EVE and Mass Effect combined, with ship to ship combat, and ground combat, but i could be wishing too much.
Hey guys, I heard that Blizzard is making 2!! new mmos, not only “titan”, do you have any source about that? I cant find it.
I’ve heard rumblings that they’re working on another secret project besides Titan, but I haven’t heard anything about it being yet another MMO. Logistically speaking, I doubt it’d be an MMO, since you’d end up with Titan and the other project cannibalizing each other.
Cowboy Bebop MMO would be awesome. Doesn’t have to be the exact brand but that vision of the future I think would make a great game setting.
i agree with the genre analysis however i don’t think it would be in 2015, they need to release it relatively soon as the WoW market is over-saturated and they are losing ground to other pc games like league of legends and dota 2
It won’t just be a low-science genre MMO.
Blizzard’s new MMO will be genius. It will be the first true next-gen MMO.. meaning it will have a whole new system and model. Instead of being pegged as 1 “type” of game, Titan will most likely give players the opportunity to play in all kinds of different environments and atmospheres. I expect there to be some form of character or avatar that represents you, and you and your friends are able to travel to many different worlds, play through many different storylines, and different types of gameplay. This eclectic model fits perfect with Blizzard’s proven marketing approach: franchise, and expand. A game with no boundaries is limitless for expansion. World of Warcraft had a rigid history and storyline, which made it difficult to release meaningful expansions, but even so.. they’ll release at least 4. Imagine how many different expansions you could make in a game that had no overlying storyline or setting that you had to work within?
Think of a game like the old role-playing game, Rift, where players could travel to many different worlds and have different adventures each time they play. The feeling of a repetitive end-game would not be as strong in a game like Titan because players had complete control of what they did for the “end-game experience.” Maybe you like to explore? Maybe you like to fight? Maybe you like to collect or create things? A game with many different options like that attracts a much wider audience, since it appeals to many different types of people.
Titan will be the ultimate gaming feat. It will set the bar high for all games which boast about being “next-gen”, since Titan will be the first one to truly hit the mark. I even foresee Blizzard incorporating social media networks into the game, for added experiences and popularity growth.
I think you guys are setting the bar of expectations kind of low, if all you think Titan is going to be is a low-sci-fi MMO similar in structure to WoW, only with a better game engine. This is Blizzard we’re talking about. They have more resources than any other game studio on the planet.
Starcraft Universe
An MMORPG like WOW, Sci fi, Plenty of story line, Enough room for future expansions, Huge following, It would be a winner and as big or bigger than WOW.
I am pretty sure that they want to beat League of Legends which evolved from Dota which evolved from Warcraft 3. So Titan is a type of summoner’s game. Strategy based MMO.
I think a high Sci-Fi Starcraft mmo would blow peoples’ minds.. for instance: if that were the case, i would still play SC2, but would probably stop playing SWTOR to play SCO (starcraft online?). Some people just are not interested in fantasy MMOs as much as SCI-fi mmos..
Whatever the genre of the new MMO, it better be rated MA!!!! i want blood in my mmo damnit! exploding bodies. severed limbs! why do all the MMOs have to be for children? Throw some nudity and sex in there!!! Let the kids play WOW, and let the adults have their game too!
I am watching and searching for any information about Titan I can find. I am a Eve player I love the game but the developer is crap at engineering well thought out mechanics. I am also a firm believer in player derived content > scripted theme park content. I am hoping nay praying Titan will be a Single Shard or at least mega shard sandbox style MMO. Hopefully with enough scripted content aka dungeons raidesque type stuff to make the typical gamer feel a bit more comfortable in dipping there toes into a sandbox. Trust me I am a high-end gamer in Eve , and players can deliver more , better & sustainable content then a expansion every other quarter or 3 with some new raids and shiny items can.
In Eve all items from the core materials to end products can be gathered created and traded by players. The game Eve has a fully independent and vibrant economy that the players themselves fuel and use in cyclical fashion. I think Blizzard could create a amazing sandbox game that will dwarf any other product ever on the market its what im hoping for. If Blizzard does nothing else well its delivering carefully calculated and flawlessly engineered products.
I think the days of the Theme Park MMO’s are coming to a end. It’s a played out genre I mean to say as a veteran MMO player going back to launch of Everquest that scripted content no matter how shiny and new gets old after a certain period of time. A new dungeon can only have so many new tricks and gimmicks before you have seen them all. Sandbox style MMO’s are where its at because you give the players tools and widgets and gadgets and you send them forth. Everynow and then you tweak those tools widgets and gadgets and add new ones and eliminate others. Sandbox’s are a far superior model imo however the pitfall has always been the learning curve of sandbox style mmo’s. The safeguards and softening the learning curve is harder I think this is where Blizzard will shine as they are the undisputed king of engineering well thought out mechanics that are seamless in integration of the overall game.
Maybe im crazy but this is my dream. I really feel like this is the “Next Level” in gaming and if anyone is able to deliver it Blizzard is who I would place my bet on. I think they are the only ones that can bridge the limitless boundaries of the sandbox and soften the barrier of entry for the less ” Hardcore ” gamer.
(Me, quoting Perrin)
Quote from an MTV Interview
(http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/10/13/world-of-warcraft-game-director-on-new-mmo-and-console-games/)
So is Blizzard’s new MMO going to be sci-fi, near-future, post-apocalyptic or historical? “All of those combined!” he said, laughing.
(Now, just me): IMHO, that sounds a lot like Gamma World, which would be fantastic. I mean, human sized, bipedal, gun toting rabbits instead of murlocs? That’ll do.
I’m all for it being MA, and I personally prefer one faction pvp (a’la Age of Conan). As for it being a massive sandbox instead of a theme-park. That could very well be. Blizz seems to be changing their strat with WoW milking as many expansions out of it as they humanly can… but we’ll see. My point is, if Titan is a sandbox then that’ll create far less overlap with WoW, which mean Blizzard can then sell them side by side more easily. And we all know Activision-Blizzard would like that!
Well it seems it’s being called a “casual” mmo, but I don’t understand how they could take this long into creating a casual mmo.
I believe the term you’re looking for is “Hard SciFi”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_science_fiction
It’s fiction characterized by heavy reliance on scientific accuracy, etc. Star Wars is not Hard SciFi; Star Wars is actually Science Fantasy due to the mystical magical-like Force that Jedi “wizards” manipulate. EVE Online, with its reliance on accuracy — even if it’s using submarine physics instead of astrophysics — is much more likely to be considered as Hard SciFi. Star Trek is Science Fiction, though it is not Hard SF.
@Moo Yes, I’m aware of the Hard/Soft scale of Sci-Fi, and thank you for posting a link. I intentionally used the high/low scale more commonly used with Fantasy as I get the sense that this is more of how Blizzard views the Sci-Fi genre. Star Wars on one end, Snow Crash on the other.
On the more traditional Hard/Soft scale for Sci-Fi, yes I think Titan will lean more towards the hard side. At least I hope it does, since Star Craft leans a bit soft.
I also agree with you about Star Wars and the Hard/Soft scale. Personally, I think Star Wars doesn’t even fit on it, although some would argue that. Star Wars is a fantasy story with a sci-fi veneer…I wouldn’t even necessarily give it its own genre (Science Fantasy), since structurally it’s exactly the same as fantasy.
Maybe it’s not an action game…