Why is Blizzard still announcing games years ahead of release? 'We want to convey confidence in some of our biggest bets coming forward'
Overview & Key Takeaways
Maybe it's the fact it sounds like a year from the opening crawl of a sci-fi movie, but 2030 sure feels a long way off.
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Reactions to the StarCraft trailer shown at BlizzCon this year seem pretty universal. Initial excitement, immediately deflated when the words "STARCRAFT RETURNS 2030" appeared at the end. (The fact it's going to be an "open world shooter" didn't help.) The surprise announcement of Diablo 5 coming in 2029 seems odd too. There were 11 years between Diablo 3 and Diablo 4, but the gap between that and Diablo 5 will only be six.
Announcing videogames more than a couple of years ahead of release feels like a relic of the past. Everyone assumes games will get delayed anyway, and viewers are adding "at the earliest" as a footnote. Saying something is just around the corner earns goodwill, while saying it's three or four years away tells us to gear up for a hype cycle we'll be tired of before the actual game materializes—if it ever does.
Blizzard president Johanna Faries spoke to Bloomberg ahead of BlizzCon. "We want to convey confidence in some of our biggest bets coming forward," she said on this topic. "We're a Blizzard that's going to ship, and ship big, and ship on time, and all hands on deck to set those projects up for success."
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Blizzard has so far managed to avoid being hit by Microsoft's recent layoffs, but more are coming next year. It's a good time to make sure everyone knows you've got loads of exciting projects in the works and you need as many staff as possible to make them a reality.
While Faries didn't discuss the possibility of job losses, she did say she wanted BlizzCon to be "a sort of oasis, a moment for real joy" for both Blizzard's staff and its fans, and that she was "completely focused on creating as healthy a Blizzard as possible".
"Preserving that has been my ultimate focus," Faries said. "The unique special sauce that is Blizzard both culturally and creatively. And to the extent that we can perform well for Microsoft, I think that should be seen as a mutual win."
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