Eurogamer


We know about Titan, we know about two more StarCraft II games, we know about two more World of Warcraft expansions, we even know about a Diablo III expansion - so what is this "Unannounced Game Title" Blizzard is hiring for?


The "Software Engineer, Tools" will be a part of Blizzard's "newest game team". "This is a key role on a new and exciting project within the company," the job description declares.

The "Unannounced Game Title" has a section of its own on the Blizzard jobs board. Titan, the "Next-Gen MMO", is listed separately, as are World of Warcarft, StarCraft II and Diablo III.


Could this "Unannounced Game Title" be a completely new IP?


An alleged internal Blizzard release schedule leaked last November, detailing all releases up 2015. We don't know whether its genuine, so take with a pinch of rock salt.

Eurogamer


Titan may be but a whisper on the lips of Blizzard - but the MMO to "eclipse" World of Warcraft is already playable.


"We're very confident in that product. It's an awesome one. We're playing it already," revealed Paul Sams, Blizzard COO, to Gamasutra.


"It is a total ball to play. We think that the reach of that product is greater than anything that we've done before. We're very excited about that. I believe that it's the type of game that will have a very long life, much like World of Warcraft has."


Sams added: "The thing that we hope will happen is that it will not stop World of Warcraft but we believe will eclipse it."


Titan carries a rumoured release date of late 2013, according to a leaked internal slate. But of course MMOs are subject to the wild winds of change - much more so than any other genre of game.


What else do we know about Titan? That it's not World of Warcraft 2, but "something completely new and fresh". And that's about it.


World of StarCraft? One fan got so excited that he started making World of StarCraft himself using the StarCraft II modding tools. Activision's lawyers shut him down, but only to change the name. Blizzard owns the name World of StarCraft already, you see - a pragmatic purchase or a revealing one?

Video: Is this fan-made StarCraft MMO a glimpse of the future?

Eurogamer


Blizzard's mysterious Titan MMO won't be a sequel to World of Warcraft, CEO Mike Morhaime has revealed.


Speaking at the annual DICE summit in Las Vegas – as reported by Ars Technica - Morhaime explained that the new title, rumoured to be launching in 2013, will instead cover bold new ground.


"Without giving away any details, we have some of our most experienced MMO developers, people who spent years working on the World of WarCraft team, working on this project," he said.


"We're really trying to leverage all the lessons we learned through the years. Some of which we were able to address in World of Warcraft and others that maybe because of the design decisions we've made, you just can't address.


"So we're kind of taking a step back with all that knowledge to make something that's completely new and fresh. We're not trying to make a WOW sequel."


In related news, Activision-Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl yesterday confirmed that there will be at least two releases from the developer between now and the end of 2012 – though didn't confirm what those would be.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (John Walker)

I AM YOUR GOD NOW! AHAHAHAHAHA

Ever since I visited the ill-fated Iron Lore in 2005, I’ve wanted to find the words to talk about a peculiar response I had to their level editor. It’s taken me this long to gain the vocabulary needed to even take a stab at it, primarily gained/cribbed from the essays and thoughts of film theorist André Bazin. (Whom I confess I first discovered through Linklater’s excellent Waking Life, rather than from the half a degree of film studies I slept through in ’98.) And so, smuggled onto the internet in a large wooden retrospective article on Titan Quest, my thoughts on the teleological nature of level editors. I don’t know how successful I’ve been, since I’m massively out of my depth without a useful background in either philosophy or semiotics. The EG commenters appear to have opted for pretending the article was only one page long, which is understandable. I’m nervous of what happens if someone who knows what they’re talking about responds. There’s a quote from it below, since I’ve waffled so much up here.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (John Walker)

It's a steal!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sorry.

The Steam summer sale thingamy is continuing to offer some ludicrously good prices, as it happens. I’ve just spotted some for which there’s only six hours left, which should fill in some vital gaps on your virtual shelf. There’s Thief: Deadly Shadows for £2.09, BioShock for £3.49, and Titan Quest Gold for £2.49. There’s also Dragon Age, about 80 hours of game, for £11.99.

I can’t get over Thief 3 for barely more than £2. This is one of those games that come 2014 we’ll be writing ten year retrospectives about. If you never did, you absolutely must right now. Just for the heck of it, I’ve pasted my review of the game from 2004 for PC Format.

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