GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Blizzard confirms 'large design and technology changes' for Titan

Developer confirms World of Warcraft follow-up undergoing major overhaul.

133 Comments

Blizzard Entertainment has issued a statement regarding yesterday's claim that its World of Warcraft follow-up--codenamed Titan--was being sent back to the drawing board.

No Caption Provided

"We've always had a highly iterative development process, and the unannounced MMO is no exception. We've come to a point where we need to make some large design and technology changes to the game," the company said in a statement to Kotaku.

"We're using this opportunity to shift some of our resources to assist with other projects while the core team adapts our technology and tools to accommodate these new changes," the statement goes on. "Note that we haven't announced any dates for the MMO."

Yesterday's report claimed the Titan development team was cut from 100 to 30, with the 70 displaced staffers not let go, but rather reassigned to other projects inside the company. The report also suggested Titan would not be brought to market before 2016.

Blizzard Entertainment has been at work on Titan for years now. The game was playable more than two years ago, with company COO Paul Sams singing its praises thoroughly.

"We're playing it already. It is a total ball to play," Sams said at the time. "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."

Blizzard Entertainment's current MMO, World of Warcraft, is the biggest subscription-based MMO on the market. It launched in 2004 and had 8.3 million subscribers at the end of March, down from a peak playerbase of 12 million in 2010.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 133 comments about this story
133 Comments  RefreshSorted By 
GameSpot has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to toxic conduct in comments. Any abusive, racist, sexist, threatening, bullying, vulgar, and otherwise objectionable behavior will result in moderation and/or account termination. Please keep your discussion civil.

Avatar image for puukusa
puukusa

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

they probably need to rework the engine to squeeze more juice out of next gen consoles

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Poodlejumper
Poodlejumper

295

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 18

User Lists: 0

Release it now.

Release it tomorrow.

Release it in 3 years.

Release it in 10 years.

I'm not preordering it and won't even consider buying it until I hear it's decent from more than one source that I trust.

Blizzard can partially thank Diablo 3 for that.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Mr_BillGates
Mr_BillGates

3211

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Edited By Mr_BillGates

A higher tech generic MMO with archaic hot-key spamming combat and fetch & hunt quest.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for thermalmotion
thermalmotion

250

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 39

User Lists: 0

@Mr_BillGates Ahh the speculations of a diseased mind.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for briguy1721
briguy1721

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By briguy1721

Not really worried about this yet. It doesn't sound like they are shutting down the project or anything. It seems like they need more resources elsewhere and need to take a step back on Titan and work out some issues. Take your time Blizzard and make it epic.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for guitarist1980
guitarist1980

1542

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 0

@briguy1721 I bet the game engine needs to be updated to accommodate better graphics and effects. That's the issue when you start projects that take years to complete. Its probably something to do with the next gen console hardware.

2 • 
Avatar image for GunBladeHero
GunBladeHero

894

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 0

Finally they're at least trying to find a new comfort zone rather than sticking to their current one since 2005.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for GonorreahGoat
GonorreahGoat

120

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Cautiously optimistic. Starcraft is the only franchise they haven't ruined yet...

Upvote • 
Avatar image for csward
csward

2155

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 20

User Lists: 0

@GonorreahGoat Um, I know SC2 was well polished, but it didn't innovate like WC3 did, so they ruined it for me.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for lsdbaby
lsdbaby

33

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Blizzard's 150 year development cycle > Xbox One

*calls for high-five*

Upvote • 
Avatar image for petez34
petez34

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By petez34

We've been playing it for years and it's fun to play!. Are you trying to be an asshole or is that some lame attempt at hyping a game that won't be released for 3 years? pathetic.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Sheepsquad
Sheepsquad

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I'm still bitter about Starcraft Ghost. :-(

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Fursnake
Fursnake

449

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

" We're playing it already. It is a total ball to play"

Now we're going to go and "tinker" with it for years while we wait for WoW to decline some more and justify a new MMO.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for northArrow
northArrow

370

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

You've got 8.3 million morons throwing $15 a month at you for nothing, why change things? Time to take another vacation and crap out another expansion pack

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Lhomity
Lhomity

508

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 0

Edited By Lhomity

@northArrow "for nothing"? Really?

I'm not even subbed at the moment, but MoP is an excellent expansion. The PVP is better than ever. The raids are great. Scenarios, LFR, pet battles, all solid. New content every few months. New patch hit just last week, with new battleground, new arena, new scenarios, new quests, new dailies, new mounts, etc etc.

Hardly what I would call "nothing".

2 • 
Avatar image for csward
csward

2155

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 20

User Lists: 0

@Lhomity What I call more of the same they've been doing for years..*yawn*

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Kooken58
Kooken58

368

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 11

User Lists: 0

@Lhomity PvP is better than Ever? LOL NICE joke.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for northArrow
northArrow

370

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@Lhomity Mists of Pandaria is garbage and it's a big reason I left what used to be an excellent game. Shallow combat, no challenge in either instances or raids, awful storyline, terrible voice acting, heavy dependency on recycling old content coupled with graphics that look exceptionally old and tired. I'm also not a 12 year old girl so the pokemon system does nothing for me.

I can't think of another MMO that is of poorer production quality than Mists of Pandaria right now - and they don't charge a sub. It's a slap in the face to the game experience from vanilla to Wrath.

The only good thing WoW has going for it is the huge community which makes jumping into LFG/R tools quick and easy to ROFLstomp the game content.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for CursedMark911
CursedMark911

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@northArrow @Lhomity i just say this: give it another chance, its a REALLY REALLY Great game and the story/expansions/Voice Actings/Graphics are totally awesome,if you think Blizzard ruined this game then go play your precious Call of Duty games that are always the same every year.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for V3rciS
V3rciS

2241

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@Lhomity Excellent... yea sure! WoW went stupid after TBC! /end of story

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Lhomity
Lhomity

508

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 0

@V3rciS @Lhomity Different opinions, clearly.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Grenadeh
Grenadeh

218

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 49

User Lists: 6

9 year Blizzard paying beta testers confirm they still don't give a shit about Titan.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for kakotan
kakotan

236

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 22

User Lists: 0

this is why Vivendi (not sure on spelling :/) Wants to sell out on its shares, BLIZZ cant pull their heads out of their butts to create a decent new IP, They are taking to long to do anything anymore. People are losing interest! D3 was example on what im saying here. I liked Blizz but lately its like they cant do anything new!!


Upvote • 
Avatar image for Ravenshout
Ravenshout

1265

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@kakotan Diablo 3 has had 14.5 million unique players thus far. If you're trying to be a smart-ass, at least do your homework first.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for wwlettsome
wwlettsome

1314

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 37

User Lists: 0

This sounds like the normal development process for Blizzard.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for coolmike999
coolmike999

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

It would be nice to see their shareholders hold them accountable. How do you go from 'best game ever' to total do-over? Just goes to show you how trustworthy these people are when they open their mouths.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for meatz666
meatz666

27

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I think nowadays people care more about MOBA than MMO. If Blizzard manage to involve both into one, they'll be kings again

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Kooken58
Kooken58

368

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 11

User Lists: 0

@meatz666 We dont need anymore MOBAs! DOTA 2, LoL, and Smite are enough.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for MatrixGamer78
MatrixGamer78

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@meatz666

What was Blizzard big mistake do u know?? Blizzard ignored Dota that was it biggest mistake . Steve feak who innovated world first MOBA was not a Blizzard employee later hired by Riot and he then developed LOL no 1 PC title which is now a headache for Blizzard and LoL is the only reason of WoW sub falls.

5 • 
Avatar image for chief10000
chief10000

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@MatrixGamer78 @meatz666 i quit wow because it sucked, i couldnt care less about league of legends. they are not even the same game types, why you and the 4 upvotes you have think people switch from a MMO to a MOBA when they are nothing alike is odd.


everybody who was quiting wow around the same time i did, all went to other MMOs.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Gamer-Geek
Gamer-Geek

357

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Edited By Gamer-Geek

@meatz666

They're making Blizzard Allstars.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for meatz666
meatz666

27

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Wouldn't be awesome to quest with your friends, than tackle a MOBA online with the same characters?

Upvote • 
Avatar image for csward
csward

2155

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 20

User Lists: 0

@meatz666 Isn't that pretty much what WoW already does in a slightly less complex way?

Upvote • 
Avatar image for deactivated-637d15bfb1440
deactivated-637d15bfb1440

63

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@meatz666 Not really :/

2 • 
Avatar image for HaloinventedFPS
HaloinventedFPS

4738

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

They did this with Warcraft 3

Warcraft 3 started off as Grand Strategy/RPG, then an open world RPG, then it became a worse version of WC2 with those horrible Hero Units that led to the MOBA genre which killed RTS

Blizzard claim they are perfectionists, but their early versions of games are almost always better

Upvote • 
Avatar image for csward
csward

2155

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 20

User Lists: 0

@HaloinventedFPS I think WC3 made the RTS genre a lot better. There's more strategy than Starcraft, which has less avenues for victory.

To each his own I suppose. I hope we can both agree EA kill C&C.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for 2bitSmOkEy
2bitSmOkEy

2713

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

Edited By 2bitSmOkEy

@HaloinventedFPS Congrats, you're the first person I've ever seen hate on wc3. You honestly think wc 1 and 2 were better than the revolutionary and timeless wc3 TFT?

10 • 
Avatar image for Dragdar
Dragdar

448

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS

WC 3 wasnt revolutionary, it was POLISHED, smooth and stylish. there's a difference

Upvote • 
Avatar image for gabusan
gabusan

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By gabusan

@Mamamf @gabusan @Dragdar @2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS My point is that Dawn of War incorporated the use of heroes that level up to fight side by side with your army in multiplayer AFTER Warcraft 3, not sure if Dawn of War had these on the first or the second one, but nevertheless, both were posterior to Warcraft 3.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Mamamf
Mamamf

29

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@gabusan @Dragdar @2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS DOW 2 better than DOW 1??? That's is a matter of taste, not a fact. WC 3 on the other hand was indeed revolutionary and excluding the cinematics it was quite unpolished, it was graphic demanding but age of mythology was way more polished. The trees in MoP(one among many improvements brought by this latest expansion) are still worse than Age of Mythology ones!!! Ah trees... :D

Upvote • 
Avatar image for csward
csward

2155

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 20

User Lists: 0

@Dragdar @2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS You are dumb. You could make that argument about Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2, but please play the game before you say such foolish things. There was nothing on the market like WC3 at the time; maybe you're not old enough to remember that.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for gabusan
gabusan

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@Dragdar @2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS Oh, and Warcraft3 was the FIRST to include a matchmaking system that took into account player skill, and even separated random teams from arranged ones, removing from players the ability to decide battle conditions and instead creating a level playing field for everyone. Before Warcraft 3, all you had for strategy multiplayer was lobbies you had to join and hope the host was a good sport instead of tweaking all possible variables on his favor.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for gabusan
gabusan

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

@Dragdar @2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS Wait a sec there, buddy, get your facts straight. WC3 was revolutionary. It included play mechanics that moved the genre forward into a new, bold direction. Concepts like hero units with experience levels and equipment, supply penalties for a large army and NPC enemies you could fight to gain experience for your heroes were NEVER SEEN BEFORE in a real time strategy game. In fact, Warhammer DOW2 was huge leap forward compared to the previous game in the franchise thanks to everything Warcraft 3 brought to the table.

2 • 
Avatar image for Grenadeh
Grenadeh

218

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 49

User Lists: 6

@2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS Really? You must never have talked to anyone. WC3 is a horrible game that ruined the Warcraft franchise on it's own before WoW even came around. It's not an RTS, it's basically a dungeon crawler RPG hybrid.

WC1 and 2 were undeniably better than WC3, ESPECIALLY TFT. WC3 was almost okay on it's own but TFT completely utterly ruined it. The story was good on WC3 but nothing else.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for csward
csward

2155

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 20

User Lists: 0

@Grenadeh @2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS Wow, it is an RTS. Just because it's not about zerging units like Starcraft or C&C doesn't mean it's not an RTS.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for HaloinventedFPS
HaloinventedFPS

4738

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@2bitSmOkEy @HaloinventedFPS WC3's story was great, the actual game? not so much

WC2 was a much better game, so was Starcraft

Upvote • 
Avatar image for MatrixGamer78
MatrixGamer78

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By MatrixGamer78

@2bitSmOkEy

Ignore WC3 haters all of them are fully retarded.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for 2bitSmOkEy
2bitSmOkEy

2713

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

Edited By 2bitSmOkEy

@HaloinventedFPS @2bitSmOkEy Do not agree. The multiplayer alone kept me captivated for a good 8 years or so.

4 •