340°

Introducing Johanna Faries as the new President of Blizzard Entertainment

Today, the following email was delivered to all Blizzard employees by Johanna Faries, the new President of Blizzard Entertainment

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news.blizzard.com
Jin_Sakai105d ago (Edited 105d ago )

Don’t forget to congrats them on cancelling their survival game that was 6 years in development.

Obscure_Observer105d ago

Yeah, it sucks

I was personally looking forward to that game. But I heard Odyssey were facing technical issues and would be powered by a mobile engine. So *maybe*, not much of a big loss.

Fishy Fingers105d ago

After 6 years, no reveal, no info and cancelled. Must of been a banger.

darthv72105d ago

if you mean the one that was being built using a mobile device engine... good riddance.

thesoftware730105d ago

Yeah, I was interested in learning more about that survival game for sure, it's hard to miss tho, since we know like absolutely nothing about it.

It's kinda how, we should congratulate ND for canceling Factions I guess.many people were looking forward to that game...bummer, shit happens, right?

Michiel1989105d ago

cancelling an mmo that was longer than 6 years in development netted them overwatch though. Also the majority of that time was probably spend by a couple people on it, happens in every company all the time except there is a magnifying glass on blizzard cause of bad press.

105d ago
Jin_Sakai105d ago (Edited 105d ago )

@Fishy Fingers

“After 6 years, no reveal, no info and cancelled. Must of been a banger.”

Seems like the game design was more than what today’s game engines could handle.

“It was prototyped on Unreal but switched to an internal engine called Synapse because Unreal couldn't support the 100 player maps they wanted. Synapse ran into technical problems that stalled development.”

At least the developers working on the game were pretty optimistic.

"I was making incredible creatures and enemies with some of the most talented people I've ever met," Bob Mowzie, who worked as an encounter designer on the project, says on Twitter. "I'm heartbroken, and I'm so sorry I won't get to deliver this amazing game to you all…"

“Former Blizzard developer Johnny Cash writes: "The Blizz survival game was fantastic, the team behind it even more fantastic, and it is our collective loss to never be able to experience it as a finished piece.."

“For Riot software engineer Anna Rosenberg, this was the first AAA game they worked on: "I'm devastated no one else will get to experience it," they write.“

porkChop105d ago

Oh, Jin. Always so ready to flap your gums but never ready to do any research.

There's a good reason it was cancelled. It was prototyped on Unreal and then moved to Synapse, an in-house engine designed for mobile games. Trying to build a AAA 100-person multiplayer survival game in an engine designed for phones brought significant problems. The devs wanted to switch back to Unreal, which would mean the projected 2026 release would get pushed back significantly.

The team had apparently built a lot of cool encounters with interesting creature designs though. Hopefully that gets used in a new project. After Project Titan was cancelled they took a lot of the assets and ideas and created Overwatch. Something similar could happen here as well.

Reaper22_105d ago

Sony's The Last Guardian was delayed an entire generation.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 105d ago
Jin_Sakai104d ago

Blizzard of Duty coming soon. Seriously though, her resume doesn’t really scream president of blizzard.

Crows90105d ago

Well you clearly never cared much for blizzard.

XiNatsuDragnel105d ago

Cool man but unfortunately that most of Blizzard got cut

BeHunted105d ago

Congratulations on becoming a member of the Xbox Family!

Barlos105d ago

That's not something to really be proud of

MrDead105d ago (Edited 105d ago )

An eSports head in charge of Blizzard...

Shame it cost so many jobs and no new games coming to Xbox outside of what was already coming.

So just to make it simple for the simple, no new games, two publishers no longer competing, lots of workers being fired but MS and it's wealthy CEO's get wealthier

ChiefofLoliPolice105d ago

That's nothing to be proud of. At all.

rippermcrip105d ago

Blizzard was dragged down by Activision.

So, they they pick someone who was in charge of COD eSports to run Blizzard.

Genius.

crazyCoconuts105d ago

Spent 2 years as a general manager for COD, and the rest of her career in the NFL and a few years in eSports. Like the opposite of an industry veteran.

RaidenBlack105d ago

and here I thought, under MS, they'd finally be free from Activision ... Nups.
Will we ever get Warcraft IV or Starcraft III?

105d ago
Asplundh105d ago

She was probably chosen just because her ethnic background, which MS has been scrutinized over in past.
Apparently diversity > the best person for the job.

Umb105d ago

In this woke world that it, until it comes to them specifically. Gaurantee they will get the best quailfied over DEI in a nano second such a surgeon who will operating on them!

-Foxtrot104d ago

Not to mention with the sexual harassment scandal, she's also a woman aswell

Gives them a lot of brownie points.

notachance105d ago

oooff definitely not the kind of person you'd trust to bring back the old blizzard, I can see they're trying to go ham on live service and monetization instead.

jznrpg105d ago

Like they have not done that before? That is about all they do these days.

crazyCoconuts105d ago

But even live service and monetization needs an experienced leader I'd think. I mean - I'd think they'd want to put someone in there that has demonstrated an ability to lead the successful development and release of a game.... any game? Experience be damned i guess...

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110°

Xbox Game Pass Suddenly Doesn't Feel Like The Best Deal In Gaming Anymore

With Microsoft closing studios, fewer new exclusive releases are expected for Xbox.

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screenrant.com
shinoff21833h ago

Not sure it ever was. It's upside was day 1 releases from 1st party. Few and far between plus it is just a rental service where you don't pick. It is fairly cheap for now that's a bonus. I think the beat deal in gaming is gamesale on reddit , and watching amazon

ThinkThink1h ago

Still the best deal in gaming for me, at least until it isnt.

Chocoburger32m ago

"Suddenly", my gosh are people so slow on the uptake.

I've been saying this for years, its just a rental service nothing special, and you don't get to pick what the rental catalogue is nor how long it lasts. Anything can be taken away from you on a whim, even while you keep paying.

You know what the best deal in gaming is? BUY your games on disc / cart, OWN THEM, play them as much as you want, and no one can take them away from you.

Tapes and cartridges from the 80's still work to this day, and people can still enjoy them without having to pay any additional fees. That sounds like a far better deal than a corporate rental service.

Hofstaderman27m ago(Edited 27m ago)

This. Playing xenogears on my OG PS1 right now. Just got to Dazil and have most deathblows learnt but not accesible due to my level. What makes it bearable on a 4K tv is a AV to HDMI upscaler. Obviously has limits but good enough for me. No worries of the game being removed from a service too.

darthv7218m ago(Edited 16m ago)

That's the whole point of renting... you rent, you play, you buy your own copy if you feel the need. What GP is doing is no different than the blockbuster or hollywood videos or every mom and pop rental shop. And people would buy their own copies if they liked what they rented.

Fishy Fingers21m ago

I'll probably download 4 of the games they announced coming today over the next month for £9. Seems ok to me.

But then, I tend to play single player games and i rarely revisit so a "rental service" suits me. Pretty much everything I play on PS is via PS+ extra.

Unknown_Gamer579421m ago(Edited 20m ago)

It was always overrated. It only ever appealed to a certain subset of gamers anyways, which are the type who don’t care about owning games and are content to just experience them once and move on…or people who wanted to play CoD without buying it. It never seemed that glamorous to me, and I’m not at all surprised it has turned out to be unsustainable for MS.

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60°

Hades 2 devs are "worried" about Hephaestus boons, expect a nerf soon

Supergiant Games' Studio Director, Amir Rao, has said that he's worried about some unbalanced boons in-game, with nerfs coming soon.

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videogamer.com
70°

Cyberpunk 2077 Director On 95% Positive Steam Rating: "Never Thought I'd See It"

Cyberpunk 2077 has come a long way from being one of the worst games on the planet to being one of the best ones.