Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan takes a look at the wreckage of Titan, the game that was supposed to be the next big MMORPG.
In an interview with Gamespot, Jeff Kaplan reflects on Titan. The project, a massive and ambitious MMORPG, was officially announced in December 2010 and officially buried in September 2014. It just never felt really fun, the developers said at the time.
From the ashes of Titan, Overwatch is supposed to emerge.
Spoiled by success, incredibly talented, grandly failed
According to Kaplan, they failed as only one can fail. They had a group of highly talented, success-spoiled designers. Some of them had helped create Blizzard’s biggest titles. And then they failed in every conceivable way. It was devastating.
For such success-spoiled people, some of whom came to Blizzard specifically to work on something great, it was very hard. They had a completely new experience: it was almost like an identity crisis.
The biggest pressure after the end of Titan came from within the team itself. Around them were titles like Starcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, or WoW, and then themselves, their own team: They were sitting on the smoldering ruins of a canceled project. And the rule is, “You are only as good as your last game.”
Even though the environment was supportive, their own disappointment nagged: “We have to make this right. We need to prove that we are worthy of Blizzard.”
The good sides of absolute failure
Once they licked their wounds and reoriented towards “Overwatch,” the defeat created a close bond within the team, and there was a hunger to show the world that they had what it takes, Kaplan narrates the story.
Mein MMO says: It seems like Blizzard is crafting their own story, creating a myth. Who can blame them. So follows the motto, “If we already sunk millions into Titan, at least it gives a great origin story for Overwatch.”
Although that was certainly not the plan: All those involved would have preferred to skip the episode with Titan … but it still turned into something good, at least a strong story, a rich breeding ground for Overwatch. It’s slowly entering the hot phase – a three-part “documentary series” with Gamespot is supposed to provide the necessary PR power.
It’s clear: The end of Titan should not be the last chapter in “How Blizzard failed with a new MMORPG,” but the first chapter in “How Blizzard created the next hit with Overwatch.” Whether that really succeeds, will ultimately be shown by the release of Overwatch. Myth or not, the thing has to be fun in the end. And that was precisely what Titan failed to deliver.
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