RTS fans have been waiting a long time for Warcraft 4. Since Blizzard has not announced a new real-time strategy game, StarCraft 2 veterans are now working on their own game.
What kind of game is it? A real-time strategy game is being developed at the new studio Frost Giant. The team states that they do not want to introduce radical changes to the genre. It is said to be a title that builds on what made RTS great. Nevertheless, there will be some evolutions.
The website states:
Our mission is to develop the next big PC real-time strategy game. We have had the privilege of working for some of the biggest companies in the industry. Now it is our turn to carry on the legacy of epic storytelling, innovative cooperative gameplay, and acclaimed esports that make RTS great.
A team of veterans is making a new RTS
Who is behind the project? The team behind this new game consists of industry veterans:
- Tim Morten, Production Director and CEO (former Production Director of StarCraft 2 and C&C: Generals 2)
- Tim Campbell, Game Director and President (former Game Director of Wasteland 3, lead campaign designer of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne)
- Cara LaForge, Business Operations Lead (Former Senior Program Manager at Blizzard Esports, co-founder of Day[9]TV)
- Jesse Brophy, Art Director (former Lead Artist of StarCraft 2 and Principal Artist of Diablo 4)
- Ryan Schutter, Lead UX Designer (former Lead Designer for StarCraft 2, developer of GameHeart)
- Kevin Dong, Senior Co-Op Designer (former Senior Co-Op Designer for StarCraft 2, Project Manager for Team Liquid)
- Joseph Shunk, Lead Client Engineer (former Gameplay Engineer for StarCraft 2 and Warcraft 3: Reforged)
- Austin Hudelson, Lead Server Engineer (former Server Engineer for StarCraft 2)
- Micky Neilson, Author (external) (former Publishing Lead and Senior Writer at Blizzard, author of two NY Times bestselling novels)
Why is this team now developing an RTS? Tim Morten explained to the website VentureBeat that he simply really wants to develop a real-time strategy game again and his chances for that are better outside of Blizzard.
However, this is not because Blizzard doesn’t like RTS anymore, but because the company has to take care of so many other titles, including Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft.
So he made it his mission to carry on the legacy himself and has already secured an investment of 4.7 million USD for his idea.
What is already known about the game? Basically, not much is known, except that we are getting a rather classic RTS with a focus on story but also cooperative gameplay. It is not supposed to be fundamentally different than the real-time strategy games we already know. Nevertheless, some innovations are planned.
When the game will be released is currently unknown.
Whether Blizzard really has no time for a new RTS right now is questionable. Because it could be that a StarCraft 3 is currently in the works.
