There are many similarities between Blizzard (WoW, Overwatch, Diablo) and Bungie (Destiny). Both had a glorious past until Activision came along. Both later faced criticism and in both companies, the long-standing leaders left. These two former leaders, Mike Morhaime and Harold Ryan, are now each building their own company with a new approach.

Blizzard and Bungie are two of the most well-known names in gaming, whose luster has faded somewhat in recent years. Now the former heads of the two companies are behind the most exciting startups in gaming in the last 5 years.

Who are the former heads?

• Mike Morhaime (52) was something like “the good soul of Blizzard.” He founded the company that later became Blizzard in 1991, led the studio for almost three decades, and stepped down as president and CEO of Blizzard in October 2018.
• Harold Ryan started at Bungie as a “Test Manager” before 2001, rose through the ranks over the years, until he became the head of Bungie in 2008. In January 2016, he left Bungie after more than 15 years without a grand farewell. Compared to Morhaime, Ryan is much more reserved when it comes to the public.

Why did they leave their jobs? It’s not quite clear. No one spoke openly about it. Morhaime’s departure was accompanied by pleasant words, while Ryan left Bungie quietly. Later Ryan said that the team was on a good path and for him, it was a good time to do something else. The kids were out of the house and he was considering what his future would look like (via venturebeat).

However, there are rumors and speculations: The major publisher Activision might have played a role in both heads leaving their respective paths. Because the financially strong publisher came on board with both companies and evidently changed the corporate culture:

• Activision merged with Blizzard in 2008
• the deal with Bungie for “10 years of Destiny” was concluded by Activision around 2012

Ryan left Bungie in 2016. Destiny was just undergoing a transformation. At that time, it was clear that Destiny 2 had to be rebooted, and that they would not be able to meet the tight schedule set by Activision Blizzard. Destiny 2 had to be postponed by a year, creating a gaping content gap that was particularly huge at the beginning of 2016.

The director of Destiny 2, CJ Cowan, left Bungie along with Harold Ryan and currently works at his company. Whether Ryan’s departure was connected to the reboot of Destiny 2 is unknown. Bungie is known for being chronically closed off – hardly any internal matters come to light.

Many believe that with Morhaime, he fled from the “growing influence” of Activision. They insisted that Blizzard finish its games and focus more on profit, according to insider reports.

Morhaime was seen as a bastion who upheld the old Blizzard, where quality was paramount and things came “when it’s done”, when it was ready, and not when the fiscal year dictated.

The “Indie-AAA Company” as a New Model

This is what the two are doing now:

Both are doing practically the same thing. They have founded a parent company that employs developer teams. Probably Monsters states that they want to develop AAA titles. Dreamhaven at least has developers with plenty of AAA experience on board.

It is a new kind of company: no longer a classic studio, but several independent development teams under one roof. The teams are then supposed to develop their own games:

• Harold Ryan founded “Probably Monsters” in 2016 – in a funding round, they raised $18.8 million in 2019. The studio in Issaquah, Washington has since grown to over 100 employees.
• Morhaime founded “Dreamhaven” a few weeks ago, together with his wife Amy Morhaime. It is reportedly self-financed, and they have 27 employees.

Both essentially opened companies that then have “in-house” studios associated with them. There are two differences:

• Morhaime’s Dreamhaven wants to publish the games themselves as a publisher. Here, they are taking a more conservative approach. Morhaime emphasizes the family atmosphere and that they want to be “unabridged” and show how they can treat the “gaming” business and players better than others do.
• At Probably Monsters, Harold Ryan’s 2 studios already have publishing contracts with “major external publishers”, as stated back in 2016 (via Businesswire). Ryan frequently talks about the “AAA” games that are being developed there, referring to the truly expensive blockbuster titles.

Leaders Bringing in Top Employees from the Past

Both rely on veterans they have previously worked with for their plans. Morhaime has brought in some top names from Blizzard to his team at “Dreamhaven” like Dustin Browder, the lead designer of StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm, or Eric Dodds, the lead designer of Hearthstone.

These are all experienced individuals who have been “missing from Blizzard” for years. Dustin Browder had, for instance, worked on the canceled StarCraft shooter “Ares” and left after the project was canceled.

Blizzard admitted in October 2019 that 3 top individuals left – they are all now with Morhaime.

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Blizzard confirms: 3 top developers left months ago

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At “Probably Monsters”, Ryan’s project currently employs many who were previously at Bungie. For example, he has CJ Cowan, who was supposed to lead Destiny 2. Additionally, Jon Weisnewski, the longtime weapons chief is also involved.

What are they doing concretely?

• At Probably Monsters, they have 3 studios building “next-gen AAA franchises”. Recently, they brought on board the creators of Torchlight. It sounds like big online multiplayer games are being developed at Probably Monsters.
• Morhaime’s Dreamhaven has 2 studios that are supposed to develop their own games. Given the teams’ experience, it seems likely that online games will develop here as well.

So far, no project from the studios has been announced. The teams are still in the process of building and conception. What the studio heads say sounds exactly like what players want to hear.

Morhaime says: “We are trying almost to create a heaven for developers that values the product, is developer-friendly, and prioritizes the player experience over short-term financial gain.” (via venturebeat)

Ryan also has similar plans. The company is a mix of studio and publisher: a new kind of company for a new era. He emphasizes how important it is for developers to feel comfortable in the company, to feel trust, and to enjoy a safe environment.

Like a Big Publisher – Without the Downsides

This is the idea: When listening to the people who work at Dreamhaven, one thing comes out:

• They want to work with the financial resources they are used to from AAA studios, which can only a major publisher provide
• The artistic vision should be at the forefront. The game developers want artistic freedom without making compromises

The theme is very similar at Probably Monsters:

• they want to create an environment that has a culture like a “small studio” but then produces big games
• hence they rely on values like trust and respect for one another

One can be curious whether the new approach of Ryan and Morhaime can bring us the games we want in the future. Apparently, they want to build big, high-quality games while retaining the atmosphere of a “small team” where everyone knows each other and they ensure that everyone is doing well.

These seem to be exactly the criticisms that AAA developers have towards their employers: It’s only about profit and financial reports. The games and the visions behind them are losing focus.

Perhaps one of the “new projects” will be able to capture the magic of the past. We will probably have to wait a long time for Dreamhaven’s games, but those from Probably Monsters might not be so far off.

The cultural shift at Blizzard is something that has been talked about for years and became more evident in recent years with some incidents and departures. Open discussions about Blizzard’s condition are rarely held, but an insider report from January 2020 paints an intriguing picture of what is happening at Activision Blizzard:

New insider report sheds dark light on what is happening at Blizzard

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The unusual battle royale game Spellbreak lets you fight wild battles as a wizard with magical gloves and runes. The game started far more successfully than the developers had anticipated. MeinMMO author Jürgen Horn also finds the game much better now than in the beta. Moreover, the developers explained in an interview how the launch went and what they still want to bring.

What is Spellbreak? Spellbreak is an unusual battle royale game. You play as a wizard who unexpectedly finds himself in the “Hollow Lands”, a devastated fantasy world. There, you must master magic and take down other wizards. Only then can you become the “Ultimate Spellcaster”.

The special features of Spellbreak are:

• Each of your heroes can fly and hover
• You choose a class before the game starts, including Ice Mage, Fire Mage, or Lightning Wizard
• Depending on the class, you start with a glove that gives you access to special attacks and skills. You are therefore never defenseless.
• In the game, you can find a second magic glove and combine the effects.
• Additionally, there are runes that act as utility skills, making you invisible or enabling teleports.

Otherwise, the usual battle royale concept applies. Collect loot, get stronger, kill opponents, and be the last one standing. The game world constantly shrinks due to a magical storm, ensuring you can’t hide forever. Here you can see the launch trailer:

Spellbreak – From “meh” to “Wow, this is really fun!”

My first experience with Spellbreak: Just before the end of the Spellbreak beta, my MeinMMO colleague Noah Struthoff and I played Spellbreak. In the end, we were somewhat puzzled. The game had good ideas. We liked the idea of magic and combos. The setting was original, and flying was also cool.

But on the other hand, the game was not particularly beginner-friendly. We often didn’t know what to do with the magic gloves, and then either there were no opponents for ages, or we were immediately taken out by some completely superior pros. Our conclusion was therefore, “Yes, this could work, but something needs to change and there should be more rewarding moments.”

Mixed feelings about the launch: Since my first sessions in Spellbreak were so frustrating, I wasn’t particularly excited to play the game again at release. “Oh well, what could have changed?” I sighed fatalistically and dutifully installed it. Someone has to do it. And who knows, maybe the devs really improved something. I actually liked the idea of Spellbreak and the graphics style reminiscent of the anime series Avatar.

It was so awesome right from the first game after release: And what can I say? The gameplay felt completely different after the release. As soon as I landed, the action started off big, and I quickly got into the game. I had chosen a lightning mage. She fires off the lightning bolts in rapid succession and feels a bit like a magical submachine gun.

Since many of the noobs who had just started were probably playing the cool-looking fire mage, I quickly took out several opponents shortly after landing. The fireballs do much more damage per hit than my little tickling lightning bolts. But they are very visible, slow, and can only be thrown with observable delay.

I, on the other hand, ran and hovered around the opponents and zapped them repeatedly until they all lay in the dust. I snatched their loot and followed a wild raid through the rest of the map.

I took out opponents with lightning strikes or dissolved them in close combat with my newly found acid glove. It works like a shotgun and is super dangerous in close combat. Combined with an invisibility rune, I could melt some opponents from ambush.

In the end, the last opponent fell under my magical power, and I had won! A complete victory right in the first game. Yeah, that’s what motivating gameplay looks like!

So instead of uninstalling the game angrily after three frustrating rounds, I played nothing else for the rest of the evening and was totally excited.

That’s why Spellbreak is so much fun: Whatever the developers did, the release build of Spellbreak is incredibly fun, and the magic gloves (the weapons in the game) feel much more intuitive to play than in the beta.

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Once you figure out how a specific spell works and connect it with a typical shooter weapon, the rest comes naturally. The lightning bolts are rapid-fire weapons, the ice glove is a kind of sniper rifle, and the poison gloves are like a toxic shotgun due to their spread.

Since you can move very quickly with the flying ability and some runes, the game flows quickly, and the fights are a lot of fun thanks to the many effects and the cool cel-shading graphic style. A round goes quickly, and if you lose, you quickly get back into the fray and can continue in a new round.

Developers reveal details about the future:

Who did we talk to? After the awesome first round in Spellbreak, there was also an opportunity to conduct another interview with the developers. Executive Producer Cardell Kerr from Studio Proletariat was available to me again.

How did the launch go? In response to my question about the launch of the game and how it went, Cardell was very satisfied and gave me the following answer:

The launch exceeded all our expectations! It is very difficult to release on so many platforms and in so many regions, and we anticipated all kinds of problems. We thought we would spend the first week just trying to keep the game running. But everything went almost smoothly. We were also really surprised by the initial high demand.

Only a few bugs in region selection and various cheaters caused problems at launch. Otherwise, everything went surprisingly well.

Influencers as a success factor: According to Cardell, the strong start and the lively interest in Spellbreak also stem from the fact that some streamers and influencers had played the game out of curiosity in the alpha back then. Some returned to the release of their own accord and, thanks to their prior experience, showcased strong gameplay right away. This attracted even more players and kept them engaged.

How do the developers want to proceed? After the strong launch of the game, the developers want to build on this. A new content release is planned every week. This will include changes to the map, events, new runes, or even new gloves, i.e., weapons. After launch, runes for Shadow Step and Time Mastery were reintroduced. They were initially removed because they are quite complex and the game is already not easy to grasp.

In October, the popular mode “Clash,” known from the beta, is also set to return. This is not a battle royale but a 9vs9 deathmatch. In the beta, it was still in a 3vs3 format, but according to Cardell, Clash with 9vs9 players will be even more fun.

Additionally, there will be a Halloween event in October, featuring special costumes and events.

Later in the year, the so-called Chapter system will launch. This will include quests that you complete in the game world. Additionally, the complex story of Spellbreak will play a role here. “What are the Hollow Lands and what are you doing there anyway?” This will be gradually explained in these chapters.

What about PvE? I also asked Cardell in our interview if he plans to include PvE elements in the game. This remains a topic, but not for the near future:

This is not something we expect in the near future. The game is already quite complex, and we don’t want to overwhelm players with even more game elements. We first want to deepen the PvP mode before introducing entirely new elements like PvE.

But even without a PvE mode, Spellbreak is immensely fun, and I can only recommend the game to every battle royale fan. You can get it for free on the Epic Store. If you’re looking for more interesting battle royale games, you can find them here in our large MeinMMO list of the best battle royale games 2020.

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