Blizzard has been working on a survival game for years, which was abruptly canceled before its release after being acquired by Microsoft. In a forum, users have now shared images that supposedly show the game, and it strongly resembles what you know from the survival genre in recent years.
What kind of game is this?
- In 2022, Blizzard announced a new survival game, completely out of the blue. It was to be a “brand new game for PC and console.”
- The studio didn’t reveal much about the game, but a tipsy journalist spilled some details. The game was said to have been called Odyssey and reminisce of Everwild or Fable, featuring a lot of magic.
- Odyssey would have been Blizzard’s first new IP in 8 years. Last time, in 2016, Blizzard deviated from Warcraft, Diablo, etc. with Overwatch.
Here are the images: Images have been shared on Russian social media that allegedly show Odyssey (via neogaf.com). They display rudimentary gameplay snippets of a potential survival game.
In a selection wheel, various tools and weapons are visible, including a flute or a magic wand. The weapon design strongly resembles Warcraft, which could indicate a Blizzard origin.
The visuals are akin to what you know from the new survival hit Enshrouded or Aloft: A colorful comic style with plenty of green, mountains, and ruins. Additionally, classic survival elements like a crafting menu can be seen, as well as RPG content such as attributes and skill points.
A particular screenshot is especially exciting. Here, the character was killed by another player and lost a significant amount of loot as well as durability of their armor. There likely would have even been PvP.
The visuals of the images from Odyssey strongly remind of the rather chill survival game Aloft:
Survival game was “almost finished” when Microsoft pulled the plug
“Would have been,” because the game was discontinued in January 2024. After Microsoft acquired Blizzard, Odyssey was no longer developed. Some developers have since been working on other projects, many are left with nothing.
The reason for this decision is unknown – especially since Odyssey was said to be more or less finished, according to a 2023 leak. The then-CEO, Mike Ybarra, was said to have played it already.
That Blizzard cancels games they deem not good enough has been a philosophy of the studio since earlier times. Even when the games are close to release. Over the years, and later under Activision, this practice has softened, however.
Today, Blizzard is working on several projects simultaneously, many of which are smaller and have their own team for precisely such games. The developers for these games come from many other studios. At least one of the projects, however, is said to be considerably larger: Blizzard’s new game is more ambitious than Diablo 4 or Overwatch 2, and is said to burn into your mind for decades.
