This afternoon, Microsoft announced that it will lay off 1,900 employees as part of a wave of consolidation – including the current Blizzard CEO. However, a current Blizzard project is also being cancelled: the secret survival game.
Which survival game is it about? Microsoft has ended the development of a survival game by Activision/Blizzard. It was announced in January 2022, but unfortunately, there have been no further significant updates from Blizzard since then. However, back then, positions for lead artists, designers, and programmers were advertised.
What has been known about the game so far? Blizzard has so far kept very quiet about the game. It has been referred to as Unannounced Survival Game
and it was supposed to be a world full of heroes, stories, and adventures.
However, it was important that the game was supposed to be a completely new IP: the setting would not relate to or be inspired by the well-known Blizzard universes such as Overwatch, Starcraft, Warcraft, or Diablo. This would have made it the first new IP for the developer since the release of Overwatch in 2016.
Known features included an open world, a free class and skill system, crafting, and a building mode. Based on the wording in the job postings, it was assumed that the survival game would feature multiplayer or even become an MMORPG.
According to Mike Ybarra, who is now leaving Blizzard as part of the layoffs, the game was already in a playable state in 2022. He announced this on Twitter at the time, now X.com.
Many have to go, but some can continue working on other projects
Why was it cancelled now? The end of development on the game was announced as part of the layoff wave announced by Microsoft today. The move follows the acquisition of Activision/Blizzard by Microsoft, which recently cleared all legal hurdles.
A first consequence of the acquisition was the departure of Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. This caused a sigh of relief in the community. Today, Xbox chief Phil Spencer announced that a total of 1,900 employees will be laid off.
The halt in development for the survival game was announced in a second memo, which the colleagues at The Verge published in full. In it, Matt Booty wrote that Blizzard would end the development of its survival project and assign some of the game’s former employees to other, more promising projects.
Matt Booty has been the current President of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft since October 2023. In this role, he oversees Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media/Bethesda Softworks.
Today’s news follows several months of significant layoffs in both the gaming and tech industries. Just two days ago, the League of Legends developer Riot Games laid off 530 employees.
