In 2016 hiring started for then and still today unannounced Blizzard’s project, which even back then people were speculating to be a shooter , due to the way the job descriptions were described.
Now a new spot went open on Blizz’s payroll and it confirms what we thought. The description reads:
As a Senior or Principal Designer, you’ll work with numerous departments to shape the core gameplay experience for this unannounced project by defining the abilities, powers, and weapons our players will use. The ideal candidate will design and implement great game experiences while helping to foster a creative and energetic environment. You have proven experience in game design, a strong aptitude for critical thinking and analysis, outstanding people skills, boundless creativity, and extensive knowledge and passion for competitive first-person shooter games.
There are some hefty requirements for this position. But as far as we’re concerned, we can now indulge in wanton speculation.
Given the emphasis on PvP it’s clearly not going to be story-driven RPG (because of course it’s not, after Blizzard scrapped the entirety of Overwatch’s single-player campaign I don’t expect them to want to tell stories) so probably everything having to do with Warcraft is out of the question. And if it is based on Warcraft it’s not gonna have what makes Warcraft fun- roleplaying. So it might as well not be Warcraft.
Overwatch also seems highly unlikely, as it has such a strong presence of its own that even making a spin-off game would severely dilute its charm.
That leaves us with only a few options, and given that here’s my pitch- Star Craft but it’s Battle Royale.
Now don’t get me wrong, this sounds terrible. Nobody wants it. I certainly don’t want it. But… It’s profitable. And I genuinely stopped expecting Blizzard to care about making a good game more than making profit at this point.