Expect (At Least) Six Blizzard Titles in the Next Three Years

Posted 9 September 2011 by Flux

That’s the word from Activision/Blizzard COO Thomas Tippl from the Citi 2011 Tech Conference. This total includes two Starcraft 2 expansions, two World of Warcraft expansions, and Diablo III plus its first expansion. That roster does not include Project Titan, Blizzard’s still secret/unrevealed next-gen MMORPG. A quote from Gamespot’s coverage:

While Blizzard has not indicated any expansion pack plans beyond WOW’s Cataclysm, it has been more forthright with its Starcraft II plans. The game’s second installment, Heart of the Swarm, focuses on the Zerg faction, and Battle.net project director Greg Canessa indicated it will be available in mid-2012. The series will conclude with Legacy of the Void, which focuses on the Protoss camp.

The remaining two releases pertain to Diablo III. While Blizzard maintains that it hopes to release Diablo III in 2011, Tippl said that the game has not been factored into its earnings report expectations for the calendar year. Tippl also expects that a Diablo III expansion will be available before the end of 2014.

As many people have pointed out, Blizzard has released six games in the past eight years, so planning to do that in three would be quite an increase in their pace.

You might also remember the leaked product schedule from early last year, which projected SC2 and D3 expansions every 18 months. The first SC2 expansion is going to take more like 24 months, so it’s probably wise to expect the wait for D3X to be at least that long; though it’ll be less than 3 years, apparently.

Tagged As: | Categories: Diablo 3 Expansions, Financial, Project Titan, Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft
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25 Opinions have been expressed on “Expect (At Least) Six Blizzard Titles in the Next Three Years”
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  • Oh no not that Slate again :x
    Oh Heart of the Swarm is coming out end this year? yeah, not gonna happen…
    Even D3 is questionable…

    • Bliz has said mid-2012 for SC2X. Hence my “24 months’ reference in the post.  Seems like that’s a good guideline for D3X, if not longer. I’d think D3X would actually take longer,  in terms of adding more stuff to the base game. A sixth rune type?, all the new items, new skills?, etc. Plus of course a 6th class and a 5th act.

      SC2 is what, just more SP missions and another unit or two? Though they’ve got the whole PvP balancing to deal with…

      • They’re also taking units out of the current PvP game too…. so they’re mixing things up a bit.

        But if D2 -> D2X changes were anything to go by, D3C might make huge changes too.

        • I wonder if they will also increase Level cap in D3X, hopefully also some interesting end game content in Inferno.
          But they might already be busy on that with content patches?
          So many questions need answering! :P

  • If Activision rushes Blizzards games, reducing their quality in hope of increase in profit…
    I’m coming to their house.

    • Then make sure you’re out of there before I drop by for a midnight visit. Bring lots of garbage bags and leave them in the back, I’ll put them to good use.

    • As I understand it, Blizzard is pretty much left on it’s own to do as they please.  When Vivendi bought Blizzard years ago the only interaction between the two companies was the head of Blizzard going directly to the head of Vivendi.  No middlemen were involved.

  • You and me both dude. :evil:

  • 3 years between D3 and D3X?  That seems like a very very long time…. I would think that D3X would come out ~mid 2013 at the latest.

  • My god 3 years for a single expansion??? Man can they not lay off the SC and WoW crap for one minute to work on something more worthwhile?

  • 2 for WoW 2 for SC2 1 for d3, where is the sixth?

  • D3 itself is the sixth projected Bliz title.

  • I wonder where that diablo universe console game falls in this

  • I’ll take ANY bet that they won’t… Anyone??? (DLC doesn’t count! ;) )

  • They’re lost in D3, so many ideas, so many things to do and no sense of organization at all. If the beta is late, the game is even more. I really hope they’re not doing some big white elephant game that in a few hours bored you to the bone. Obviously the graphic is a little outdated compared to new engines and new games thats been released since the project begins, the clock is ticking and what could be a stunning release now, may be an ordinary game tomorrow. They are wasting precious time in conferences and putting up a big show, when they should be doing the game. Cause u know, when the **** is good, it sells itself alone.

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