Introduction

It has been over ten years since Blizzard Entertainment, renowned for its iconic real-time strategy games like StarCraft and WarCraft, has released a new title in the RTS genre. However, the flames of ambition haven’t been extinguished entirely within the company. According to a recent revelation, Tim Morten, the former production director for StarCraft 2, alongside his team, pitched multiple new RTS projects, including a highly anticipated WarCraft 4 and an unexpected concept for a Call of Duty-based RTS, before his departure to co-found Frost Giant Studios in 2020.

The Revelation

The details emerged from an insightful report by Jason Schreier, a respected journalist known for his investigative work, coinciding with the release of his new book titled Play Nice, which discusses the tumultuous history of Blizzard. During a Reddit AMA, Schreier shared that Morten and his team spent years trying to secure support from Activision-Blizzard’s executives for their ambitious RTS projects. Unfortunately, their efforts were met with resistance, as management remained hesitant to invest in new RTS titles following the disappointing launch of Warcraft 3: Reforged.

WarCraft 3: Reforged's Impact

Released in early 2020, Warcraft 3: Reforged was plagued with numerous bugs, performance issues, and missing features, leading to widespread disappointment among fans. Blizzard initially pledged to address these problems but later resorted to issuing refunds, affirming the game's failure as a significant blemish on Blizzard's reputation. Despite the original Warcraft III retaining a loyal player base, the remaster was seen as insufficiently executed, dampening hopes for a WarCraft 4.

Blizzard's Caution