Blizzard’s Surprising Cancellation of Their Survival Game Project

Blizzard Entertainment, a leading name in the gaming industry, has recently announced some major changes. The tech giant, Microsoft, which now owns Blizzard, has made sweeping layoffs across various divisions, including Blizzard. Among the affected projects was Blizzard’s survival game, which was in development since at least 2017.

The survival game, which was set in a new universe, had been the subject of much excitement within the gaming community. Blizzard had shared two pieces of concept art from the game, which showed characters in plain clothes seemingly stumbling across a portal to a fantasy world. The game had been in development for five years, according to LinkedIn updates from Blizzard staff.

However, today’s actions affect multiple teams within Blizzard, including development teams, shared service organizations, and corporate functions. As part of this focus, Blizzard is ending development on its survival game project and will be shifting some of the people working on it to one of several promising new projects Blizzard has in the early stages of development.

The cancellation of the survival game project comes as a surprise to many in the gaming industry. Blizzard had been actively recruiting for the project, and the studio had been working on it since at least 2017. The game had been announced in 2022, but little was known about it beyond the concept art and the fact that it was a survival game set in a new universe.

Game projects get cancelled before release all the time, but we hear about more cancellations now because developers are announcing projects much earlier to help with the recruitment of experienced staff. The survival game’s cancellation is a reminder that even the most anticipated projects can be cancelled, and that the gaming industry is subject to the same economic realities as other industries.

Microsoft laid off nearly 2000 people across Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Xbox teams today. This follows 10,000 layoffs made across the tech giant in January last year, which included staff at several Microsoft game studios. The layoffs are part of a larger trend of cost-cutting measures in the tech industry, as companies grapple with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the cancellation of the survival game project, Blizzard remains a major player in the gaming industry. The studio is currently working on several other projects, including Diablo IV and Overwatch 2. These projects are expected to be released in the coming years, and they are likely to generate significant revenue for Blizzard and Microsoft.

The cancellation of the survival game project is a reminder that even the most anticipated projects can be cancelled, and that the gaming industry is subject to the same economic realities as other industries. However, it is also a reminder of the resilience and adaptability of the gaming industry. Blizzard will continue to develop new projects, and the gaming community will continue to look forward to new releases with excitement and anticipation.

In conclusion, the cancellation of Blizzard’s survival game project is a surprising development in the gaming industry. The game had been in development for five years, and it had been the subject of much excitement within the gaming community. However, the economic realities of the tech industry have forced Blizzard to cancel the project and shift resources to other projects. Despite this setback, Blizzard remains a major player in the gaming industry, and it is expected to continue developing new projects in the coming years. The cancellation of the survival game project is a reminder that even the most anticipated projects can be cancelled, but it is also a reminder of the resilience and adaptability of the gaming industry.