General Gaming A team of StarCraft veterans wanted to make a new RTS, but Activision Blizzard wouldn’t allow it. So they made their own studio.

[SaysWho?]

 

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Without the best-selling brands, like Warcraft and Overwatch, and fan goodwill that Blizzard has built since its founding in 1991, going indie is a risk. But the startups are getting support from venture capitalists eager for a shot at the kind of revenue Blizzard’s parent company, Activision Blizzard Inc.,  generates — $8.1 billion in 2020. And the founders are convinced the fans will be there for them.

 

Blizzard made a name for itself early on with its real-time strategy games, which let players battle each other using large numbers of complex units in "real time," as opposed to waiting turns. Its Warcraft and StarCraft franchises came to define the genre. But in recent years, as real-time strategy games have declined in popularity, the gaming giant has favored more lucrative franchises such as Diablo, in which players use a single character to slash through hordes of demons, and the first-person shooter Overwatch.

 

So when veteran producer Tim Morten and a handful of other Blizzard staff wanted to make a new strategy game, they left the company and started a new one, founding Frost Giant Studios last year.

 

Morten said big publishers such as Activision Blizzard are looking for “billion-dollar products” rather than simply aiming to develop profitable games. “My perception of RTS as a genre is that Blizzard has made money with it,” Morten said, “but it’s all about orders of magnitude.”

 

[GameDadGrant]

How many other companies make RTS games anyway? Seems like a niche genre that could use some attention.

[Fizzzzle]

The last 2 (optionally) single player Blizzard games were Starcraft II and Diablo III, both of which were already well in development when they were acquired by Activision. Diablo III came out 9 years ago. Diablo IV might come out someday, but I bet the emphasis will be on multiplayer and lootboxes and shit even more than the last one.

 

It has been made abundantly clear that things like RTS games are not going to be a priority ever again to them. If you can't sell a lootbox, they don't want to make it.

[Keyser_Soze]

31 minutes ago, GameDadGrant said:

How many other companies make RTS games anyway? Seems like a niche genre that could use some attention.

 

Something you see mostly on PC, like Grey Goo is a recent one (well in the last 5 years anyway), Total War games. Age of Empires IV is supposed to come out this year. So yeah, they are there you're just not seeing them.

 

[GameDadGrant]

1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Something you see mostly on PC, like Grey Goo is a recent one (well in the last 5 years anyway), Total War games. Age of Empires IV is supposed to come out this year. So yeah, they are there you're just not seeing them.

 

 

Haha that wasn't very convincing but okay.  

[Remarkableriots]

The best RTS Games on PC in 2021 | PCGamesN

WWW.PCGAMESN.COM

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There are some great RTS games out there both old and new, and we've collected them all in one place

 

[JPDunks4]

EA actually seemed to be semi interested in possibly bringing C&C back to life with the very well done remaster of C7C and Red Alert that they released last year.  It was actually handled very well by EA, and the final product was pretty great.   Not sure how well it was received.  I'm hoping for both C&C and Red Alert's sequels to get the same treatment.

 

Might also mean they are looking at possibly making a new proper game in the series.

 

 

 

*Still one of the best soundtracks in gaming.