DigitalBattle.com

Blizzard has decided that they’re not happy with dominating PC gaming as much as they already do with World of Warcraft, as the employment section of their website lists postings for workers on a next-gen MMO. There aren’t any hints as to what the game will actually be, but its likely that it’ll be set in one of Blizzard’s other two franchises: Starcraft and Diablo.

The case for Starcraft: First of all there seemed to have been far more outcry for a new Starcraft game than for a new Diablo game. You also have three different factions set up, each with unique abilities and overall styles. Then there’s various unit types which could easily translate into classes: Protoss could attain higher levels of psychic mastery, Terrans get promotions or extra training and Zerg grow or change into various other biological engines of destruction. The game could cater to both action fanatics and RTS fans alike. This worked in Savage fairly well. One player takes over tactical command of a battlefield, issuing orders and allocating resources where they’re needed, while the other players attempt to destroy the enemy. With many different battlefields and some AI-controlled supporting infantry troops there’d be quite some depth and strategy to this approach.  World of Warcraft also followed fairly closely on the heels of Warcraft III, so with Starcraft 2 coming out soon they might be following an established plan of success.

The case for Diablo: It’s been a long time since Diablo 2 came out and there have to be some gamers out there somewhere hoping for a new title in the series.  The online play was very popular and many gamers used Ebay as a real-world marketplace, selling and buying rare items. There’s a whole plethora of lore and legend in the history of the Diablo universe where it could take place. The game could function in a similar way to World of Warcraft, with the sides of Heaven and Hell warring for supremacy with humanity caught in between. There could even be the possibility of players being able to create Angelic or Demonic characters once they reached a certain level with their mortal characters. Throw in a number of already established classes and character types as well as the simple fact that fantasy MMOs generally do better than Sci-fi ones and you’ve got a decent argument for the Lord of Terror as well.

There is always the possibility that they could be creating a completely new IP, but given the success of WoW, it’s infinitely more likely they’ll be putting their eggs into a basket they know is already a success.