I want a modern turn based strategy game. Please!
What if Blizzard made a Civilization type game? I know people like Ghostcrawler there have done some work on turn based strategy and are fans of the genre. Can someone please fix the turn based strategy games?
Above: Civilization 2
But the Civilization theme might be too passe. How about a science fiction theme?
Above: Alpha Centauri: Alien Crossfire
Or how about a fantasy theme? Why, oh why, has there not been a really fun spiritual successor to this game?
Above: Master of Magic
Or how about a sci-fi strategy game where you design your own spaceships!
Above: Master of Orion
But can you imagine if Blizzard made a game like the Sims? It would give EA a run for its money and likely become the most popular game ever made. Perhaps some of these games might be made if Blizzard branches out to mobile PCs (e.g. tablets, smartphones).
I wouldn’t even mind a turn based RPG or a Wing Commander type game. How about a fantasy based Privateer game? Ooohhh, that would be nice.
But Blizzard will never make any of these games. Do you know why?
Blizzard has an identity and a certain expectation for its games. Nintendo games, for example, are games that utilize their hardware. Blizzard has fooled everyone into thinking their path with gaming is about non-innovation but tons of polish.
Blizzard is more of an Internet company than a game company. Blizzard’s rise in company value only occurs when its video game uses the Internet in a way video games do not normally do. Think back with Warcraft 2 and Kali (which Blizzard put on the CD). Blizzard eventually created Battle.net around the Kali concept. Battle.net launched with Diablo 1. Blizzard then integrated more of its games into Battle.net with Starcraft, Diablo 2, and Warcraft 3. With World of Warcraft, Blizzard may not have been using the internet differently from previous MMORPG companies, but it was a huge change for the company itself.
As we move on, we find that Starcraft 2 is all about E-Sports. Starcraft 2 wasn’t just a ‘sequel’ to Starcraft 1, it was Blizzard trying to utilize the Internet and gaming to create ‘E-Sports’ around the world.
Diablo 3 is not just a sequel to Diablo 2, it is combining the Internet and gaming to create a ‘real money auction house’.
What I’m pointing out is that Blizzard has created a unique definition as an integrated Internet-and-gaming company. Even back with Warcraft 1, there was emphasis on the multiplayer with modem play. Remember when modems were the Internet? Blizzard is riding the trend of the Internet and doing so more than any other game company I know.
And what of Blizzard’s cancelled games? Warcraft Adventures and Starcraft Ghost didn’t utilize the Internet in any form. The games were essentially done, but they were not ‘Blizzard’ games in that they didn’t utilize the Internet.
With any Blizzard project, now and the future, ask yourself, “What is the relationship of this game and the Internet?” Why is Blizzard spending money to make a FREE game called ‘Blizzard All-Stars’? It is because it has a unique relationship of gaming and the Internet that Blizzard hasn’t tapped into yet. The ‘free to play’ with people buying items or heroes is something Blizzard has yet to do. If Blizzard ever does mobile gaming, it will be using the Internet capability in some interesting way.
So could the games I listed above ever be made? Maybe. I suspect something like them would be used for Blizzard’s first mobile PC game.
Also, expect Blizzard’s expansions to be more about Internet innovation. The Starcraft 2 expansion, Heart of the Swarm, will largely revolve around the Map Marketplace. I guarantee it.
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