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Former Blizzard Staffers Announce New Studio

Posted by simoniker on from the out-of-the-cold dept.

Thanks to GameSpot for their news that the key members of the creative team behind Diablo and Diablo II have announced their new company, called Flagship Studios, after their split from Blizzard at the end of June. The 9 co-founders of the San Francisco-based studio hope "...to build on a track record established by their work on the... Diablo franchise" at Blizzard North, and there's a piece of concept art and a company FAQ on Flagship's site that clarifies the fact they "intend the PC to be our main development platform", mentioning "multiplayer focused" aspects to this very early-in-development debut title.

4 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. concept art by pizza_milkshake · · Score: 3, Funny
    there's a piece of concept art and a company FAQ on Flagship's site that clarifies the fact they "intend the PC to be our main development platform", mentioning "multiplayer focused" aspects to this very early-in-development debut title.

    the concept art seems to "clarify" only that they are dorky and male, which i would take to be prerequisite for the gaming industry

  2. Seems to be a recurring trend... by I(rispee_I(reme · · Score: 3, Informative

    I can think of at least two other instances of the most talented section of a game development company taking wing over petty differences:
    1)When the developers of Contra left Konami to form Treasure.
    2)When the developers of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark left Rare to join Eidos.
    In each of these instances, the output of the parent company suffered greatly, while the prodigal developers released games that built on the strengths of their previous works, while seeming less constrained (or focused, depending on your perspective.) For Konami vs Treasure, compare Contra 3 to Gunstar Heroes. For Rare vs Eidos, compare Goldeneye or Perfect Dark to Time Splitters 1 or 2.
    I wish the upstarts the best of luck, and hope they can further refine their work.

  3. was blizz north gutted? by fireduck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    the initial story when these guys left was that it was only a few employees, Roper and 3 original Condor guys. This release mentions that 9 people left B.North, including art directors and senior programmers. That's a bit more drastic that first reported... (or at least than I recalled). I'm sure this gives Blizzard an opportunity to encourage new talent at B. North, but I really doubt losing all the top guys there is going to help any release dates (for any of their unnanounced projects.)

    Best quote in the interview with Roper, "Basically, it all comes down to spending less time managing teams and more time making games." And then of course, you go to the flagship homepage and see that of the 9, they've got a CVO (??), CEO, CCO, COO, CFO, 2 art director, and 2 technology directors. Seems odd that all 9 of their employees are managers...

  4. Ooops, lost my soul again. by voice+of+unreason · · Score: 3, Funny

    The flavor is a dark one (of course) that we think will really strike a chord with gamers around the world.

    Not to criticize or anything, but have the Blizzard (or ex-Blizzard) folks ever made anything with a plot the isn't dark? Where you know, maybe no major characters lose their eternal souls to aliens, or demons or what not...

    I think their dev team needs a hug.