After Microsoft completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company canceled the unannounced Survival game codenamed Odyssey. It is unknown what other unannounced games were in the pipeline, or whether new ones have been greenlighted by Microsoft. So far there is at least one only visible to those who visit the Blizzard Careers page.

There might be more than one as all potential unannounced games share the same “Unannounced Game” job category.

We know it is not Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, not World of Warcraft: Midnight or The Last Titan, and nor Hearthstone-related. We already know the title of the first three as they were announced. Hearthstone would usually hire under the mobile or Hearthstone jobs category.

Things have changed so drastically in the Careers page. There are only 6 job categories, which tells you that Microsoft likely hires positions for the other categories that existed before the acquisition.

I browsed through all the “Unannounced Game” job listings, and most of them are a copy/paste with a few different words depending on the position. I couldn’t find a single detail that could reveal what the game is about, or what the franchise might be. However, there were some unique requirements that weren’t broadly shared among those positions that might be of interest.

  • As a key member of the development team, you will take ownership of building and leading a highly creative team, and be the point person owning gameplay, mechanics, and activities within our open world. A thorough understanding of creative world-building, artistic composition, boundless creativity, and fun gameplay is integral to crafting the player experience and telling the visual stories of our unique world.
  • Fully own the process of developing our game’s IP, working with Art and Game Design leadership to develop the settings, characters, themes, and multi-season story arcs within that world.
  • Work closely with game designers, programmers, artists, and other partners to integrate AI systems seamlessly into game environments, ensuring they enhance combat dynamics and contribute to overall immersion.
  • Owning the direction for iconic and fun gameplay spaces, ranging from sprawling exterior zones to tight and intense claustrophobic interiors.
  • Advocate for player-centric AI combat design, ensuring that AI behaviors enhance player engagement, immersion, and satisfaction throughout the gaming experience.
  • Building and guiding a team of your creation, to own the creation of gameplay and content for a large game world that’s enables great gameplay and exciting exploration.
  • Creating large combat-AI play spaces and more, frequently owning the process from conception.
  • Partnering with art, design, and tech leaders to define and create both beautiful and world class playable locations that effectively complement Blizzard’s handcrafted level design.
  • Experience creating compelling combat at AAA-quality level, including player-versus-AI combat, high fidelity enemy animation, VFX/SFX, UX etc.
  • Experience creating compelling player experiences at AAA quality, including game world simulation, objectives, mission progression, interactables, UX, cinematic elements, etc.
  • Experience across a variety of platforms, particularly PC and console.
  • Your experience with cross-platform development (desktop, console, mobile etc.)
  • Experience developing and shipping AAA game titles for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles.
  • PBR
  • Blueprint (Unreal Engine scripting language)
  • Houdini

The language used in some of these requirements is interesting. It doesn’t say it is an MMO, or an RPG, or a multiplayer of some type. The unannounced game is a large open world with exciting exploration. This flat out cancels the possibility of an Overwatch 2 expansion, as you can’t really explore it and it is not an open world. It is a series of random maps. The PvE content was canceled by Microsoft after the acquisition was completed.

It would be interesting if Microsoft decided to dump the entire Overwatch PvE content filled with nightmarish tool and engine problems, and instead requested a brand-new Overwatch game separate from Overwatch 2.

Imagine an Overwatch game developed as something akin to World of Warcraft, with an open-world, quests, dungeons, raids, and Battlegrounds.

At this point, I am not sure Blizzard Entertainment can create their own new MMO IP. They tried with Titan. That failed. They tried with Odyssey. It failed, or at least got on the chopping block before it could even be Alpha tested.

Could it be StarCraft related? Blizzard Entertainment disbanded the team behind StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm. But they still own the IP. I wouldn’t be surprised if this Unannounced Game was a StarCraft game.

Phil Spencer mentioned StarCraft during BlizzCon 2023. He mentioned its role in eSports and live entertainment … but strangely didn’t even mention or acknowledge that it was an RTS or how the game cemented the inspiration for other RTS games out there. StarCraft MMO with PvP battlegrounds? That’s a possibility. I don’t think they would do an Overwatch 2 type of game, but it has plenty of room for a Destiny 2-type of game where you jump to different planets.

Personally, I don’t think Blizzard should delve into mobile games unless they build them in-house with a big team. Diablo Immortal was a great gameplay experience, but it took them too long to add new content consistently in a reasonable amount of time. Lack of transparency: no yearly roadmaps to inform players that content would be arriving at certain quarters. Then … Warcraft Arclight … not the type of mobile game one expected or wanted.

To wrap up, the Unannounced Game job listings mention PC and Console often. However, some requirements in some of them include PC, Console and Mobile.

I am still pondering what former Diablo community manager Brandy Camel meant with multiple Diablo projects in development back in 2018. Did we get all of them? Or… are some still in the oven? Were some canceled by Microsoft?

Can StarCraft III as an RTS be possible? Maybe. However, the way StarCraft II ended, lorewise, is there anything further to tell in StarCraft III? Or could they explore an era in the past with a new story and a new StarCraft name?

Same goes for Diablo and Warcraft. There are many eras Blizzard could explore in the Diablo and Warcraft franchises in brand-new games.