News video games 16 March 2023, 11:41

Ex Blizzard Employees Are Making New Action RPG [UPDATE]

Former Blizzard employees, who were involved in work on WoW, Diablo 3 and the upcoming Four, along with other industry veterans have founded a new studio, Gas Giant Games. The developers are already working on their first game - an action RPG.

Update

Wilson and Love aren't the only ones to set up their own development studio. A similar move has been decided by other Activision Blizzard veterans - Jen Oneal, J. Allen Brack and John Donham. Their team - Magic Soup Games - is already working on their first game. Details will be announced soon.

J. Allen Brack was CEO of Blizzard from 2018 to 2021. He stepped down when the company was surrounded by an aura of moral scandal. After his resignation, Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra took over the reigns. Oneal lasted only three months in this role. The reason for her departure was said to be unequal treatment of women.

Original message (March 15, 2023)

Two former employees of Blizzard Entertainment, Jay Wilson and Julian Love, have joined forces and founded a new studio called Gas Giant Games. They are the creators of big hits - their credits include Diablo 3 and World of Warcraft.

Wilson and Love shared bits of information, including a description of the new studio and staff, as well as plans for the future.

Big dreams and promises

"We have created some of the best action, RPG and strategy systems the game industry has seen. I felt that we could deliver a new and unique experience if we joined forces together and brought together the best developers we knew. We will apply our capabilities to new games and game genres that we are passionate about," Jay Wilson says

Who joined the studio? Wilson and Love have hired a number of industry veterans with such items on their resume as Kingdom Hearts, Overwatch, Gears of War, and even Cyberpunk 2077 and Dying Light.

All employees share a passion for making games.
The new studio is meant to be a refuge for them and the opposite of what Wilson experienced at Blizzard (via: kotaku).

What will their first game be? It will be a new IP, combining features of action RPG and survival. The title is being developed for PC and consoles, but it is possible that it will also hit mobile platforms.

"Although we are not yet ready to reveal to the whole world all the details of our first project, we can say that fans of our previous games will be excited about what is to come," Jay Wilson promised

Jay Wilson and Julian Love - who are the founders of Gas Giant Games?

Who is Jay Wilson?

He began his adventure in game development in 1996.
With the experience he gained, he got a job at Blizzard in 2006.
He spent 7 years at the studio, working, among other things, as chief designer of Diablo 3.
He was fired due to professional burnout.
At the new studio he will take the position of design director.

Who is Julian Love?

Also began to gather experience in gaming in 1996.
In 2002, through his love of Diablo he was hired at Blizzard as one of the chief technical graphic designers.
He worked on the third and fourth installments of Diablo.
At Gas Giant Games, he will be the creative director.

Ex Blizzard Employees Are Making New Action RPG [UPDATE] - picture #1

Source: gasgiant.games.

Gas Giant Games - official website