In January 2022, the juggernaut development studioBlizzardmade a move to distance itself somewhat from the controversies of the recent past by quietly announcing the ongoing establishment of a new IP, something it hasn’t done since the 2014 unveiling of the hero shooterOverwatch. Yet, more than six months after the official confirmation of the yet-to-be-named title, very little is known about the project. However, recent Blizzard job listings suggest that what’s now known asthe Unannounced Survival Game is slowly taking shape, with one opening specifically seeking out those with FPS game development know-how.
Blizzardis currently seeking a Senior FPS Mission Designer to assist with the Unannounced Survival Game, and the job listing highlights expertise in the creation of “FPS Mission experiences,” “open-world gameplay,” and “gameplay puzzles.” The listing was likely left intentionally vague, though it does once again solidify that the Unannounced Survival Game will be some kind of open-world multiplayer FPS experience.
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The term “gameplay puzzles” may raise a few eyebrows, but it’s used in a way that’s tough to define. Blizzard’s “gameplay puzzles” may not necessarily entail traditionalResident Evil-style puzzles for players to solve; rather, this could refer to a more esoteric practice of balancing and smoothing out the complexities of gameplay intended for a very large audience. With its hands ineverything fromDiablotoCall of Duty, puzzles aren’t exactly Blizzard’s strong suit, though it’s possible that this new title may be taking a drastically different approach relative to everything else in the developer’s current wheelhouse.
Plus, with virtually no information concerning the project on which to go, it’s tough to imagine just what Blizzard’s interpretation of an FPS survival title may look like. Such nebulous terms could be applied to anything fromDestinytoThe Forest, though Blizzard’s proclivity forbig-budget live-service titles would certainly steer Unannounced Survival Gamemore closely to the former. The confirmed fantasy setting could conjure up images of something like theMonster HunterorWarcraftseries sans the RPG elements, though that still doesn’t give any definite idea of the direction in which Blizzard may be headed.
That said, concrete information concerning Blizzard’s upcoming FPS title probably won’t be available for quite some time. Fortunately, the immediate future looks to be fairly promising for the publisher, as bothOverwatch 2and Activision’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2are marquee entries in the launch lineup of October 2022.
