Project Lore

We learned a few things from last week's Activison-Blizzard conference call. Namely that Cataclysm would be hitting retail shelves in the second half of the year and that the Starcraft 2 beta is more or less imminent on the company's schedule. But one thing you might not have read much about on fan or PC-gaming sites (like this one) is what Blizzard' president Mike Morhaime had to say about console gaming.

Shock and awe, I know! Blizzard has always been a stalwart defender of the computer as the exclusive platform for most of their games, but let's not forget the company cut its teeth on consoles. Many of their pre-Warcraft titles were developed for, or at least ported to, them (Blackthorne, The Lost Vikings, and Rock and Roll Racing are typically the most notable). And even if they were done externally, versions of Diablo and Starcraft have found their way onto our television sets, as well.

Beyond that, Blizzard's employees undoubtedly come from a wide variety of gaming backgrounds and the company maintains a large on-site library of software from all parts of the industry.

When the partnership has something to say about the console business, it usually comes from the mouth of villainous Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick, who has been known to milk every penny out of a franchise and unload vast amounts of plastic peripherals onto our living room floors. As cutthroat as his tactics may be, Activision-Blizzard is one of the most profitable companies in the biz.

So, I find it a little more interesting when Mr. Morhaime voices his opinions on the issue. As the conference call was focused on profits and informing investors, a lot of is concerned with the direction that console games are headed in and what needs to be done to maintain revenue. MCV did a good job of summarizing the comments:

If you look at consoles, I think you are going to need to see hardware price declines given the economic uncertainties that we have,” he said.

Morhaime added that game studios need to take advantage of the potential presented in both Sony and Microsoft’s motion controllers.

“You are going to need to see product innovations,” he said. “And as you look at some of the new user interfaces that are coming out, I think those are certainly going to deliver some interesting product innovation.”

The Blizzard president went on to talk up digital product, saying it offers higher margin opportunities, adding that natural growth will occur naturally from expanding demographics.

Now, as a major figure in the company, a lot of this sounds like common sense, but could it also be an indication of Blizzard's desire to expand their development interests?

I wouldn't expect to see World of Warcraft or any of the company's known titles to appear on consoles anytime soon. After all, they're tailor-made for the PC/Mac-gaming experience, which is something of an oddity these days (games like Bioshock or Modern Warfare 2 have consoles as their lead platforms, despite having series roots on the computer).

But there's a great deal we don't know about the software Blizzard is still keeping under wraps. If I had to bet right right now, I'd place money on their "next-gen MMO" being developed for consoles. That way it can tap into a market that has gone remarkably unnoticed (while there are a handful in the works, most console MMO projects have fallen flat or been canceled over the years), and also reduce the risk of cannibalizing the subscriber base they've already built up with World of Warcraft. 

At the same time, I think it would be a difficult market for Blizz to penetrate. Competition for mindshare would be much higher and console gamers are not nearly as tolerating of lengthy development cycles. You can't spend ten years working on a title and expect to maintain the hype necessary to sell something to a more casual crowd.

But let's analyze what Morhaime said a little more closely. He focused on two aspects of the industry that may very well define it going forward: motion controls and digital content. Once again, I wouldn't expect to ever be raiding with a Wiimote. I think any game out of Blizzard taking advantage of motion controls would not be from one of their classic franchise.

But digital distribution? I expect that to be a prime focus of both the company in general and their Battle.net service in the future. I'd love to see what they do with it. Blizzard has a bunch of talented designers and, despite their typical platform loyalty, I believe their aesthetic and gameplay sensibilities would fit right in on any of the home consoles. As a company that focuses so much on producing large, involved titles, I'd kill for some smaller, "indie-game" style projects to come out of the studio.

On the other hand, "digital product" can also mean premium services and vanity items like we've already seen. Even if none of these other ideas come to fruition, you can bet on Blizzard continuing to create items like the Pandaren Monk, Lil' K.T., and most recently, the pets that come with plushie counterparts.

When it comes right down to it, Morhaime may have simply been echoing concerns of Activision-Blizzard in general. But with consoles gaining more and more market share every year, I don't think it's a sector of the industry that the Blizzard side of the equation can ignore for much longer. Thankfully, having Activision on board provides them with the wedge needed to get their foot in the door.

So what's your opinion, folks? I could be reading far too much into this, but whether I am or not, I'd like to see what Blizz can do on a console. How about you?