Blizzard. Not much to say about them, other than the fact that they are responsible for a lot of the key PC games of the past decade, particularly World of Warcraft, and now StarCraft 2. They have set themselves up as a pretty heavy player in the PC market, and there’s no doubt that they will continue to be a domineering PC presence.
Does that mean they won’t ever consider consoles as a platform for their games? Not exactly. It just so happens that the PC and Mac present a better platform for Blizzard’s titles than what the consoles have to offer. Michael Ryder, Vice President and Executive Managing Director of International Operations (inhale) illustrates the point further:
Speaking on whether or not Blizzard will ever develop a console game, Ryder had this to add:
“We don’t focus on the platforms so much, especially in the early stages of creating a game, we really focus on what the game experience ought to be, what the gameplay should be. Once we’re inspired about what we want the game to be, we think about what’s going to be the best platform for it.”
“As it happens, that the games we’ve done in recent years have been on the PC and the Mac because we’ve just genuinely felt that for the game experience we want to create, they’re the best platform. We don’t think about being alone on the PC - we just focus on making the coolest game we can on that platform. And the players have responded to that.”
Consoles aren’t out of Blizzard’s creative grasp entirely. As a developer, Blizzard just happens to make products that can only be truly realized on a computer. I understand the matter completely, especially since the company has released so many games for the PC only. PC game design isn’t limiting for the developer, either, as they have an entire range of hardware to work with, and are not just limited to what is “in the box.”
“We’re very aware of the consoles, we look at other platforms and we give thought to those things. We think about it, it’s something that could happen at some point, but we don’t really have anything to announce at this point.”
Blizzard’s philosophy on game design isn’t flawed at all. I’m glad they focus on creating the game itself, and not just something that everyone can play. To me, that’s a true sign of character.
Personally, I don’t really feel entirely left out of the fold when I say I don’t have a PC that can run a lot of games, especially when more and more developers are starting to nudge themselves toward delivering products that are accessible for a wide range of gamers. Although I do get sad when I think about Diablo 3, and whether or not my PC can possibly run it.
Do I remain optimistic that Blizzard will one day create a console game that could be the next big thing? Yes, although, I also remain optimistic that I will one day find a bag of money on the street. How about you - would you like to see Blizzard develop for consoles? Which of their games do you think would be the best fit?
Source: CVG
