This afternoon, Microsoft announced that it would be laying off 1,900 employees as part of a wave of consolidation – including the current Blizzard boss. But a current Blizzard project is also being scrapped: the secret survival game.
Which survival game is it? Microsoft ended development on an Activision/Blizzard survival game. It was announced in January 2022, and since then there have unfortunately been no further major updates from Blizzard itself. However, positions for lead artists, designers and programmers were advertised at that time.
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Microsoft lays off 1,900 gaming employees: “Painful decision”
by Dariusz Müller
What was known about the game so far? Blizzard itself has so far kept a very low profile when it comes to the game. The title was previously given as Unannounced Survival Game and it should revolve around a world full of heroes, stories and adventures.
What was important, however, was that the game should be a completely new IP: The setting would neither be related to the well-known Blizzard universes such as Overwatch, Starcraft, Warcraft or Diablo nor be inspired by them. The game would have been the developer’s first new IP since the release of Overwatch in 2016.
The well-known features included an open world, a free class and skill system as well as crafting and a building mode. Based on the wording in the job advertisement, it could be assumed that the survival game should have multiplayer or even be an MMORPG.
According to Mike Ybarra, who is now leaving Blizzard as part of the layoffs, the game was already in a playable state in 2022. He announced this on Twitter at the time, now X.com.
Many have to leave, but some are allowed to continue working on other projects
Why was it canceled now? The end of development on the game was announced as part of the wave of layoffs at Microsoft announced today. The move follows Microsoft’s takeover of Activision/Blizzard, which recently cleared all legal hurdles.
A first consequence of the takeover was the departure of Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. This caused a sigh of relief in the community. Today, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that a total of 1,900 employees will be laid off.
The stop in development for the survival game was announced in a second memo, which the colleagues at The Verge published in its entirety. In it, Matt Booty writes that Blizzard would end development on its survival project and reassign some of the game’s existing employees to other, promising projects.
Matt Booty has been the current President of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft since October 2023. He heads Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media/Bethesda Softworks.
Today’s news follows several months of large waves of layoffs in the gaming and tech industries. Just two days ago, LoL developer Riot Games laid off 530 employees.