14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard might not be ready to talk about what its project codenamed Titan really is, but the developer seems pretty interested in talking about its expectations for the new MMO, and now one of the leading executives at Blizzard says that the developers are already playing the game internally.
Speaking to Gamasutra as part of an interview, Paul Sams, who is the chief operations officer at Blizzard, has stated, “We're playing it already. It is a total ball to play. We think that the reach of that product is greater than anything that we've done before. We're very excited about that. I believe that it's the type of game that will have a very long life, much like World of Warcraft has.”
The fact that the game is playable internally means that Blizzard is probably more advanced along the development path than thought, with at least some of the core mechanics of Titan nailed down and the team working on making sure they are balanced and interesting.
Of course, an MMO, especially one that aims to compete with World of Warcraft and other incoming releases like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2, requires more than just good underlying mechanics, and Blizzard probably still has a lot of work to do in creating graphics, implementing sound sounds, creating connectivity options and further refinement of core mechanics/
The future of Titan seems very bright to the Blizzard executive and he believes, “it will not stop World of Warcraft, but we believe will eclipse it. So, hopefully in 10, 15 and 20 years, that will still be growing strong and will have set a new mark in the industry for that type of product.”
The recent information from Blizzard might also mean that the company is preparing for an official public announcement about Titan which might come at E3, including an official name and probably a teaser video showing a bit of gameplay.