14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Blizzard has a number of high-profile and very successful titles to look after and is getting ready for the launch of team shooter Overwatch, but the studio is apparently still a little affected by the failure of the creation process for the Titan MMO, which was supposed to deliver an updated take on the mechanics that made World of Warcraft a success.
Speaking to Gamespot Jeff Kaplan, the lead designer who worked on the title, says the moment when they chose to end development in late 2014 was devastating, especially because the team that was involved with it was so talented.
He explains, "You had these people who either came from other companies or from within Blizzard and were used to working on games that were very successful like a World of Warcraft, for example. To go through such a complete and utter failure is very hard for people who are used to experiencing success."
Kaplan adds that the internal pressure of failure drove his team to do better and to create something as interesting as Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm or Starcraft 2, which were already well established in the line-up of the company.
Overwatch will encourage hero switching
The new team shooter is allowing players to move from one character to another after they are killed, which should make the entire experience more dynamic and means the six-man teams will have to develop tactics to deal with surprising enemy choices.
Jeff Kaplan says that many of the ideas that power Overwatch appeared because of the tight bonds that linked members who were working on the experience and from the hunger they have to deliver a game that shows they can create a very fun game.
The game will be delivered for full retail price, unlike Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, and Blizzard is promising that it will deliver a wide range of free DLC this year that will expand the roster of heroes as well as the number of maps and modes offered.
Overwatch will be out on the PC, the Xbox One from Microsoft and the PlayStation 4 from Sony on May 24 of this year and the closed beta is set to end on April 25.
Gamers will have another chance to try out the main mechanics and see the offered characters before launch during an open beta period that will start on May 5 and will last until May 9.