Proletariat revealed it was being acquired by Activision Blizzard shortly after announcing it was closing down servers on Spellbreak, its fantasy battle royale game. With the start of July, Blizzard has announced the finalization of the Proletariat acquisition and that its developers would be working on World of Warcraft.
A public statement was made by John Hight, general manager of Warcraft, to its fans and followers. In the statement, he confirmed at least 100 developers from Proletariat were joining Blizzard as dedicated World of Warcraft developers.
Proletariat co-founder and CEO Seth Sivak likewise released an official announcement celebrating the transformation of Proletariat into a Blizzard development studio. He praised Blizzard as an exceptional game studio and explained why he was thrilled to be able to be a part of World of Warcraft’s future. Twitter was likewise full of Blizzard developers welcoming their Proletariat brethren into the fold, and Proletariat developers buzzing about being able to work on World of Warcraft.
The Proletariat acquisition is only one part of Blizzard’s ambitious plans for World of Warcraft. According to Hight, the Proletariat acquisition has been in the works since May, and while it will take several months to fully transition, its developers will be diving straight into production of the MMO titan. Considering World of Warcraft has its sights set on a 2022 release of Dragonflight, its next big expansion, these new WoW devs will have a lot to work on.
Many players are glad to see World of Warcraft pick up the talent from Proletariat. Many of its developers have a strong history in MMORPGs, including Asheron’s Call, Lord of the Rings Online, and D&D Online. Though Spellbreak itself received mixed reviews, its dedicated cult following was well-earned. More developers mean World of Warcraft may be able to reach its enterprising goals of more high-quality content faster.
However, plenty of players are skeptical of how beneficial the acquisition will be. Proletariat’s buyout comes only 10 years after its formation, and its greatest project, Spellbreak, fell through after only four years on the market, leading many to wonder how much the studio can be trusted. On the other hand, Blizzard itself has been a magnet for controversies, including mass layoffs, sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits, and corrupt leadership–not to mention Activision Blizzard itself is being acquired by Microsoft. Blizzard is currently in a chaotic transitional period, and players will have to wait and see how much this change actually reflects in their products and content in the future.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC. Dragonflight plans to launch later this year.
Source: Blizzard, Businesswire, Proletariat