Does Blizzard Have a Taste for First Person Shooters?

New job listing on company website hints at future projects

I think it’s safe to say that Blizzard did good with Overwatch, especially for their first ever FPS. Even if you’re not a massive online shooter fan it’s hard to ignore the success and attention that the multi-hero shooter has had on the shooter world since its release back in May.

Since its release, Blizzard have been great at supporting the game, delivering a range of updates and new game modes. Ok, admittedly, some took longer than others (*cough Sombra *cough) but when you’re dealing with such a well refined and supremely balanced shooter, it’s hard to stay mad at them, really.

So what next for Blizzard? Hard to say, but it speculation could be derived from news detailed over on Gamespot today. It has been reported that two new jobs have been listed on Blizzard’s official job site for an “unannounced project”, details on the job go on to describe what they are looking for:

picture1Blizzard Entertainment is seeking an experienced engine engineer to work on a robust first-person engine for an unannounced project. The ideal applicant has demonstrated ability to lead a team of engineers to success, has a vision for how a scalable, performant and technically excellent engine should be built, and has a passion for adopting state of the art rendering technology to implement visually stunning games.

You must be an excellent engineer, collaborating closely with the technical director and other engineering leads to build a technically excellent engine across multiple platforms. You must enjoy collaborating with art and technical art leads, understand the artistic vision of the game and identify the technology needed to achieve and extend that vision. As a leader you will inspire and guide some of the most talented and passionate engineers in the industry as your team builds that technology together.”

Of course, there are a few things that this could be; an update to Overwatch, some new DLC for Overwatch, an Overwatch sequel?! It could even be a brand new intellectual property (IP), or a re-imagining of an existing franchise. What if it’s a VR version or one of Blizzard’s licenses…World of Warcraft VR? What I did notice was that it was across “multiple platforms” which is positive from a new IP perspective or indeed most things from Blizzard. It’s safe to say it probably isn’t a World of Warcraft expansion.

All speculative at this point, but interesting nevertheless. Given how good Overwatch is, I’m excited to find out what it could be, even if it is potentially years away.