Blizz will "definitely" make console game

By Oli Welsh Published 21 December, 2009

But "PC is really a good market to target".

In an interview with Gamasutra celebrating 15 years of Warcraft, World of Warcraft producer J. Allen Brack has stated the company will definitely return to making console games at some point in the future, despite a 15-year absence from the market.

"We're a company of gamers," Brack said. "I have two consoles at home. Sam [Didier, art director] has consoles. We're a culture of gamers. We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that. It's just [a matter of] what game. What makes the most sense?"

Brack also said, "It's obviously because we've made only PC games for the last 15 years, but there's a perception, I think, that Blizzard is anti-console, and that's absolutely not the case."

But Didier moved to defend the health of the PC gaming market. "I don't see the PC market as being bad," he said. "I mean, we didn't have 12 million players ten years ago. Whatever the format, console or PC, I think if there is a good game, it's going to be played.

"We're working on PC because it's familiar to us and it's relatively easy and it's not changing formats every other year and there aren't three different versions. Console, we have to worry about [those things]. I think the PC is really a good market to target."

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (18) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • M4RV #1 2 years ago

    I have two consoles at home. Sam [Didier, art director] has consoles. (...)

    From which generation exactly...?! Just curious really.

  • davisorle #2 2 years ago

    @M4RV

    So true. If they take so fucking ever to work for the PC I really wouldnt be holding my breath for them making my games for consoles. Can you imagine Blizz trying to make a game for the PS3? Which wwil be released for a PS5 ( Not even 4.. ) if Sony keeps making consoles. Just focous on the damn Diablo etc for now and deliver what you are expected to instead of wasting your time any longer.

    I wont hide it. Im afraid they will screw Diablo 3 over. Specially after hearing they have removed the skilltree fully since past month. I mean wtf are they trying to do?

  • Ignatius_Cheese #3 2 years ago

    How about StarCraft: Ghost...? No wait...

  • Xerx3s #4 2 years ago

    Lovely how activision declares the PC dead and Blizzard declares it the best thing since sliced bread.

  • Kami #5 2 years ago

    "Lovely how activision declares the PC dead and Blizzard declares it the best thing since sliced bread."

    The honeymoon has been well and truly over for some time between Blizzard and Activision. This is another example of a divide that is becoming rather apparant.... is it going to be fatal to this relationship? Probably not. But when you see the two sides having very different ideals and goals, you can't help but wonder why exactly they jumped into bed together in the first place...

    As for the PC market, they have a point. But equally, you can get away with very different things on consoles. Dynasty Warriors works on consoles but not on a PC (well, it does but why you'd buy it over most PC releases is anyones guess!). Equally, I doubt WoW or Diablo would work on consoles without some major compromises.

    I'd like to see a console game from Blizzard though. However, first things first Blizz chaps;

    * %$^*ing sort out World of Warcraft.
    * Get Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 out.
    * Tauren Marines are a brilliant idea and you must use them more.
    * We miss the Lost Vikings.

    After that, anything is fair game...

  • M4RV #6 2 years ago

    * We miss the Lost Vikings.

    ^ ^ ^ ^

    This should be their main priority, hands down. Screw WoW, Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2. Lost Vikings was epic stuff... Good old days. :)

  • Eoin #7 2 years ago

    "it's not changing formats every other year"

    I've no idea what he means by this. As a hardware target, the console market is by any reasonable standard more stable and less prone to change than the PC one. Each of the current major consoles is already over two years old so there's definitely no "changing formats every other year".

  • Canyarion #8 2 years ago

    If onlly they had finished Starcraft Ghost.... That game looked so awesome.

  • ignatiusjreilly #9 2 years ago

    I see no reason why Diablo 3 cannot be on Xbox 360 and PS3.

    Probably because the PS4 and Xbox 720 will be out by the time Diablo 3 is released ;)

  • geeza2020 #10 2 years ago

    I should think the reason why they havent spent much money, time or effort getting into the console market is because they are busy getting ridiculously rich off the pc market. Why would you bother porting or creating anything new if you had one of the best money making schemes ever devised?

  • Rubarack #11 2 years ago

    I reckon they should just do Lost Vikings 3 for the Snes, then get it ported across to Wiiware.

  • Zaiz #12 2 years ago

    @Eoin

    PCs use DirectX, which is sort of like a console. Almost all releases these days are 9.0c compatible, which pretty much is as old as the PS2, so in a sense, PC gaming hasn't changed that much. Mind you, sometimes games come out with just fine DirectX compatibility but fail majorly at compatibility with ATI cards.

    >.> Oh, and backwards compatibility? Most games that are good enough to still play today are mostly compatible with 64 bit operating systems. There are some notable omissions.

  • ignatiusjreilly #13 2 years ago

    Indeed. Just last week Blizzard released a new patch with new content for Diablo II, a game that predates the PlayStation 2. That kind of longevity just doesn't exist on consoles.

  • Sharzam #14 2 years ago

    Ah so activision are getting there way after all, activision are always going for the money and blizzard have always been happy on PC as it allows them to do what they want. Starcraft ghost was a good example as it was for console they couldnt get it to the standard they were happy with for a game so canned it but if activison were there at the time you can bet it would of been released.

  • TitusCrow #15 2 years ago

    I think Diablo 3 will not come out for current generation, but will most assuredly come out for the next gen consoles. I think that with console generations lasting longer this will be whats needed for blizzard to jump in next time round. 5 cycle is to short for their sort of dev cycle but maybe a 7-10 lifespan as the big companies now propose would be a far better proposition.

    diablo 3 is pretty much a perfect game for the console and i remember playing diablo 1 on playstation and enjoying it a lot. if however they can somehow get wow to the consoles in a playable state that would be a big thing.

  • 1471 #16 2 years ago

    Do you really reckon Activision could force Blizzard to do or not do anything?
    I kinda feel Blizzard would've negotiated utter freedom or else just leave and take WoW with them. They just don't seem like the kind of studio with the kind of money that would allow themselves to be stuck under someone's thumb.

  • Vixremento #17 2 years ago

    To be honest I'd really prefer to have Diablo 3 on PC. I have no objection to them creating console counterparts but I really don't want a worse off PC version because of it (because I'd be buying a PC version).

    I don't think they've gone console because of several factors:
    1. They'd have to give money away to the console manufacturer (licencing costs, royalities, etc.)
    2. They'd might have to stick to the console manufacturers list of guidelines for "user friendly" games (or some similar list)
    3. They'd be forced to adhere to the console manufacturers rules for releasing any additional content, patches, etc.

    As for WoW on a console...Can you actually imagine consoles lasting very long with the number of hours people spend playing WoW?

  • TitusCrow #18 2 years ago

    I think that to get blizzard games on one console or another is the kind of major coup that would shift large percentages of one console over another. Killer app style. There are a lot of wow players who have very old pc's because all they need to run is 1 or 2 games.

    I think this type of player would be very appealed to by the way they could make wow or diablo look on next gen consoles.I really think that any of the big console companies would do nearly any deal to get some of the blizzard giants on there. It will be interesting times to see what happens - in about 3 years :p