Blizzard Entertainment, known for its monumental success with titles like World of Warcraft and Diablo, has a history of canceling numerous projects. In a recent episode of the MinnMax podcast, journalist Jason Schreier dives deep into the game developer’s impressive list of abandoned ideas.
His new book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, set to release on October 8, explores the reasons behind Blizzard’s canceled projects and their impact on the company. During the interview, Schreier reveals a surprising number of unfulfilled game concepts, including a space vampire game called Bloodlines and a Diablo port for the Game Boy.
Among the many canceled projects mentioned, Schreier and MinnMax founder Ben Hanson discuss Star-blo, a sci-fi version of Diablo that was in development at Blizzard North, the studio behind the original Diablo.
Though the name Star-blo might sound like a placeholder, it represents an intriguing take on the Diablo formula, shifting the action into a space-faring, sci-fi setting. This is just one of many unmade games in Blizzard’s storied history, with other notable cancellations spanning various genres and platforms.
Further projects included Nomad, a post-apocalyptic game, and an early version of Diablo 4 known as Hades, which was a third-person camera iteration of the series. Blizzard also explored a World of Warcraft spin-off called Orbits, which would have been similar to the mobile game Pokémon Go.
This was just one of the company’s attempts to capitalize on the success of augmented reality games, showcasing Blizzard’s ambition to bring WoW into new, innovative formats.
Schreier also reveals some more experimental World of Warcraft concepts, such as a Helldivers-inspired version of the game and a survival game titled Odyssey. The latter was envisioned as a WoW-like universe where players would have had to survive in a constantly evolving environment.
Perhaps the most intriguing of these unmade projects was Andromeda, a game described as a cross between God of War and World of Warcraft, suggesting a heavy focus on both combat and world-building, although it was ultimately shelved.
One of the more unique canceled projects was Avalon, a game that merged Minecraft with World of Warcraft. Developed under former Diablo 3 game director Jay Wilson and Left 4 Dead creator Mike Booth, Avalon was described as a sandbox RPG, reminiscent of Dragon Quest Builders. Players would have been able to build and explore a block-based world while completing quests and experiencing a storyline.
Despite receiving positive feedback from those who played it, Avalon never saw the light of day, leaving fans to wonder about the potential of these imaginative projects that could have drastically altered Blizzard’s legacy.
