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According to MMO-Champion’s post Blizzard has just registered a new name to be used in the online gaming sphere. This name is Mists of Pandaria and is supposedly the upcoming expansion of the world’s most succesful MMO World of Warcraft. The reason it is believed its for WoW and not for their project that’s codenamed Titan is because the Panda’s already play a part in the Warcraft world. This youtube vid is proof:

In the forums, speculation is already underway, general opinion is that this expansion will see the addition of two new playable races and will expand the level cap to 90. I’m curious to see how long Blizzard can keep its users entertained. And I’m very curious to see what project Titan is. Any ideas?

Nice post on VentureBeat today about the once quite succesful MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies and the recently announced termination.

Star Wars Galaxies was successful because it was unlike other MMO games at the time. Players could master several classes at once and create characters who suited themselves. You could create a doctor who was a deadly sniper, or a fighting monk who could also build starships. It was also extremely difficult to unlock the Jedi class, but very rewarding.

Full article here

One of the biggest publishers out there is looking badly while preparing to launch a game within one of the biggest IP’s in the world: Star Wars. EA has taken on all responsibilities, not even sharing them with IP holder LucasArts, making it even riskier. (The development cost of $100 million was already said to be impossible to earn back.) A pending $400 million lawsuit with main rival Activision, the recent industry track record for paid MMO launches and even EA’s past performance in launching Warhammer are all said to be cause for concern from investors. Combining Bioware, one of the best RPG developers, with a big IP like StarWars should be a killer combination, but whether it is will remain to be seen. To be updated.

Normally, Blizzard does not speak out about upcoming titles. The company, nicknamed ‘Fortress of Solitude’, did manage to slip some information to the public at the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference; telling gamers to expect something with a broader appeal than World of Warcraft.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said:

What we’ve announced at Blizzard is that we have Starcraft II coming, Diablo has been in production… and a new, unannounced MMORPG that has a little more broad appeal

So the new title will NOT be a competitor to World of Warcraft, they will try to find an additional audience. To make sure this happens, Jeff Kaplan, the World of Warcraft game director, has been moved towards this brand-new property.

The upcoming changes to Battle.net; Battle.net 2.0, will also be incorporated in the new MMO, so the upcoming and current Blizzard titles; Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft and now the unnamed new title, will all be woven together on one platform. Adding cash play and more rewards and recognition systems will likely expand their audience even more, if they manage to integrate it all, it will make for one hell of a platform!