Production Director roles at Blizzard Entertainment do not come around often, nor does the opportunity to lead the developers of one of the industry’s bestselling, genre-defining RPGs of all-time -- Diablo!
Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a Production Director to bring the Diablo franchise into the future. We’re looking for a well-practiced producer, deeply familiar with the art of game development, our industry, and the AAA environment. The right fit for this position must have the veteran experience and leadership skills to continue keeping the team speeding along, harnessing their creativity, relentlessly clearing the way forward, all the while maintaining clear and constant communication with stakeholders throughout the organization. We believe that for the right person this can be a career-defining opportunity. We’re hoping to hear from the select few that meet the requirements and possess the track record, leadership, and culture fit needed to make an immediate impact on the team. If you share our passion for making the best gaming experiences possible, and are excited by the challenge of helping shape and evolve a world-class development team bursting with energy and imagination, then reach out and let’s talk!
Responsibilities
Direct game production while successfully partnering with other functional teams, such as finance, marketing, licensing, international, quality assurance, and customer service to deliver an epic gaming experience.
Lead production in project scheduling, resource allocation, budgeting, setting appropriate priorities, task tracking, and problem solving.
Evangelize efficient processes and policies to team leadership, and internal support organizations.
Create and maintain a creative environment, resolve personnel challenges, motivate qualified developers, serve as custodian of team health, and foster a culture of success.
Work with international regions to ensure relevant teams have an understanding of market conditions, challenges, player behaviors, and rollout strategies.
Involved in P&L, forecasting, budgeting, and business design.
Direct strategic analysis of market trends and competition.
Coach, and guide the rest of the production team toward achieving their career goals.
Stakeholder in studio level strategy, and provide an active voice in resolving global issues.
Requirements
A minimum of 5 years’ directing video games
Shipped multiple AAA products
Outstanding communications, project management, and relationship-building skills
Recognized ability to grow, guide, and produce large development teams
Able to work well in a team environment, and manage multiple complex projects with various groups, such as creative development, marketing, legal, development teams, etc.
Experience formulating product messaging and marketing plans, as well as experience with a wide range of business models and monetization methods
Exhibited ability to coach and mentor employees at all levels of an organization
Bachelor's degree, or equivalent work experience
Pluses
A passion/interest for developing online video games
Massive multiplayer game development experience
Strong knowledge of the software / game market and platforms
Required Application Materials
Resume
Cover Letter telling us why you are interested in working at Blizzard and specifically Diablo
**Only submittals with Cover Letters will be considered. "
Honestly i hope they don't go the MMO route. They have WoW already, comparisons would be just automatic and community would just split into the ones who like it and the ones who hate it. One thing i would absolutely not like is to have a world/maps full of random people and slow-ish MMO combat; Diablo is absolutely not about that.
Anyway, some MMO stuff may be pretty interesting:
- instead of small zones/maps, have a huge persistent world with bigger zones and no loading screens (waypoints still good)
- more character customization: both cosemtic (model) and though secondary skills like professions
- tied to above, a more robust crafting system
- while zones should be istanced for solo/small groups, you can have a central hub (or more) where you can see/trade/chat with other players
- static dungeons to tackle in solo/small groups; they could add lots of them over time to have more content/rewards to hunt for
- a gear grind that makes more sense than the one we have in D3 (way too fast, sets defining everything and basically removing nearly all the item hunt)
- while i don't like it, that is the chance to make trading right
Basically a fully online ARPG with some MMO structure. Stuff like raids should be avoided like a plague.
I would LOVE to see a well done D3 MMO and would happily cough up $15/month for it. In fact, I would argue that most would prefer that route simply because even if D4 is "better" than D3...how much better could it be if it's not an MMO? It's still going to be limited in its scope. It's going to be very very similar to what we all have been playing forever. But, once you go the MMO route I think the potential and breadth of what they could do is really exciting.
Let's hope it's not a lost ark version of Diablo, it might seem too late at this point but diablo 3 isn't more because blizzard doesn't want to, there's too many good ideas out there to improve the game greatly that they ignore, to me it seems they want to milk wow a bit more before fully investing in a new rpg (mmo specially).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Those Who Do Not Know True Pain Cannot Possibly Understand True Peace...
Apparently Halinka is leaving the WoW team for another position in Blizzard, but he cannot announce it.
Given that this project is the only one looking for work at the time, it is likely the "New Game in Diablo Universe Project".
Halinka has extensive experience working on PVP elements, so there is also a chance they could be looking to improve PVP in D3 since Brawling is straight up bad.
The Production Director post makes it sound like a new game is in the works:
"Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a Production Director to bring the Diablo franchise into the future. We’re looking for a well-practiced producer, deeply familiar with the art of game development, our industry, and the AAA environment."
The details for the position include MMO experience, which suggests Diablo 4 will feature some MMO features. It's unclear how extensive the MMO themes will play into Diablo 4 (if the listing is indeed for Diablo 4).
A passion/interest for developing online video games
Massive multiplayer game development experience
Strong knowledge of the software / game market and platforms
The Creative Director listing mentions the 'future' of the Diablo franchise, which kind of confirms Diablo 4.
This thread is about that specifically position , meaning a new Diablo game. No Diablo 2 HD or some short of .. new expension for D3.
So it's simple. As the author of that article said, Diablo 4 might have MMO elements , if it's not a full Diablo MMO game.
It will be something like Destiny / Anthem (That new bioware game)... coop based open world mmo/arpg loot hunter.
Probably in third person view - Hopefully with the ability to zoom the camera in/out.
Destiny occupy the scifi part of the genre and Diablo will cover the fantasy / dark fantasy side. That way Activision Blizzard can pretty much take over the whole genre... Unless Destiny 2 will suck and Anthem will be good which i doubt (Both of them will suck ).
Let's hope it's not a lost ark version of Diablo, it might seem too late at this point but diablo 3 isn't more because blizzard doesn't want to, there's too many good ideas out there to improve the game greatly that they ignore, to me it seems they want to milk wow a bit more before fully investing in a new rpg (mmo specially).
Why not? Lost ark seems perfect and will be much better in diablo dark fantasy setting
I'd play the shit out of an open world type of skyrim game, but it doesn't really fit the spirit of dungeon crawler/loot hunt which is the real core of the game.
The Production Director post makes it sound like a new game is in the works:
"Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a Production Director to bring the Diablo franchise into the future. We’re looking for a well-practiced producer, deeply familiar with the art of game development, our industry, and the AAA environment."
Yes, it is for a new game.
The details for the position include MMO experience, which suggests Diablo 4 will feature some MMO features. It's unclear how extensive the MMO themes will play into Diablo 4 (if the listing is indeed for Diablo 4).
A passion/interest for developing online video games
Massive multiplayer game development experience
Strong knowledge of the software / game market and platforms
The Creative Director listing mentions the 'future' of the Diablo franchise, which kind of confirms Diablo 4.
This thread is about that specifically position , meaning a new Diablo game. No Diablo 2 HD or some short of .. new expension for D3.
So it's simple. As the author of that article said, Diablo 4 might have MMO elements , if it's not a full Diablo MMO game.
That being said, Blizzard has always called expansions, and even the SC 1 remake "New Games" so the theory that this could be for D2 is not unfounded.
However, it is more likely that this is for D4 because D2 would not need the extensive resume's that they are looking for. The game is already done, and in good shape, would just need rendering and the likes, something which an intern can do.
welp then we need to wait 15 years again before that comes out
Well, it was 11 years from LoD to D3, and they cut production for 6 yrs. That means D4 was actually produced in 4 years, but due to constant shifting teams, there were many flaws present in the game. This shift was a big reason that the Blizzard North guys eventually said "F*** this, we are out". At Blizzcon 2016, major players in Blizzard suggested that they absolutely support the future of this universe, meaning that they realized they took too much focus away from D3, and are going to put all the focus they can into their new IP
If I had to guess, they have already been working on the new Diablo game for over a full year now, based on job postings that they had on the website late 2015 that were filled. Though it is not likely that we get an announcement at Blizzcon, it is probable because the Diablo universe is literally the only universe that could potentially have something new come Blizzcon 2017. WoW, SC, Hearth, HotS, and Overwatch all have fairly new major content updates. That is, unless they decide to make Warcraft 4!
If I had to put a peg on a release date, I would suggest summer of 2020, which would be 8 years after D3, and roughly 5 years of consistent production.
Let's hope it's not a lost ark version of Diablo, it might seem too late at this point but diablo 3 isn't more because blizzard doesn't want to, there's too many good ideas out there to improve the game greatly that they ignore, to me it seems they want to milk wow a bit more before fully investing in a new rpg (mmo specially).
Why not? Lost ark seems perfect and will be much better in diablo dark fantasy setting
Trailers can be decieving, i've watched Lost Ark beta streaming intensively and i can say although it looks cool it's too much mmo, rep grinding, you have a life lvl apart from battle lvl, that grants you advantages meaning you'll have to lvl up life by cutting trees and fishing and shit, dependance on parties to do content... etc...
I really like the whole "alone against hell" thematic of diablo, i just wish d3 was harder with skill trees and some more endgame stuff to do like survival rifts, boss rush mode, tower defense, etc... so when we do get d4 i hope it's just that, an improved d2/3.
Besides, all mmos (except wow) are dead anyway, ppl have moved on from them.
I don't know why people are saying another MMO will "split the community" with WOW fans.... really it seems if they actually make a Diablo MMO as dark or a darker version of Diablo 1 and 2 (which is what most the diablo fans really wanted) Then it really caters to a whole different fan base. I think a world of diablo would be a perfect direction for the game even if it was playable on nearly everyone's hand phone.
My guess is that if a D4 ever comes, they make it the same style of multiplayer as PoE, with shared hubs, chat, guilds, and the like.
I don't know if it would be more popular though. Blizzard has shown an unwillingness to develop individual seasons with D3, and with no effort put into seasons development-wise, players return the favor.
Blizzard missed a big opportunity with D3, and as a result have been replaced entirely by a new game that is gradually becoming a bigger and bigger thing. At the rate PoE is growing, I don't even know if a D4 could remain competitive.
I seriously hope they keep Path of Exile and World of Warcraft out of Diablo!
If I wanted to play an MMO, I'd be on one of those - but I hate them both with a vengeance!
WoW is only team oriented and has monthly fee, and PoE is geared towards hardcore no-lifers.
I don't mind the option of PvP, guilds/clans, micro-transactions and teaming up; so long they don't define the game and become the only means to earn meaningful rewards.
Posted today on Blizzard's Career page.
Production Director, Unannounced Project
"Production Director, Unannounced Project
Production Director roles at Blizzard Entertainment do not come around often, nor does the opportunity to lead the developers of one of the industry’s bestselling, genre-defining RPGs of all-time -- Diablo!
Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a Production Director to bring the Diablo franchise into the future. We’re looking for a well-practiced producer, deeply familiar with the art of game development, our industry, and the AAA environment. The right fit for this position must have the veteran experience and leadership skills to continue keeping the team speeding along, harnessing their creativity, relentlessly clearing the way forward, all the while maintaining clear and constant communication with stakeholders throughout the organization. We believe that for the right person this can be a career-defining opportunity. We’re hoping to hear from the select few that meet the requirements and possess the track record, leadership, and culture fit needed to make an immediate impact on the team. If you share our passion for making the best gaming experiences possible, and are excited by the challenge of helping shape and evolve a world-class development team bursting with energy and imagination, then reach out and let’s talk!
Responsibilities
Requirements
Pluses
Required Application Materials
**Only submittals with Cover Letters will be considered. "
You're a wizard Harry.....
I wondered too what it actually means.
Honestly i hope they don't go the MMO route. They have WoW already, comparisons would be just automatic and community would just split into the ones who like it and the ones who hate it. One thing i would absolutely not like is to have a world/maps full of random people and slow-ish MMO combat; Diablo is absolutely not about that.
Anyway, some MMO stuff may be pretty interesting:
- instead of small zones/maps, have a huge persistent world with bigger zones and no loading screens (waypoints still good)
- more character customization: both cosemtic (model) and though secondary skills like professions
- tied to above, a more robust crafting system
- while zones should be istanced for solo/small groups, you can have a central hub (or more) where you can see/trade/chat with other players
- static dungeons to tackle in solo/small groups; they could add lots of them over time to have more content/rewards to hunt for
- a gear grind that makes more sense than the one we have in D3 (way too fast, sets defining everything and basically removing nearly all the item hunt)
- while i don't like it, that is the chance to make trading right
Basically a fully online ARPG with some MMO structure. Stuff like raids should be avoided like a plague.
I would LOVE to see a well done D3 MMO and would happily cough up $15/month for it. In fact, I would argue that most would prefer that route simply because even if D4 is "better" than D3...how much better could it be if it's not an MMO? It's still going to be limited in its scope. It's going to be very very similar to what we all have been playing forever. But, once you go the MMO route I think the potential and breadth of what they could do is really exciting.
could be for a new expansion for wow, blizzard isnt only diablo III
Let's hope it's not a lost ark version of Diablo, it might seem too late at this point but diablo 3 isn't more because blizzard doesn't want to, there's too many good ideas out there to improve the game greatly that they ignore, to me it seems they want to milk wow a bit more before fully investing in a new rpg (mmo specially).
Those Who Do Not Know True Pain Cannot Possibly Understand True Peace...
expansionf for diablo III then ? then sorry my bad
diablo 4 ?
Apparently Halinka is leaving the WoW team for another position in Blizzard, but he cannot announce it.
Given that this project is the only one looking for work at the time, it is likely the "New Game in Diablo Universe Project".
Halinka has extensive experience working on PVP elements, so there is also a chance they could be looking to improve PVP in D3 since Brawling is straight up bad.
RUMOR: could also be a remastered version of Diablo II
http://www.gamezone.com/news/rumor-diablo-2-warcraft-3-remaster-in-development-diablo-4-might-be-an-mmo-3454710
The Production Director post makes it sound like a new game is in the works:
The details for the position include MMO experience, which suggests Diablo 4 will feature some MMO features. It's unclear how extensive the MMO themes will play into Diablo 4 (if the listing is indeed for Diablo 4).
The Creative Director listing mentions the 'future' of the Diablo franchise, which kind of confirms Diablo 4.
This thread is about that specifically position , meaning a new Diablo game. No Diablo 2 HD or some short of .. new expension for D3.
So it's simple. As the author of that article said, Diablo 4 might have MMO elements , if it's not a full Diablo MMO game.
It will be something like Destiny / Anthem (That new bioware game)... coop based open world mmo/arpg loot hunter.
Probably in third person view - Hopefully with the ability to zoom the camera in/out.
Destiny occupy the scifi part of the genre and Diablo will cover the fantasy / dark fantasy side. That way Activision Blizzard can pretty much take over the whole genre... Unless Destiny 2 will suck and Anthem will be good which i doubt (Both of them will suck ).
welp then we need to wait 15 years again before that comes out
If they make D4 more MMO than D3 alredy is... It'll be time to switch to other ARPG and bury Diablo in it's grave.
I'd play the shit out of an open world type of skyrim game, but it doesn't really fit the spirit of dungeon crawler/loot hunt which is the real core of the game.
That being said, Blizzard has always called expansions, and even the SC 1 remake "New Games" so the theory that this could be for D2 is not unfounded.
However, it is more likely that this is for D4 because D2 would not need the extensive resume's that they are looking for. The game is already done, and in good shape, would just need rendering and the likes, something which an intern can do.
If I had to guess, they have already been working on the new Diablo game for over a full year now, based on job postings that they had on the website late 2015 that were filled. Though it is not likely that we get an announcement at Blizzcon, it is probable because the Diablo universe is literally the only universe that could potentially have something new come Blizzcon 2017. WoW, SC, Hearth, HotS, and Overwatch all have fairly new major content updates. That is, unless they decide to make Warcraft 4!
If I had to put a peg on a release date, I would suggest summer of 2020, which would be 8 years after D3, and roughly 5 years of consistent production.
Trailers can be decieving, i've watched Lost Ark beta streaming intensively and i can say although it looks cool it's too much mmo, rep grinding, you have a life lvl apart from battle lvl, that grants you advantages meaning you'll have to lvl up life by cutting trees and fishing and shit, dependance on parties to do content... etc...
I really like the whole "alone against hell" thematic of diablo, i just wish d3 was harder with skill trees and some more endgame stuff to do like survival rifts, boss rush mode, tower defense, etc... so when we do get d4 i hope it's just that, an improved d2/3.
Besides, all mmos (except wow) are dead anyway, ppl have moved on from them.
Those Who Do Not Know True Pain Cannot Possibly Understand True Peace...
I don't know why people are saying another MMO will "split the community" with WOW fans.... really it seems if they actually make a Diablo MMO as dark or a darker version of Diablo 1 and 2 (which is what most the diablo fans really wanted) Then it really caters to a whole different fan base. I think a world of diablo would be a perfect direction for the game even if it was playable on nearly everyone's hand phone.
My guess is that if a D4 ever comes, they make it the same style of multiplayer as PoE, with shared hubs, chat, guilds, and the like.
I don't know if it would be more popular though. Blizzard has shown an unwillingness to develop individual seasons with D3, and with no effort put into seasons development-wise, players return the favor.
Blizzard missed a big opportunity with D3, and as a result have been replaced entirely by a new game that is gradually becoming a bigger and bigger thing. At the rate PoE is growing, I don't even know if a D4 could remain competitive.
I seriously hope they keep Path of Exile and World of Warcraft out of Diablo!
If I wanted to play an MMO, I'd be on one of those - but I hate them both with a vengeance!
WoW is only team oriented and has monthly fee, and PoE is geared towards hardcore no-lifers.
I don't mind the option of PvP, guilds/clans, micro-transactions and teaming up; so long they don't define the game and become the only means to earn meaningful rewards.