New ex-Blizzard game studio formed to pick up a fallen RTS mantle

It seems like every few months, we hear word of a new studio formed by Blizzard Entertainment veterans, which isn’t always newsworthy. But after a rough stretch for Blizzard’s roster of real-time strategy games, the latest cast of Blizzard veterans starting a new shop has put a bright new gleam in our figurative axe.

Frost Giant Studios made its formal debut on Monday, and it’s composed of serious names from the original StarCraft II team: its production director, lead artist, lead designer, and lead co-op designer. Those staffers are joined by the lead campaign designer of WarCraft III‘s expansion pack The Frozen Throne, along with a former Blizzard senior writer, a former Blizzard engineer, and a former Blizzard program manager.

As part of its announcement, Frost Giant made its mission clear via a single Twitter post: “We’re launching a new game studio to build the next great RTS!” That same slogan was repeated over and over in Frost Giant’s announcement video, with each of the company’s eight representatives offering some version of that language.

While the studio wasn’t ready to announce specific game details, Frost Giant President Tim Campbell confirmed he is already serving as director of “our first project,” implying that at least one RTS game is in the studio’s pipeline already.

Ladder to climb?

This news comes in the wake of Blizzard Entertainment formally sunsetting the content pipeline for StarCraft II on Thursday of last week. Blizzard says that game will continue to see updates to support matchmaking, unit balance, and other operating issues (much like StarCraft: Brood War continues to receive), but the studio will no longer develop new add-on content like missions, commanders, and “war chests.”

For some Blizzard fans, the wounds are still arguably fresh from another major RTS release, as well: the woeful launch of WarCraft III: Reforged. (Yes, that came out all the way back in January of this year.) Fans are still waiting for that updated game’s rollout of ladders or other ranked-multiplayer options, which were removed from the game when Blizzard shut down its “original” branch. Between that deprecation and other issues that have lingered many months (and patches) later, the game’s updated version has so far been the worst of both worlds: angering existing fans and failing to bring in new ones.

That double-whammy of news, and the lack of new RTS announcements from Blizzard in some time, may have driven serious interest in Frost Giant’s announcements, as the new company’s site (and its solicitations for hires) crashed soon after its unveil. In the meantime, the studio’s YouTube announcement video remains live, embedded below: