Team 1
Team 1 was a designation for one of the internal development teams of Blizzard Entertainment. As of late 2020, it consisted of around 200 individuals.[1]
Overview
Team 1's existence (in form, if not in name)[2] stems back to at least 1994.[2] Sources differ as to when Team 1 was formed. According to Jason Schreier in his book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, Team 1 was formed after the release of StarCraft: Brood War.[3] According to Phillip Kolar of Polygon however, Blizzard retained a single development team up to World of Warcraft. According to Kolar's account, by this point it was clear to Blizzard that it needed a dedicated team to update and expand the game, so they split the workforce and created Team 2 to continue the development of World of Warcraft, while Team 1 would take charge of the StarCraft II project. Blizzard thus started to identify their internal teams by a number.[2]
As Team 1 began work on StarCraft II, its artists and programmers were transferred to work on World of Warcraft, leading to StarCraft II existing in limbo until 2006.[4]
From 2012-2019, Team 1 was in charge of Heroes of the Storm. Prior to that, the team had made "box products" for 15-20 years,[5] which involved a more traditional schedule: working on a title for a couple of years, and then releasing it, and perhaps producing an expansion another couple of years later.[5] Heroes of the Storm, however, was in a "constant state of evolution", and the team plans to maintain their schedule of content and adjustment releases every 4-6 weeks.[5]
In the late 2010s, Team 1 made numerous RTS pitches to Blizzard, including Warcraft IV and a Call of Duty-themed RTS. However, none of the pitches/prototypes were accepted, as there was no appetite in Blizzard's executive team for a new RTS.[6]
As of April 2019, Heroes of the Storm was part of the Classic Games team.[7]
Team 1 worked on Warcraft III: Reforged.[8] However, the game was poorly received. Team 1's next project was a remake of Diablo II, but in a postmortem of Reforged, Team 1 was removed from the project, and development turned over to Team 3 and Vicarious Visions. Reportedly, members of Team 1 hoped that if Reforged was successful enough, it could open the doors to Warcraft IV. While Warcraft IV had never been a guaranteed project, the Reforged debacle more or less shut the door on any Warcraft IV project.[6]
On Oct. 15, 2020, Blizzard informed members of Team 1 that it was reorganizing the entire division. In the following weeks, members of the team were given opportunities to interview for jobs elsewhere within Blizzard. Those who did not find positions in the company were gradually cut. Others left for independent studios such as Frost Giant Studios and DreamHaven Inc.[1] By January 2021, Team 1 had been removed from development of Reforged, and replaced with a new division.[8] As of late 2023, the team apparently no longer exists. Many ex-Team 1 members founded/joined Frost Giant Studios.[9]
Works
- StarCraft[10]
- Warcraft III[5]
- World of Warcraft
- StarCraft II[10]
- Heroes of the Storm[10]
- Warcraft IV (pitch/prototype only)[6]
- Untitled Call of Duty RTS (pitch/prototype only)[6]
- Warcraft III: Reforged[8]
- Diablo II: Resurrected (removed from project)[1]
References
- ^ a b c 2021-01-23, Blizzard Absorbs Activision Studio After Dismantling Classic Games Team. Bloomberg, retrieved on 2021-02-17
- ^ a b c Phillip Kolar. The Three Lives of Blizzard Entertainment. Polygon. Retrieved on 2014-10-04.
- ^ Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, pg. 58
- ^ Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, pg. 148
- ^ a b c d 2014-08-20, Heroes of the Storm Interview with Kaeo Milker. Icy Veins, retrieved on 2014-08-23
- ^ a b c d 2024-09-29, I'm Jason Schreier, reporter at Bloomberg and author of PLAY NICE: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, AMA. Reddit, retrieved on 2024-10-01
- ^ Tim Rizzo 2019-04-20. A week in review: Heroes is a Classic, Cloaken leaves, a dank panda.. Inven Global.
- ^ a b c 2021-01-24, Tony Hawk Dev Vicarious Visions Reportedly Making Diablo 2 Remake At Blizzard. GameSpot, retrieved on 2021-02-08
- ^ 2023-11-30, Stormgate Is a Very StarCraft-y RTS Made By Ex-StarCraft Developers. IGN, retrieved on 2023-11-30
- ^ a b c 2014-02-07, Heroes of the Storm Developer Q&A Part 2 (Jan 22, 2014) – Transcript. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2014-06-11
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