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. Indeed, before and during the development of World of Warcraft, Blizzard only had a single internal development team, which managed every videogame released, except the Diablo series. After the release of World of Warcraft, it was clear that Blizzard 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]
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,[3] 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.[3] 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.[3]
As of April 2019, Heroes of the Storm was part of the Classic Games team.[4]
Team 1 worked on Warcraft III: Reforged.[5] 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.
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.[5] As of late 2023, the team apparently no longer exists. Many ex-Team 1 members founded/joined Frost Giant Studios.[6]
Works
- StarCraft[7]
- Warcraft III[3]
- World of Warcraft
- StarCraft II[7]
- Heroes of the Storm[7]
- Warcraft III: Reforged[5]
- 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 Phillip Kolar. The Three Lives of Blizzard Entertainment. Polygon. Retrieved on 2014-10-04.
- ^ a b c d 2014-08-20, Heroes of the Storm Interview with Kaeo Milker. Icy Veins, retrieved on 2014-08-23
- ^ 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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