It appears that Activision Blizzard's quarterly earnings report came out yesterday after my post, it actually addresses one of the updates I had provided in regards to Blizzard's Next-Gen MMO - ie, Activision is investing heavy into the new MMO, which will kick development into high gear "very soon" as previously stated.
They'll be moving employees over from other departments (e.g. Cataclysm team) within the next few months.
What's funny about the Activision Blizzard news release though, is that people think that this is "new" information. Hundreds of online news services have been posting that Blizzard's MMO will be based on a NEW IP which is apparently "new and exciting" information. That information however is actually over a year old.
So anyways, one item I forget to mention in the previous post was the release date for the game. As mentioned, even though they've been working on the "next-gen MMO" for 3 years - there hasn't been a lot of progress. Analysts have predicted that the game will be released by 2012 or 2013. However, at their current pace (although development will start increasing soon), a release date of 2015 is more likely (with beta testing in 2014).
A streaming MMO is a possibility for the next gen consoles (PS4/XBOX720) but I still have no confirmation on that from my source. There have only been some discussions and some unrelated experimentation (from the next gen MMO project). And there's basically no team tasked with creating it as of yet (not until they confirm that it can actually work well).
Other than that, Blizzard biggest concern for their product on next gen consoles is the interface.. if motion-tracking software is a bust (which it is), expect standard keyboard/mouse setups for the consoles. Blizzard will probably release customized kb/mouse hardware as well for the consoles. (Gotta milk revenue wherever you can right?)
Note: The reason I say motion-tracking tech (like Kinect) is a bust for their next-gen MMO is because it's not really applicable for twitch-based/fast-action combat. It's fine for dancing, jumping, and fun kids games.. but not a game with consequences and competition where accuracy of commands and every second is critical. As it stands, the retail product has been called very laggy, unresponsive, and inaccurate. Check out Microsoft's faked Starwars Kinect footage by the way.. the actor mimicked everything the character on the screen did (the entire exercise was probably practiced over-and-over to make it look real). It's not good when a product is constantly failing during demonstrations.
So, Blizzard and Microsoft are currently in a relationship regarding Microsoft's next-gen console, their Kinect device, and their cloud computing technologies.
According to Microsoft, 70% of their employees are hard at work on cloud-computing related projects and that number is likely to rise to 90% next year.
And, Rob Pardo has also confirmed that Blizzard has been in discussions with Microsoft's engineers regarding their cloud computing and live streaming technologies. As well, OnLive has been involved in ongoing discussions with Activision Blizzard regaring their streaming services, but they haven't committed to anything solid. Each time they meet, though, they're learning more-and-more about the technology and how it can be used for future game releases.
Are these some of the signs that Blizzard is making a move into on-demand streaming territory?
It would fit in very well with their Battle.net services and would definitely work well with their new "Next Gen" MMO. Maybe the "Next Gen" bit isn't just about new consoles, but rather opening up their games for many platforms regardless of age? With live streaming services, you don't have to worry too much about processor speed, video card performance, memory, or harddrive capacity.
Of course, this will all depend if it the technology works or not. Gaming-on-demand is very deterministic based on broadband availability, you need guaranteed performance for delivering HD video and it's not available by many ISPs.
However, to combat the differences in bandwidth availability (if it's still a problem when their next-gen MMO is released), Blizzard could introduce multiple purchasing options like they have in the past. As you know, Blizzard has been recently experimenting with alternative pricing purchasing options in countries outside of NA. There's talk of monthly, daily, and hourly fees.
Also, did you notice their specific wording?
"Added additional purchasing options so that the game is accessible to a wider audience."
They're testing out different purchasing options so that the game "is accessible to a wider audience." That's the same thing Blizzard said about their next-gen MMO - they want it more accessible to a wider audience. All part of the same strategy? =]
Also, Blizzard has been hiring more employees that have background experience in streaming gameplay. One of the Next-Gen MMO software engineers has been working on "streaming gameplay" for the game. And they are even experimenting with streaming game play (the new Cataclysm Beta launcher) for World of Warcraft. (Not just direct streaming, either, it's P2P & torrent too.)
Blizzard is understandably worried about the technology, though, just like Kinect. There will be cautious movement forwards and a lot of testing and experimentation. They may also be keeping their options open.. if Microsoft can't meet their requirements for the technology, OnLive would definitely be an attractive acquisition for Activision Blizzard (if they can prove themselves, that is). =]
Streaming games on-demand / cloud computing is definitely the future of gaming as well as applications, if ISPs can keep up the pace. It's a great way to eliminate piracy and increase sales, which everyone in the gaming industry is interested in. But these are the hurdles that Blizzard is currently trying to address.. the input device and streaming technologies, both of which Rob Pardo believes can be overcome in the next generation of consoles.