Blizzard’s Titan Has 100 Developers

Blizzard has revealed that 100 developers are now working on its next MMO project, codenamed Titan. In an interview with Curse Entertainment, Blizzard chief creative officer Rob Pardo said “Titan’s still moving along. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up that it’s around the corner or anything. It’s a very big project. It’s got a long ways to go. We don’t know yet when we’re going to really start releasing more information. We’re definitely dead in the middle of development at this point. I think we’re over 100 people now on the team working on it.”

When asked about rumors that Titan has been in development for six years, Pardo commented that “It depends on how you look at such things. When we first start a team, we start it really, really small. We might start with just a couple people. We talk about the concepts, we draw some concept art. It definitely has not been in core development for that long. I’d say core development is maybe closer to four-ish years, but even that was with a smaller team.”

We first heard hints of Blizzard’s next MMO back in December 2007, when Blizzard said its new MMO isn’t related to World of Warcraft. Blizzard later began hiring developers and WOW lead designer Jeff Kaplan began working on the project. Blizzard said in 2010 that the project was a long way off and the codename Titan emerged later that year.

Last year, rumors suggested Titan would be shown at BlizzCon, but were later debunked by Blizzard. The last time we heard the title referenced was during an Activision Blizzard earnings call last month when it was referred to as “an all-new MMORPG in the future” in reference to Blizzard’s release calendar.

Little is known about Titan, and it sounds like we might still have a long time to wait before concrete details are revealed. In the meantime, Blizzard released World of Warcraft’s Mists of Pandaria expansion earlier this week. For our thoughts so far, read our Mists of Pandaria review in progress.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Obsidian's Project Eternity Gets Kickstarter Funding

Project Eternity, the new Kickstarter-funded project from Obsidian Entertainment that was revealed last week after a teaser countdown, has hit its fundraising goal in under three days.

Since launching on Friday with a target of $1.1 million, funding for the isometric, party-based RPG is currently sitting at around $1.5 million.

As a result of this, the company has introduced a number of 'stretch goals'; funding thresholds that, if reached, will mean the developers will expand upon their original vision for the game thanks to the extra funding.

While the base game was due to launch with three races, five classes, and five companions, once funding passed $1.4 million this morning, the company promised to increase this to four races, six classes and six companions.

Should funding hit $1.6 million the game will be made available on Mac and a new major storyline will be added. At $1.8 million, there’ll be a further new playable race, class, and companion, while crossing the $2 million mark guarantees the addition of player housing.

The final announced stretch goal is at $2.2 million, when Obsidian will introduce a new region, faction and another companion as well as Linux, apparently. More surprises have been promised should funding hit $2.4 million, but the company clearly doesn't want to jinx anything with 29 days still to go.

Also on the horizon is the prospect of the game becoming DRM free, and the addition of a new $5,000 tier as it apparently sold out too quickly. With all the backer rewards currently being slated for an April 2014 delivery, we can assume that that's when the game is aimed for. We just hope that adding all these extra goodies doesn't lead to any delays!

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and chronic RPG-oholic You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Keiji Inafune Reveals New Zombie Game Project

Keiji Inafune has unveiled that he is working on a new zombie game project called YAIBA.

Since leaving his position as global head of production at Capcom over a year ago, the infamous game designer who's worked on titles including Mega Man, Onimusha and Resident Evil has pursued diverse projects, from social titles to books.

Details about the new project are pretty scarce, other than that it's being worked on by Inafune's new company Comcept, but a teaser trailer accompanied the announcement, which you can check out below.

To mark the announcement, Inafune has also released the following message:

Since my departure from my former company in December of 2010, I have been thinking about how to live up to people’s expectations as an independent game creator. What do people expect of me? What do they want to see me do?

A year and a half has passed after becoming independent, and I have been fortunate enough to announce several projects along the way. I have announced three consumer titles and three social game titles. I have given speeches in various seminars, panels, universities and schools. I have published three books. I am still aggressively challenging myself in various arenas.

But I asked myself  “Have I covered all everything?” It felt like something is missing; something people expect from me the most.

Everywhere I go, people ask: “Are you working on it?” “ When is it coming?” The expectation seems higher in the west.

The expectation is clear. It’s for my next zombie game. There are countless zombie games out there, and yet, people say they want to see a new Inafune zombie game. I am flattered and grateful, for people associating me as a  “Zombie Lover”. For that, I must, answer to this expectation.

This new concept for my game was born some time after becoming independent. I don’t want to spoil everything just yet, but I hope you will enjoy my new game that is loaded with stuff I love, zombies, ninjas, robots, and action. It’s called “YAIBA”. I hope you are excited. I know I am.

We'll be sure to bring you all the latest news on YAIBA as soon as we have it.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant, and would kill for Onimusha HD. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Obsidian's Countdown Continues With New Details

Update: The teaser site for Obsidian's new RPG project we told you about yesterday has been updated, revealing more details about the mysterious "Project X".

The most important change to take note of is the fact that the number four has now become a three, revealing it to be a countdown rather than an indication of what the title may be. This means we should get more answers when the number reaches zero, which will happen on Friday.

New text has also appeared though, which reads, "The book unread is unwritten. The reason we don't explain it is the reason we use it. Its power is in its mystery. That is the Leaden Key, in part, in whole. Is it clear?"

"Digging for truth buries the seeker."

Though that's the only text visible on the page, a quick look its source code reveals a bit more: "Two centuries ago, your divine champion told the people of Dyrwood to grovel at his feet. If you've come on pilgrimage to the blasted crater that was our reply, Godhammer Citadel is *that* way."

So, does this give us any crucial hints about what the game is? The fact the number has changed makes Dungeon Siege 4 a less likely candidate than it was yesterday, but it's still possible. While Obsidian has spent a fair amount of time in the past working on other company's IPs, there's nothing to suggest this couldn't be a brand new endeavour of its own.

We'll find out more over the coming days.

Original Story: A teaser for what appears to be a countdown to the reveal of a brand new game has appeared on popular RPG developer Obsidian's website.

The landing page currently features the number four enveloped by an Ouroboros, an ancient symbol depicting a snake or a dragon eating its own tail. The text below reads: "What do the words mean? Nothing. The Dirge of Eír Glanfath is sound without form, a lone voice crying out in mourning because it must."

Clicking on the image takes you to forum landing page for Project X Speculation & Discussion where Obsidian fans have begun to speculate on what the words mean.

Described as a forum for "Obsidian's next RPG endeavor" it teases said game is so secret "not even its project codename is yet being revealed."

Stick around for updates and speculation.

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