Blizzard's survival game has already been in development for nearly five years Rock Paper Shotgun Support us Join our newsletter Visit our store Sign in / Create account If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Blizzard's survival game has already been in development for nearly five years Games take a long time News by Graham Smith Contributor Published on Jan. 30, 2022 9 comments This past week Blizzard announced a survival game set in an all-new universe. There were almost no other details about it and it was described as being at an "early stage", but it seems the studio have been working on it for close to five years already. Although the announcement didn't come with much more than a couple pieces of concept art, Blizzard employees have been able to talk about their involvement with the game on social media. They're still not sharing any details, but we know that the project is being led by Craig Amai, who said the project began as a "humble pitch deck on my desktop": Once upon a time this dream project was humble pitch deck on my desktop. Now it's a team full of caring and passionate people sharing a vision I couldn't be prouder to be part of.https://t.co/dCumH9yoEm- Craig Amai (@craig_amai) January 25, 2022 To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings PC Gamer then spotted that Amai's LinkedIn account states that he's been project lead on the "Unannounced Survival Game" since July 2017, 4 years and 7 months ago. Amai had previously been a senior game designer and lead quest designer on World Of Warcraft. Five years isn't an unusual or troubling amount of time. Video games take a long time to make and can remain in pre-production for years while a development team works out what they're creating. Its recent announcement came paired with a call for new people to join the team, which presumably indicates some confidence in the project's direction. We also know that the game is playable in its current state, with Blizzard lead Mike Ybarra tweeting that he's played "many hours of this project with the team." Watch on YouTube There's been no shortage of survival games to act as inspiration over the past five years of development, and 2017 was the year that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite and Breath Of The Wild released. It's easy to be cynical about a studio coming to a gold rush genre late, but in fairness Blizzard have a habit of making space for themselves in crowded genres through sterling execution. Whether the studio is still capable of that remains to be seen. Over the past year, several lawsuits have raised allegations of a workplace culture of harassment within Blizzard Entertainment and its parent company. There's also the complicating matter of Microsoft's pending purchase of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. More News Jack King-Spooner's next handcrafted game has a teaser demo out Judero brings chat and action in the Scottish Borders Alice O'Connor 17 hours ago 1 If you were hoping for any Overwatch 2 balance changes then you'll have to wait until season two The next season begins in December CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 3 The Dead Space remake will chuck random Necromorphs at you as you wander the Ishimura In space, no one can hear you proper bricking it CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 8 Valve register mysterious new Neon Prime trademark in the US It doesn’t seem to be for a particularly colourful Steam Deck CJ Wheeler 20 hours ago 11 Latest Articles What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 22 Past Wordle answers Here's an archive of previous Wordle words Ollie Toms 2 hours ago 1 Wordle answer today (Saturday 15 October) Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word Rebecca Jones 9 hours ago Overwatch 2 hero tier list Which are the best heroes in Overwatch 2? Ollie Toms 16 hours ago Supporters Only You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Japanese dating show Love Wagon has surprising parallels with Yakuza and Persona My new obsession Ed Thorn 2 days ago If you're hankering after Bayonetta 3, Valkyrie Elysium might be a good substitute It's not out on PC until next month, but the console demo has been a surprise charmer Katharine Castle 1 week ago 4 We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes Buy RPS stuff here