Blizzard has formally closed its deal to acquire Proletariat, and there's a brand new blog from Warcraft general manager John Hight, discussing their reasons for acquiring the Spellbreak developer, and what plans are going forward with Proletariat’s contribution to keeping World of Warcraft development on track.
In a blog titled "Expanding the Development Pipeline of World of Warcraft", Hight notes that , “there’s more happening in WoW than ever, and this is just the beginning. To help support our increased content needs, since May, we’ve been working with a great development partner, Proletariat”.
The studio was founded in Boston in 2012 by industry vets who had worked on games like The Lord of the Rings Online, D&D Online, and Asheron's Call. Since they've been working together since last month, that has been successful so far, and today the deal has finally closed on the acquisition. Proletariat will be folded into Blizzard.
“Together, our teams will expand our development pipeline for WoW. Our plan is to continue growing both our Irvine- and Boston-based teams, with shared creative leadership providing feedback to ensure we continue to meet or exceed players’ – and our – quality and delivery expectations. The addition of Proletariat brings 100 talented Blizzard employees to this newest Blizzard Entertainment Studio.”
The full transition into Blizzard’s Boston-based studio won’t be complete for a few months, but the deal has closed and they’re continuing to work together on WoW. While there hasn’t been more detailed word on just what parts the Proletariat devs have been contributing to, with Dragonflight set for release later this year, it’s easy to imagine the schedules and deadlines there.
You can read the official press release formally announcing the deal. John Hight’s blog detailing how the studio fits into WoW’s plans is over at is over here at Blizzard.
