Can Blizzard top itself with 'StarCraft II?'
Rob Pardo talks about long development cycles ? and keeping secrets
By Kristin Kalning
Games editor
MSNBC
Updated: 1:18 a.m. ET May 31, 2007
In a Q&A session, I talked to Bizzard?s vice president of game design, Rob Pardo, about the company?s long development processes, how to keep teams motivated (hint: champagne parties and record-shattering sales), courting casual players and what fans can expect from "StarCraft II."
Speaking of secrets, what is your timeline for release for ?StarCraft II??
It?s a secret! I can give you the old Blizzard mantra of: ?It?ll ship when it?s ready,? but it?s something that historically, we?ve learned to keep release dates really close to the vest. I think all game developers are extremely optimistic, and we used to give optimistic dates and we?d disappoint our fans when we didn?t hit them. So now, I think we?ve just gotten more gun shy. The only thing I can give you [that?s] concrete is it?s not going to be this year. Some people were hoping, because of how advanced the game looks, that we?d have it out by Christmas, but that?s definitely not happening.
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