Titan cancellation cost Blizzard $50m or more, say analysts

When Titan first came to light in 2007, most people assumed it would be Blizzard's next big thing, ultimately taking the place of World of Warcraft which was likely to see further declines in the years ahead. Fast forward seven years, WoW clearly has been fading (down to 6.8 million subs as of June 30) but Blizzard has no MMO lined up to replace it, and that fact was really hammered home today with the surprise cancellation of Titan. In fact, the developer stressed that it didn't want to be known as an MMO company and one may not be in its future. Cancelling the project this late in the game may have cost Blizzard several tens of millions of dollars, analysts told GamesIndustry.biz.

"Development costs for Titan may have amounted to tens of millions, perhaps $50 million or more. This is not an unusual event, however. Blizzard has cancelled several games in various stages of development in the past. Costs for unreleased games can be significant, but launching substandard games can harm the reputation of a successful publisher such as Blizzard. Expenses for development can be considered R&D, and benefits can include invaluable training, IP and technology that can be applied to other games," explained independent analyst Billy Pidgeon.

Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter estimated an even higher amount lost: "My guess is 100 - 200 people at $100,000 per year, so $70 - 140 million sunk cost. It's pretty sad that it took so long to figure out how bad the game was. I expect them to go back to the drawing board."

Indeed, the market has changed considerably in the last seven years, and while MMOs like EA's Star Wars: The Old Republic struggle to find a large audience, free-to-play games and tablet games like Blizzard's own Hearthstone are finding success. Blizzard has no doubt been keenly aware of the market realities too.

"As far back as 2013, they had already stated Titan was not likely to be a subscription-based MMORPG. This is consistent with a market that is increasingly dominated by multiplayer games that are either free to play or are an expected feature included with triple-A games such as Call of Duty. Titanfall and Destiny sold as standalone games supplemented by paid downloadable add-ons. Blizzard maintains very high standards of quality, so expectations will be steep for new franchises as well as for sequels," Pidgeon continued.

DFC Intelligence's David Cole agreed, noting that after seven years of development in an industry where trends and technologies change at a rapid pace, Blizzard simply had to pull the plug on Titan.

"They realized that unless a big MMO is out-of-this-world unbelievable it won't work in today's market where it competes against a bunch of low cost options. If they felt that it just wasn't getting to that point it makes sense to cut your losses," he noted. "Also, you see games like League of Legends and their own Hearthstone which are doing very well on a much lower budget."

"For Blizzard, I am expecting to see them continue to focus on high quality products but also focus on products with shorter development cycles and less cost. The market is just not in a place where you can have games with 7+ year development. It is changing too fast."

For most developers, junking a seven-year long project would instantly spell turmoil, but thankfully for Blizzard, it's part of the Activision Blizzard behemoth, which has a market cap of over $15 billion and, as of June 30, cash and cash equivalents of over $4 billion on hand. It's a nice luxury to have.