Tomas Hernandez is owner of Blizzplanet.com since 2003. I post news about World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard Careers, and the Warcraft film.
Blizzplanet is a leading fansite covering news about upcoming Blizzard Entertainment licensed products. I also post previews and reviews. I have interviewed book writers and Blizzard game developers.
I was previously an employee of the OGaming Network (2003), and IncGamers (2008-2010). I was a guest newsposter for GosuGamers (World of Warcraft) a few years ago and for Diablofans.com (formerly Diablo3.com)
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Vicarious Visions posted a new job opening for a Cinematic Layout Artist. They specify requirement for Blizzard familiarity. The highlights that caught my eye indicate they might be in post-production. That usually means they are wrapping up final stages.
Vicarious Visions is looking for a Cinematic Layout Artist. Specifically asks:
Familiarity with Blizzard titles.
Proficient with post-production software.
Cinematic animations in-engine.
Staging Motion Capture data to craft effective character animations.
Working closely with the Cinematic Leads developing, defining, and maintaining high-end Hollywood-caliber cutscenes and real-time cinematic content.
The Blizzard Tech Support site out of the blue updated the Diablo 4 Beta Access page 11 hours ago. Merely 3 days before BlizzConline 2021. Coincidence?
Right off the bat. This is bordering between wild speculation and a longshot.
The BlizzConline schedule seems to only have room for two Diablo games on Day 1. It could be Diablo 4 and Diablo Immortal. Or it could be Diablo 4 and D2R announcement — leaving Diablo Immortal out as Blizzard did in BlizzCon 2019.
The Chinese National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) approved the publication of Diablo Immortal. This will certainly speed up testing and launch of the game in China.
New head of Vicarious Visions Simon Ebejer has replaced Jennifer Oneal (new EVP of development at Blizzard Entertainment). Simon Ebejer talked with The Daily Gazette about the recent merger.
Here are some snippets that come to attention from the article:
Vicarious Visions has collaborated with Blizzard for a “decent amount of time.”
We’re going to be working on some incredible stuff as a part of Blizzard.
Ebejer said he can’t yet discuss the titles they are working on–
“I can’t obviously get into any specifics but it does mean a lot to see the passion of the community, and the way that both VV fans and Blizzard fans are getting excited about the possibilities that we have ahead of us.”
GameIndustry.Biz recently posted the breaking news that Vicarious Visions had merged into Blizzard Entertainment. Now the former head of Vicarious Visions posted a message in Linkedin confirming the merge and her new position as executive vice-president of development at Blizzard Entertainment.
Her Linkedin profile displays she joined the EVP role in January 2021.
Back in June 2020, RandomMan00 shared in Reddit a special behavior in the diablo2.blizzard.com URL. In the past, the address resolved into a “Server Not Found” error. Then, the URL resolved into Error 403, which according to the Amazon AWS support site means the page is behind the AWS Firewall, blocking access to public view.
You don’t block it behind a Firewall for nothing. Only if you are working on content.
Here is a move no one saw coming. Vicarious Visions — owned by Activision since 2005 — has now merged with Blizzard Entertainment to exclusively focus on the Legacy division.
Recently, during the Diablo Immortal AMA held over at Reddit, a developer shutdown the thought that we might see Diablo Immortal eSports.
sVr: Will PvP have a reward system? (RedDragonFlayer)
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): We have more plans for PVP that we can’t talk about just yet. But I hope you guys have been able to check out the Bilefen Zone Trial. One thing I can say now is that none of our PVP plans are going to move the game towards an eSport. What we want is a fun place that players of all types can gather and have a good time killing each other.
