Blizzard vets Tim Morten, the former production director for StarCraft II; and Tim Campbell, the lead campaign designer for WarCraft III; and has launched a new studio, Frost Giant Studios, with a number of colleagues from Blizzard to bring real-time strategy games to a bigger audience.
“I knew that it was time for me to move on from Blizzard, and I saw I was in parallel exploring if it was possible to raise funding for a new RTS. It’s incredible to me how that funding ecosystem for games has grown and continues to flourish. Real-time strategy players are an incredibly passionate community, and they deserve not just a great new game, but one they can share broadly with friends. Building a worthy successor will take time, but we’re incredibly excited and grateful to carry real-time strategy forward at Frost Giant Studios,” Morten said.
The new company, Frost Giant Studios, has picked up $4.7 million in seed funding from the gaming and synthetic media focused investment firm, Bitkraft Ventures, along with participation from 1 Up Ventures, GC Tracker, Riot Games, and Griffin Gaming Partners, the company said.
“Our mission is to build the next great PC real-time strategy game! We’ve been privileged to work for some of the greatest companies in the industry. Now it’s our turn to carry forward the legacy of epic storytelling, innovative co-op gameplay, and celebrated esports that make RTS great,” the site says.
The formation of Frost Giant Studios comes at a significant moment for fans of real-time strategy. On 15 October, Blizzard published a blog post informing StarCraft II players that the company would no longer be producing new content for the 10-year-old RTS title. “We will continue doing season rolls and necessary balance fixes moving forward,” wrote executive producer Robert Bridenbecker.
