Warcraft Version Of Pokemon Go Reportedly Being Developed At Blizzard

Mobile gaming is all the rage these days because nearly everybody has a cellphone and it's easy to pump a game through the device to someone who might play a game for five minutes during a lunch break. We've seen traditionally hardcore games attempting to lure in casual gamers on mobile devices, and apparently Warcraft is going to get the Pokemon Go treatment soon.

The Verge did an article based on a report that was published on Kotaku about the mobile development ecosystem at Blizzard, and the corporate culture affecting the decisions at the company. Near the end of the lengthy report, it was mentioned that some of the people that Kotaku spoke with at Blizzard were part of an "incubation" team working on a mobile rendition of Warcraft for smartphones.

According to the segment in the report, the developers at Blizzard are currently expanding on the concept of Pokemon Go, but for a Warcraft game. The idea is that it's going to be based on the core concepts of Niantic Labs' title, but will have more gameplay, particularly in the single-player department. What does this mean exactly? No idea, since the report doesn't go into any sort of specifics about functionality or mechanics.

Presumably, if it's going to be geo-based then it's likely going to center around capturing popular characters from the Warcraft franchise. Now, keep in mind that this extends beyond just World of Warcraft, which is the MMORPG. Initially the brand got started as a real-time strategy title and became extremely popular following a trilogy of titles. Blizzard is also remaking Warcraft III to give RTS fans something to sink their teeth into based on the classic strategy title that came out for PC way back in 2002.

This upcoming mobile project is reportedly being headed up by Cory Stockton, who has taken on the role of lead designer. Stockton previously worked as the lead designer and content designer for World of Warcraft for a number of years, following in the footsteps of other notable figures within the company. One of his latest projects for the franchise was the Cataclysm expansion pack that came out back in 2010, and he has been with the company for almost 15 years after putting in some time at Insomniac Games.

So, Stockton is no new bird, and he's most certainly a veteran of all things Warcraft. It definitely makes sense that he would be chosen to lead the design on a mobile version of the game. The report indicates that it wasn't just his dedication to Blizzard's own brand that landed him the lead, but it was also because he's a huge fan of Pokemon games in general.

There's no name for this Pokemon Go _inspired Warcraft game, and, apparently, it's still early in production. This game will join other mobile endeavors from Blizzard, including _Diablo Immortal, which didn't quite go down so well when it was announced at this past year's BlizzCon.

If Warcraft is getting the Pokemon Go treatment, it will join a few other games in development that have also attempted to cash-in on the mobile game's popularity, including Harry Potter, The Walking Dead, and Jurassic World.