In David Craddock’s upcoming book on Blizzard Entertainment, Stay Awhile and Listen, the game company revealed that following the release of Diablo II, the team experimented with a Diablo-esque game based in space.
“Have you ever finished a round of Diablo and said, ‘You know, I bet that addictive slot-machine formula would be a blast in a science fiction setting?'” Craddock asked.
Blizzard North thought the exact same thing, and after the Diablo II was on store shelves, the company split into separate teams: a Diablo team, and a ‘We love Diablo but it’s time to try something new’ team. They suggested a number of ideas, before going to work on a Diablo clone, but one that was “set on a space opera stage”
The game was nicknamed “Starblo”, and was a mix of a sci-fi space setting and the action-RPG formula that made Diablo so successful. Customisable spaceships, space travel and inter-planetary looting of aliens were all part of the plan.
The team had a few playable builds of Starblo, meaning that there is something sitting in the vaults over at Blizzard.
Stay Awhile and Listen launches in early 2013, published by Digital Monument Press.
Source: Shacknews
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Starblo? Really… Is that the best name they could up with? Sounds like a celebrity porn game…