Blizzard hiring RTS developers

For better or worse, World of Warcraft continues to dominate the PC gaming market. But while nearly 7 million people play Blizzard Entertainment's massively multiplayer online role-playing game, many gamers are wondering if the developer is planning future efforts in the genre that made it a household name--real-time strategy.

Blizzard's first big RTS hit was Warcraft: Orcs and Humans in 1994, followed by Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1995 and the Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal expansion in 1996. The company enjoyed even greater success with Starcraft (1998), Starcraft: Brood War (1998), and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002). However, since Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was released in 2003, the developer has steered clear of RTS games, focusing on the successful WOW and the now-indefinitely postponed Starcraft: Ghost.

This week, though, the myriad Blizzard RTS fans got some good news, courtesy of a job posting on the official Blizzard Web site. The company is now currently accepting resumes for the position of "Level Designer" with "experience building levels using any popular 3D Real-Time Strategy game toolset." (Emphasis added.) Candidates must have "experience creating levels in [a] 3D RTS game toolset" such as those used in Rise of Legends, Command & Conquer, and--drum roll--Warcraft III.

While the job posting appears to be proof positive that Blizzard is working on a new RTS game--which some speculate is Starcraft II--reps for the Vivendi-owned studio weren't tipping their hand. "We have some unannounced projects in development," a rep told GameSpot, "and we'll be revealing more information about those at a later date."