If you examine the myriad of MMOs that have been pushed out since the success of World of Warcraft became apparent, you've probably noticed many of them follow the same pattern. After all, with 13 million subscribers, they must be doing something right. What, then, does Blizzard have in store for the future of MMOs? With such an amazing success in WoW, you'd think they would stick to it. Apparently that is not the case, though, as it's been loosely confirmed that the upcoming MMO project from Blizzard will be an entirely new franchise, one which does not rely on any of their existing content.

While only offering some short and terse commentary, Blizzard did confess that their next big project won't be within the Diablo, Starcraft or Warcraft universes, instead making use of new elements across the board. Gameplay, art, and everything else is apparently being developed from scratch, which Blizzard says is “overwhelming.”

Until the company decides to spill the beans in a more public way, such as through a press release, details will remain scarce. For now, we can only speculate on what they’re cooking up. One thing they are good at is creating interesting and perhaps addicting games, across multiple genres. Can they do it again with an entirely new franchise?