Rob Fahey
12:35 (BST)
03/08/2005
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Blizzard North shut down; Diablo team moves to Irvine
Diablo III rumours spurred on as Blizzard North staff relocate to headquarters
Vivendi Universal Games subsidiary Blizzard Games has shut its secondary development location, Bay Area based Blizzard North, and is moving the team at the studio to its headquarters in Irvine, south California.
Blizzard North was working on an unannounced project - widely believed to be a new game in the hugely popular Diablo franchise - which the team will continue after its move to the Irvine studio.
The relocation, according to Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime, "represents an opportunity for all our teams to have regular, direct input on each other's projects."
The closure of the Bay Area office comes after a series of high profile departures from the studio, including founders David Brevik, Erich Schaefer and Max Schaefer who left to form Flagship Studios in 2003.
Other studios which have spun off from Blizzard North include Castaway Entertainment, also formed in 2003, and ArenaNet, formed in 2000, which recently developed massively multiplayer title Guild Wars for NCSoft.
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