As part of the deal which was first announced to WOTLK Gold VentureBeat, Proletariat will become a Blizzard studio. Its 100 employees will help in an ongoing effort to develop WoW which includes the Dragonflight expansion that is due release this year. Proletariat's latest game, Spellbreak, is shutting down.
This is just the latest expansion of Blizzard, as the veteran Activision studio Vicarious Visions was recently folded into Blizzard for the purpose of contributing to that World of Warcraft franchise.
The terms of Blizzard's acquisition of Proletariat weren't disclosed however it's the company's first major acquisition since it acquired Swinging Ape in 2005.
John Hight, the general manager of World of Warcraft at Blizzard, said the deal to purchase Proletariat will assist Blizzard to keep pace with the requirements of the WoW player base.
"As you're likely aware that players in World of Warcraft have a massive appetite for content" Hight said. "And the thing we've observed during the last year is that we have to expand how much content we can create, and the frequency at which we're giving it to the hands members."
Hight explained that Proletariat is a perfect fit for Blizzard because the team was familiar with medieval fantasy and stylized art, both of which are popular themes for WoW. Blizzard began talking to Proletariat in the fall of 2021. the studio is working closely with Blizzard since the start of May this year.
With the acquisition of Proletariat, Blizzard now has teams on both coasts in the United States, which could help with the ambition to create more content on WoW and launch it buy WOW WOTLK Classic Gold more quickly. Proletariat's team also includes players who have worked on The Lord of the Rings Online as well as DD Online. Proletariat was founded in 2012 by individuals who worked previously at Harmonix, Turbine, and Insomniac.
