Former Hearthstone devs are making a Marvel game

On Jan 5, 2019

Second Dinner, a game studio made up of former Blizzard developers who worked on the popular Hearthstone game, is making a new game set in the Marvel universe. Funding is coming from NetEase, the guys co-developing Diablo Immortal, suggesting that the game will be a mobile game.

When former Hearthstone director, Ben Brode, quit Blizzard and started Second Dinner, he took a load of friends from his old company with him. Now, the studio has announced its first project amidst a spate of capital investment, and it’s a Marvel game.

The developers didn’t say what kind of game it would be, though. A collectible card game in a similar vein to Hearthstone would be a reasonable guess but, the truth is, we just don’t know yet. Former Hearthstone executive producer, Hamilton Chu, is also working at the indie studio.

diablo immortal 6049131 — Diablo Immortal did not go down well with hardcore fans. / © Blizzard

Funding for the project comes courtesy of NetEase. The Chinese company is co-developing Diablo Immortal, much to the fury of hardcore fans. Immortal was announced at the BlizzCon keynote in November 2018, but fans were disappointed that the company was making a game for smartphones.

Blizzard is well-known for hit games such as Overwatch and World of Warcraft, but concerns over the growing influence of Activision plagued the company in 2018. Several cost-cutting measures were introduced last year and former Blizzard employees continue to express concerns.

NetEase is reported to have pumped $30 million into this new Second DInner project. The Marvel game will be developed out of Irvine, California.

What do you think about the potential for a Marvel card collecting game on mobile? Would you play it?