Proletariat (company)

American video game developer

Proletariat, Inc.

Company type| Subsidiary
Industry| Video games
Founded| 2012; 10 years ago in Boston, Massachusetts
Founder| Seth Sivak
Headquarters| Boston, US

Area served

| Worldwide
Products| Spellbreak

Number of employees

| 120+ (2021[1])
Parent| Blizzard Entertainment (2022–present)

Proletariat, Inc. (also known as Blizzard Boston) is an American video game developer based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded by Seth Sivak and former Zynga industry veterans in 2012.[2] The company was acquired by Blizzard Entertainment in 2022. Proletariat, Inc. has developed multiple independent games and launched its best-known game, Spellbreak in September 2020.[3]

## History

[edit]

After Zynga closed its Boston studio in October 2012, Seth Sivak and four other former developers at Boston Zynga formed a new independent studio, Proletariat Inc.[2]

The company's first major release was World Zombination, a horde-based real-time strategy mobile game. The studio raised $6 million from venture investors to finish the game. Development of the game started in April 2013. The game was ultimately released in February 2015 for Android and iOS.[4]

In 2019, Proletariat Inc. announced the completion of $20 million in Series C funding from investors including Spark Capital, FirstMark Capital and Take-Two Interactive to grow and expand its development team.[5] Alongside funding, Take-Two Interactive's head of corporate development and independent publishing, Michael Worosz, joined Proletariat's board of directors in 2019.[6]

Proletariat moved from mobile games to PC titles with the release of the fast-paced arena game Streamline in 2016, which featured full live streaming integration that allowed Viewers to interact with and control what is displayed on the screen on Twitch.[7] The company then developed Spellbreak, a free-to-play multiplayer action spellcasting game released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2020.[8]

In June 2022, Proletariat announced that the company will end the development of Spellbreak and shut down the game servers in 2023.[9] The next day, Blizzard Entertainment announced they had agreed to acquire Proletariat, Inc., and the studio will be assigned to work on World of Warcraft, beginning with the ninth expansion, Dragonflight.[10]

## Games developed

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Note

|
|

2015  | World Zombination |
2016  | Streamline |
2017  | StreamLegends |
2020  | Spellbreak |
2022  | World of Warcraft: Dragonflight | Co-developed with Blizzard Entertainment
2024  | World of Warcraft: The War Within
TBA  | World of Warcraft: Midnight
World of Warcraft: The Last Titan

## References

[edit]

1. ^ ""As an independent studio we have been working hard to build games that distribute themselves." – Enchanting a community with Spellbreak". MCVUK. February 8, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
2. ^ a b Lien, Tracey (2013-02-26). "Former Zynga Boston developers launch new studio to go after 'core tablet market'". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
3. ^ Takahashi, Dean (2022-06-29). "Blizzard plans to acquire Spellbreak studio Proletariat to bolster World of Warcraft". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
4. ^ Takahshi, Dean (February 17, 2015). "Proletariat readies Thursday launch of mobile game World Zombination". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
5. ^ "Proletariat Inc. closes out a $20 million investment round". GameDaily.biz. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
6. ^ Inc, Proletariat. "Proletariat Inc. Completes $20 Million Series C Financing Round". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2022-07-03. `{{cite press release}}`: `|last=` has generic name (help)
7. ^ Batchelor, James (November 20, 2022). "Twitch: "We're almost ready to go full-blown Hunger Games"". Gameindustry.biz. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
8. ^ "Spellbreak's four-year incantation for streamable, shareable sorcery". GamesIndustry.biz. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
9. ^ "Spellbreak Development Ends, Server Shutdown Announced". Comic Book.com. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
10. ^ "Blizzard plans to acquire Spellbreak studio Proletariat to bolster World of Warcraft". VentureBeat. 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2022-07-03.

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