[UPDATE] Source says team of 100 developers working on upcoming MMO reduced by 70; game now expected in 2016 at the earliest; Blizzard confirms "large design and technology changes."

[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Blizzard Entertainment issued a statement on Titan, confirming "large design and technology changes" are being made to the next-gen MMO.

The original story follows below

Blizzard Entertainment's next-generation massively multiplayer online game, codenamed Titan, has been sent back to the drawing board and delayed until 2016 at the earliest.

That's according to a source speaking with VentureBeat, who said the project once had 100 developers assigned to it, but that team has now been reduced by 70. These staffers have not been laid off, the source said, but reassigned to other projects within the company.

The 30 remaining Titan developers will "start over" on the game, which was playable in 2011. At the time, Blizzard Entertainment COO Paul Sams said he was encouraged by progress made on the game and said it had the capacity to enjoy a long life, like World of Warcraft.

"We're playing it already. It is a total ball to play," he said at the time. "We think that the reach of that product is greater than anything that we've done before. We're very excited about that. I believe that it's the type of game that will have a very long life, much like World of Warcraft has."

Blizzard Entertainment has not commented on the report at press time. The company currently lists seven open positions for Titan on its career site.

According to a leaked Blizzard Entertainment release schedule, Titan was at one time expected to launch by the end of 2013.

Though Titan may be a ways off, Blizzard Entertainment's fantasy MMO World of Warcraft remains the top subscription-based MMO on the market. It had 8.3 million subscribers at the end of March, down 1.3 million members from the period prior. The developer is planning to release content updates for the game more regularly to avoid further subscriber attrition.

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