Why is everybody leaving Blizzard?

[elfomal]

If you're into last months news, you must have noticed that on last months, lots of workers are leaving blizzard to work on other companys.


Any guesses on why is this happening, and how it can affect blizzard titles?

[Deleted]

There's no there there. People change jobs all the time. Nothing special is going on.

[Lillyth]

Long Careers come to an end, that is normal.

Do you honestly believe someone can stay in the same job for an infinite amount of time?

Yes, some people might. But the gaming industry is ever changing, this isnt a hotel job where you can linger forever.

[kamuimac]

If you're into last months news, you must have noticed that on last months, lots of workers are leaving blizzard to work on other companys.


Any guesses on why is this happening, and how it can affect blizzard titles?

from look of it 8.0 will be last chapter of wow - it all sums up - metzen written the ending , quest dev has probably already designed main lore questing etc etc - with coming months we will probably see more and more people leaving game to not be the last person who turns off lights

[Icoblablubb]

http://www.bonfirestudios.com/ expect more Blizz devs joining this .. i guess many of the Blizz devs wanna go for their own game idea without some bigger company standing on top of them

[Deleted]

Blizzard is more than half a dozen employees.

But sure the sky is falling its time to break open each others skulls and feast on the gooey goodness inside.

[Rotted]

I'd imagine blizzard want fresh people in tbh,

It's like BBC Radio 1. Most presenters are younger and up to date with everything from festivals to latest songs (shocker) but after x amount of years, they finish and get sent to BBC Radio 2 while younger presenters take over their previous slot.

Okay granted in blizzards case they aren't moving them over to another department and I'm not saying by any means its a secret sacking or anything, just more of, its time to move on, type move

Edit

Or riot is headhunting

[Deleted]

So they can hire a lot of MMO-Champion posters.

[Deleted]

They realized they screwed up big time and lost their dignity the last couple of years with microtransaction heavy games like Hearthstone and Overwatch. The games aren't about passion anymore. They are about money now (as their main focus).

And now with World of Warcraft being artificially enlongagated through very long cooldowns that last multiple weeks they want people to pay for the game each month. This was probably the tipping point for many old blizzard guys that don't want to stand up for it anymore

[Deleted]

i guess many of the Blizz devs wanna go for their own game idea without some bigger company standing on top of them

It's easier to blame Activision if you think a Blizzard product has been subpar and not to your liking, but the truth is, if something is shit, you can blame those exact developers, because there are no "reins" held by Activision on them at Blizzard.

many old blizzard guys that don't want to stand up for it anymore

Those "old Blizzard guys" you're talking about are exactly the ones who came up with all the so-called "screw ups" you just listed.

[Pull My Finger]

They realized they screwed up big time and lost their dignity the last couple of years with microtransaction heavy games like Hearthstone and Overwatch. The games aren't about passion anymore. They are about money now (as their main focus).

And now with World of Warcraft being artificially enlongagated through very long cooldowns that last multiple weeks they want people to pay for the game each month. This was probably the tipping point for many old blizzard guys that don't want to stand up for it anymore

I'm sure that's how gamer kids imagine the real professional adult world.

[Icoblablubb]

It's easier to blame Activision if you think a Blizzard product has been subpar and not to your liking, but the truth is, if something is shit, you can blame those exact developers, because there are no "reins" held by Activision on them at Blizzard.

i didn't blame activision but okay... and we don't know the influence of Activision sure Blizzard says they can do whatever they want without Activision interfere but whatever my point stands that some Devs wanna pursue their own game idea and can't do so within Blizzard

[Eurhetemec]

This is normal turn-over. It literally happens after every expansion. The only big news is Metzen going.

The rest is people Chicken Little-ing over normal change.

I wish you guys had been around at release. WoW lost dozens of senior people just before and just after it came out. There were plenty of people going "OMG WOW WIL BE A FLOP RATS LEAVING A SINKING SHIP!""""!!!1112" back then, too.

[Raven]

So they can hire a lot of MMO-Champion posters.

And why would they not ? we all know that those posters have the answers to all problems and never would make a single mistake

[Deleted]

1. It's not everyone, it's barely a few people, mostly the ones that have been there the longest.

2. A lot of people still remain and a lot of new people are coming to Blizzard.

[Deleted]

i didn't blame activision but okay...

Umm... If you're talking about "some bigger company standing on top of them", then what exactly are you referring to, if not Activision?

[Theoris]

People closing a chapter in their life, pretty much.

As for how it affects Blizzard titles, we'll just have to wait and see if it's for the better or for worse.

[Rotted]

They realized they screwed up big time and lost their dignity the last couple of years with microtransaction heavy games like Hearthstone and Overwatch. The games aren't about passion anymore. They are about money now (as their main focus).

Are you drunk? Seriously?

Overwatch has a single micro transaction, which is for loot boxes. Which your given every level, even after each prestige. The box's mostly contain random shit that doesn't impact game play and no one even notices for example voice lines. Theres cosmetic items such as sprays and skins granted, but there aren't many for example, I've got 5 legendary ones and one pre order bonus skin from my boxes and I'm only level 83, without having to buy a single one. Oh, they also give you currency in the boxes to buy said items (again, Ive had a total of 2800, when the most expensive thing is 1k, thats not bad) Oh, they also give you currency for any item duplicates you get.

As far as micro-transactions go, Overwatch has to be the least micro-transaction-ey that I know.

Had you of said just hearthstone, I'd of agreed with you to a point, people will always want more cards.

[Eurhetemec]

And why would they not ? we all know that those posters have the answers to all problems and never would make a single mistake

The funny thing is Blizzard has actually hired a lot of not-formally-qualified MMO players and commentators over the years - including Jeffrey Kaplan, Alex Afrasiabi, and Ion Hazzikostas (but also a bunch of more obscure people). They've worked out varyingly well - Afrasiabi and Hazzikostas seem like they did good - Kaplan caused a lot of community toxicity in WoW's early days and later has been largely associated with failed projects. But hiring people from stuff they said on the internet (they interview too of course), even though they have no degree at all, let alone a game-related one? Blizzard does that.

[nnelson54]

i didn't blame activision but okay... and we don't know the influence of Activision sure Blizzard says they can do whatever they want without Activision interfere but whatever my point stands that some Devs wanna pursue their own game idea and can't do so within Blizzard

If you weren't talking about Activision then I have no idea what "some bigger company standing on top of them" was supposed to mean, and we absolutely do know the influence Activision has on Blizzard - none. Activision Blizzard is just a holding company. Both companies work completely independent from each other. That's not just some party line. That is in their corporate by-laws which they must adhere to. If they were to lie about their corporate structure the Securities and Exchange Commission would fine them and break them up in a heartbeat. They're not going to risk the dissolution of a multi-billion dollar company and millions of dollars in fines(plus possible jail time on an individual level since they're a publicly traded company, though the Justice Department seemingly never arrests people for SEC charges) just to hide the fact that Activision is secretly making the decisions that you don't like.