Kotaku Article - Warcraft Version of Pokemon Go?
Kotaku posted an article yesterday talking about Diablo / Blizzard's mobile plans and quoted supposedly anonymous Blizzard employees mentioning the possibility of a Warcraft version of Pokemon Go. Here are some of the highlights that the article mentions. Most of these highlights are unconfirmed by Blizzard.

  • Warcraft Go?
    • Some Blizzard developers are genuinely excited to make mobile games.
    • A lot of Blizzard developers play Pokemon Go.
    • A natural extension of this was for the new Incubation Team to develop a Warcraft version of Pokémon Go, which is supposedly in development for smartphones now.
    • People who have played the Warcraft mobile game say it’s also got a lot more to it than Pokémon Go, including single-player mechanics.
  • Diablo
    • Diablo III had a second expansion that was canceled.
    • Blizzard says cancellations show commitment to quality and that they have only released about 50% of the projects that they have worked on in the past 3 decades.
    • Project Hades was reportedly a Diablo game in development that would be more like Dark Souls, an over the shoulder dungeon crawler that was also canceled.
    • Project Fenris is the current incarnation of Diablo IV and the team is optimistic about it. Their art direction is to embrace the darkness.
    • Project Fenris is still early in development and will likely not launch until 2020 or later.
    • They still claim that there was talks to announce Diablo IV at BlizzCon, but it wasn't far enough along in time, yet one dev disputes this.
    • Blizzard is careful to announce games before they are ready now because of what happened with Project Titan.
    • Project Fenris is being worked on by a separate team from Diablo: Immortal known as Incubation.
    • Diablo: Immortal exists because they heard that China really wanted a Diablo mobile game.
  • Activision and Blizzard
    • Blizzard employees say one of the biggest ongoing conversations this year has been cutting costs.
    • Blizzard's response for comment was “Blizzard has been and continues to be a developer-driven company. All of the games we create represent ideas our game developers themselves are passionate about. This is as true for Diablo Immortal as it was for Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, or Overwatch, or any game we’ve ever made. We believe that the best games to make are ones that our developers believe in.”
    • The perception is that Activision is starting to get more and more involved with Blizzard because 2018 had been a weak year for them.
    • The meetings this year was the first time many employees heard things like cutting costs or showing growth.
    • Activision wants to boost Blizzard's content output by adding more developers and release more games on a regular schedule.
    • Mike Morhaime stepping down was a big blow because he was seen as the Anti-CEO and just wanted to make good games and keep employees happy without worrying about profitability.


Preview: Set Sail for Two New Islands

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Prepare to set sail for two new islands—Havenswood and Jorundall—coming to Island Expeditions in Tides of Vengeance.



Havenswood



Jorundall

Along with two new islands to explore, we’re also adding two new events that heroes might encounter on islands across the Great Sea.

Azerite Ruptures – Upon encountering an Azerite Rupture, you deploy a device to collect it, which will summon waves of Azerite-themed enemies several times before drawing out a rare or rare elite enemy. As these are Azerite-themed creatures, they’re a bit more lucrative than the usual island natives. You’ll also need to be ready to face more than just the creatures summoned by the device—each time this is activated, a map-wide announcement is made alerting the enemy team of the location.

Azerite Extractors – Once you’ve discovered an Azerite Extractor location, you can deploy an extractor which will grant your team Azerite over time. However, this extractor can be overtaken easily by the enemy team; it also draws the attention of nearby NPCs. Once an extractor is deployed by a faction, all players will learn about the extractor's location immediately, so watch out for unexpected guests!

Island Gameplay Evolution
Since the launch of Battle for Azeroth, we’ve continued to iterate on Island Expeditions. In Tides of Vengeance, we’ve tried to shake things up with the addition of Azerite Ruptures and Extractors, add a bit more variety to what you can expect on any given island. You may encounter one of these in place of an invasion, and even invasions will have more variety—for example, you may face Southsea Pirates and Earth Elementals on an upcoming island visit.

We’ve also worked to cluster NPC enemies that inhabit the islands closer together, giving you a bit more space between points of interest (map space permitting), so spawns should feel a bit more organic to the island you’re on.

With these changes, we’re looking to increase replayability and create more unique encounters each time you return. This doesn’t mean you won’t ever see an Azerite Invasion again, but it should no longer be something you encounter every Island Expedition. Perhaps you’ll run into an island that spawns so many giants it becomes a giant-killing-fest. . . .

About Island Expeditions
If you’ve never taken part in an Island Expedition, there’s no better time to sail into the action.

Why We Fight: Azerite is seeping up from the wound that Sargeras’ blade dealt to Azeroth, and an incredible new resource is waiting to be claimed by the Horde, the Alliance, and anyone else seeking power. When you set out on an Island Expedition, you’ll compete for this resource to empower your Heart of Azeroth and to aid your faction in the race to control as much of the world’s Azerite as possible.

Your Mission: You’ll queue for Normal, Heroic, Mythic, or PvP difficulties either alone or with a group by using an Expedition table in Zuldazar Harbor (Horde) or Boralus Harbor (Alliance). Island Expeditions are three-player encounters, and while you can play as any mix of roles, you’ll want to make sure you’re coordinating with the rest of your group to overcome the opposing faction and acquire 6,000 Azerite before they do.

Upon landing on the Island, you’ll disembark from your ship and make your way onto land in search of as much Azerite as you can get your hands on. There are many ways to acquire it, whether it’s by killing monsters, finding treasure chests, defeating the opposing faction’s team, or mining the nodes that will appear around the island.

The Landscape: There’s plenty to explore on this uncharted land, and each island features lots of dynamically generated elements that provide a variety of challenges to overcome.

It’s more than just the Horde and the Alliance interested in the Azerite—you’ll also confront a wide range of different enemies seeking to claim it for their own. As you explore the island, you’ll engage in smaller encounters such as a village of quilboar, water elementals guarding treasure chests full of Azerite, or rare and elite monsters. You’ll also encounter random events from time to time as you explore the island.

To overcome some of these encounters, you’ll need to keep an eye out for beneficial shrines, food, or objects that can aid you. With a bit of tactics and coordination, you’re bound to find some great opportunities to add more Azerite to your count and claim victory.

With extensive combinations of enemies, power-ups, spawn locations, and more, you’ll never know what you’ll come across in your next Island Expedition.

Your Opponents: You won’t be alone on the island, as much as you might hope to be. There are others who want to get their hands on the Azerite, and queuing for Normal, Heroic, or Mythic difficulty will pit you against a rival team of three Horde or Alliance “Advanced NPCs.” These clever rivals will move around and take advantage of the island just like other players would, and each group of opponents has different tactical personalities, from the more aggressive to the more defensive, and will all seeking to claim 6,000 Azerite before you can and take home victory. You never know which team of opponents you’ll face, so be prepared to use all your character’s abilities to overcome them.

For those who choose PvP difficulty, you’ll be pitted against players of the opposing faction to see which team will triumph.

New adventures await in Tides of Vengeance which makes landfall, December 11, 2018.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Kotaku - Warcraft Version of Pokemon Go Rumor, New Islands Preview in Patch 8.1 started by Stoy View original post
Comments 280 Comments
  1. Sting's Avatar
    Sounds like a likely scenario. What I personally read into this is that Blizzard might be running (RELATIVELY) low on money. The cash cow WoW has seen greener pastures, and afaik Overwatch revenue has been dropping since its launch too. Both of those brought Blizzard an insane amount of cash flow that they could spend relatively carefree. Venturing into China to farm money from mtx seems like a smart choice although obviously the western player base is shitting on DI:I.

    I hope we don't see a culture change inside of Blizzard because of increasing pressure from Activision, but I fear it's already too late since Morhaime is gone.
  1. Aeula's Avatar
    So Blizzard have turned from gamers into mobile enthusiasts? Not surprising considering recent announcements.

    Activision tightening it's grip doesn't bode well either. Damn it Blizzard, what happened to you?
  1. JingCake's Avatar
    When will they realize that they Can't earn ALL of the money in the world?

    Also, the 2nd expansion for D3 was Heavily hinted at after you beat the last boss in Reaper of Souls...
  1. Ickz's Avatar
    ITT: Denial about the beginning of the end of Blizzard.

    Been playing Blizz games since Lost Vikings was originally released. It's sad, but I'm not going to sit here trying to defend them anymore when it's blatantly obvious what's going on now.
  1. kingpinuk880's Avatar
    I’m all for rumours etc but kotaku is utter dog shit. Can’t wait till the site dies.
  1. Casperite's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Corroc View Post
    That's actually hilarious, I wonder if Blizzard is trying to find a way to get out of Activision. It seems like no matter what they do the board wants more.
    It would be very weird for a major corporate board to just be okay with everything as is and not want anything more. A corporation is there to make money, and making more money is always the goal that will never change. The fact some of you people expect Blizzard to operate differently is bizarre.
  1. SLSAMG's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by pikkuhukka View Post
    do you not have phones?
    Yes. Doesn't mean I want it to be my main gaming platform.....
  1. Shaeris Shadowgale's Avatar
    "Blizzard hasn't confirmed any of this news that indirectly speaks ill of blizzard. Therefore, all of this is fabricated."

    The absolute state of people on this board.
  1. Fuze's Avatar
    Blizzard is unfortunately slowly turning into Warner Bros. of the gaming industry
  1. Magicpot's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by hlx View Post
    to quote Jim Sterling - the games are making them a lot money but are not making them ALL of the money
    real talk though blizzard has been underperforming expectations and their development pipeline is too long. They need to release more money making games quicker in future.
  1. mmoc3a4005b47b's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thelyron View Post
    To reach new people and create new fanbases.
    What's wrong with the existing fanbase?
  1. Zandalariprelate's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Appelgren View Post
    Someone at blizzard is hellbent on pushing this mobile gaming cancer to the max. How sad to throw such a nice brand in the trash like this...
    Truly a sad day
  1. Auxora's Avatar
    Cutting costs being an initial push for the new Activision-style CEO doesn't bode well. Financially Activision-Blizzard has been killing it for the past 2 years. The stock has skyrocketed. But any non-gamer CEO coming in is just going to automatically go for cost-cutting. It's an easy move to make shareholders happy. Overall, from the financials we do know that the positions of Blizz and Activision have kind of flipped over the past 5-6 years. It used to be that Blizzard was the cash cow and Activision leaned on them through some weak CoD and other weak Activision game years. But as a portion of the overall company that flipped because CoD is doing well again and Blizzard has fallen off a bit. So it might be actually time for Blizzard to be pushed financially a bit.

    From the outside looking in seeing quite a bit of top talent leave, Overwatch falling off, BfA falling off quickly, a cold reception for the Diablo news at Blizzcon, nothing really on SC, and stagnation in HS and HOTS, I could see where investors might be starting to become concerned. There wasn't anything at all at Blizzcon in the remasters or other news that would signal me as an investor that there is a big surge in Blizzcon #'s in the short to medium term. They might have needed at least a flash of something on the horizon at Blizzcon, like even just an image of a Diablo 4 logo, or Wow 2, or SC 3, or maybe something entirely new (the Diablo Dark Souls-ish cancelled game sounded amazing). But there was nothing at all. For all an investor could know, anything close to Diablo 4 might be 10 years away.
  1. Wondercrab's Avatar
    Depressing if true. The mobile stuff is whatever, but the talk about cutting costs and showing growth is dismal to hear. Blizzard has always been more on the fringe of the profit-driven AAA industry, and this kind of corporate talk is the first death knell of any passionate, artistically motivated developer.
  1. Onikaroshi's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Fruitbat View Post
    What's wrong with the existing fanbase?
    Any business worth it's salt looks to acquire new customers, stagnating in your same customers will just end up in financial failure when those customers inevitably move on to the next big thing.
  1. mmoc6854b38969's Avatar
    HAHAHAHAHHAHA, wait you are serious??!?! Let me laugh even harder! H A A AH AH AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HHA H AHA HA HAH HA H AHA HA HA HA HA HAH HA HA HA HA HA H AHA HA HA HA HA H HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA , nice work out. Almost got six pack, laughed so hard. Wait you still serous? AHEHAEHHEAHEHEAHEHAEHEH EH AE
    HA EH EHAH EAH EH EAH EHAE HEH H EA "sick pack" Achievement unlocked!! AHAHEHAEHEAHEHAEHAEHEHAEHHEAHEHAEHEAHAEHEAHEHAEHEHAAHEEa
    Dude stop you are killing me! HEAHEHAEHEAHEHAHEHEAHEHAEHEAHEHAAHEHAEHAHEHAE
    I died. I am now dead.
  1. Zantos's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Vonazak View Post
    Pokemon GO! destroyed the quality of pokemon main games.

    Be prepared to the worst
    Pokemon Go has not had an impact on the main games. The next main game comes out in 2019. As stated by Nintendo. These new lets go games are a second "main" line aimed at a more casual group.

    This ties into a main point perfectly. Just because the core games for WoW are popular, that doesn't mean it will translate to the mobile market place. Pokemon has brand recognition as well as a game play that can translate. WoW doesn't have that gameplay and its brand recognition is as an MMO. I just don't see a mobile version having a good base to draw from.
  1. Kralljin's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Fruitbat View Post
    What's wrong with the existing fanbase?
    I remember how Kripparian once talked about Youtube revenue on stream and basically said that the most profitable group are kids and young teens.

    The 20-40y old group is not that interesting from a financial PoV.


    So yeah, even if you played Warcraft 3 / WoW when you were barely legal to play it (meaning around 12), you're an adult now and not part of the most profitable group for companies related to entertainment.
  1. Melsiren's Avatar
    Warcraft Go, I can see it now, you will have the opportunity to catch over 120 types of cancer.
  1. Noomz's Avatar
    So it really is Activision meddling fucking everything up. Corporate greed once more shows its ugly head and ruins everyone’s fun. Maybe Activision should really just stop making shit games themselves and stop using Blizzard as some kind of cash cow they can beat every now and then?

Site Navigation