Activision keeps blizzard's name clean.

[cparle87]

After the DI debacle, I'm not sure that Blizzard's name is THAT clean anymore. They've shown their true colours, they have no qualms in being as scummy as EA.

Releasing a new game on a new platform is scummy? Wow, that shocks me.

[Mixxy]

Because they're making a mobile game? Alongside D4? How is that scummy?

It's not about Diablo Immortal.

It's lootboxes. Lootboxes are the grossest, scummiest thing to come out of AAA gaming in recent years, and they are literally all Activision-Blizzard's fault.

[ToxicFlame]

It's not about Diablo Immortal.

It's lootboxes. Lootboxes are the grossest, scummiest thing to come out of AAA gaming in recent years, and they are literally all Activision-Blizzard's fault.

what?`how are lootboxes Activision-Blizzard's fault?

[Socialhealer]

No it doesn't.

Stock market is called Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI)

oh i thought that was a slide, it only goes down.

[Mixxy]

what?`how are lootboxes Activision-Blizzard's fault?

There were about 5 games in all of gaming history that tried to do Lootboxes before Overwatch did it, but none of them were successful.

Then Overwatch came out.

And suddenly there were, like, 30 games in a single YEAR that had Lootboxes. Because Overwatch suddenly made them okay.

[Onikaroshi]

There were about 5 games in all of gaming history that tried to do Lootboxes before Overwatch did it, but none of them were successful.

Then Overwatch came out.

And suddenly there were, like, 30 games in a single YEAR that had Lootboxes. Because Overwatch suddenly made them okay.

Except there's nothing scummy about OW loot boxes, it's all cosmetic and entirely earnable in game with little effort. EA though, turned that and made it scummy like usual.

[Deleted]

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make but you're wrong. Blizzard and Activision are one and the same company now since they are owned by Vivendi. They just manage different IPs.

Vivendi does not own any shares of these companies anymore, they sold their last portion of shares back in 2015.

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It's not about Diablo Immortal.

It's lootboxes. Lootboxes are the grossest, scummiest thing to come out of AAA gaming in recent years, and they are literally all Activision-Blizzard's fault.

Lootboxes were a thing well before activision even made it's first game with lootboxes in it.

[Soon-TM]

Releasing a new game on a new platform is scummy? Wow, that shocks me.

It isn't simply "a new platform", don't be disingenuous. It's mobile platform, home to the most ruthless, exploitative and yes, scummy practices in the realm of video games. Especially when the contractor is Netease, the Chinese version of EA.

[Atraxxa]

Vivendi does not own any shares of these companies anymore, they sold their last portion of shares back in 2015.

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Lootboxes were a thing well before activision even made it's first game with lootboxes in it.

Vivendi merged with activision back in 2008 I believe, I might be wrong on the date but it was close to there give or take a year.

[Deficineiron]

Vivendi merged with activision back in 2008 I believe, I might be wrong on the date but it was close to there give or take a year.

right a/b and kotick's investment group bought back most of vivendi's shares in 2013, then vivendi sold the rest shortly after. they are totally out and have been for some time.

[Soikona]

It’s the classic example if a Scottish man loses the Olympics, he is Scottish but if he wins, he is British.

[unbound]

They can do no true wrong so long as ol' man activision is there making them do terrible things.

Basically, Blizzard fanboys love Blizzard like a young child loves their parents. Their parents are the best, and anyone who dares complain about their parents are truly evil people who can't see the obvious truth.

And we see the same things for Apple / Android / Microsoft fanboys, or car-brand loyalists, or Playstation / Xbox / Switch diehards, and on and on and on...

At the end of the day, there isn't anything you can say to them that will change their mind...at least not until they actually grow up. And, yes, I know these are legally adults we are talking about many times...it doesn't mean that they've actually grown up yet.

[RoKPaNda]

The Blizzard name would be trash without Overwatch, their only quality AAA product left.

Activision cannibalized Blizzard. The same way EA cannibalized BioWare.

This kind of thinking is HILARIOUS to me. It's a weird cop-out to let Blizzard stay clean and blame mean ol' Activision for everyone people don't like about Blizzard. News flash: Blizzard's fans have been harshly critical of Blizzard since the late 90s. Blizzard has released games with massive bugs and balance issues that took several patches and even expansions to fix and iron out since the 90s. They made each iteration of every game in every franchise of theirs more and more casual and accessible since the late 90s.

Monetization? Yep, they followed the market trend with WoW, Hearthstone, Heroes, and Overwatch. You know what else they did though? They removed the only monetization that Diablo 3 ever had outside of the box price. People BEGGED them for name changes and premium maps in StarCraft 2 and they didn't do it, in fact years after launch they still had never introduced the map shop monetization that they had talked about since beta.

Blizzard is pure and virginal compared to Activision in terms of cash grabs. You think a hearthstone pack bundle is bad when an expansion comes out? Lol. Let me tell you about last year's call of duty. $60 for the base game, $50 for the season pass which is a couple of new multiplayer maps and a new zombies map every few months. Oh and loot boxes. You'd login "SUPER GREAT LOOT BOX SALE TODAY ONLY* ... For an amount of cod points that you can't just buy outright, you need to either buy smaller pricier cod points packs until you have enough, or you need to buy the bigger $40 cod point pack to get a 'discount'"

And this year's CoD is even scummier. Even more time limited shit to make you want to spend even more cash, and we're not talking $5, $10, or even $20 here, we're talking hundreds. Huge blowup about it on the CoD subreddit.

So as someone who actually plays Activision games I laugh when people say that Activision is making Blizzard greedy. Believe me, when Activision has their hand in your pocket you'll know it. For right now Blizzard is just continuing down the road they've been on for decades. Making things more accessible, catering to their casual base, and following market trends.

[Layuth]

It all started when Mike Morhaime sold out. Blame him for everything because that is when things started going sour. He took his money and quite recently "ran". I am curious how much stock he sold BEFORE the Blizzcon announcement.

[Regalosh]

It all started when Mike Morhaime sold out. Blame him for everything because that is when things started going sour. He took his money and quite recently "ran". I am curious how much stock he sold BEFORE the Blizzcon announcement.

Probably made a Gul'dan face and said: "Everything!"

[Teri]

oh i thought that was a slide, it only goes down.

Oh it is a slide since October, 35% downwards.

[Deficineiron]

this topic in general is interesting because often any suggestion that activision-blizzard (read - bobby kotick) has the slightest influence over blizzard is met with derision and accusations of being a conspiracy theorist. there are folks who still suggest blizzard is completely independent, no matter how bizarre that would be in a corporate structure.

now we have folks being given the choice of saying 'it is all blizzard including this DI mobile thing' or 'the bad stuff is activision-blizzard (even though some of us deny in other threads that this is possible)'

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Oh it is a slide since October, 35% downwards.

the CoD y/y numbers, plus who knows if something about the fwd looking numbers leaked.

I wonder how much of the forecast eps drop is wow-related.

[Zyky]

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make but you're wrong. Blizzard and Activision are one and the same company now since they are owned by Vivendi. They just manage different IPs.

I'm not sure how out of touch you are, but they split from Vivendi 5 years ago.

[Broken Fox]

This kind of thinking is HILARIOUS to me.

Your post is what's hilarious because you have no idea what you're talking about. It's anything BUT a cop out for Blizzard. It's condemning them for letting their greed get in the way of making good games.

[Kralljin]

Blizzard no longer has the reputation they had during the early to late 2000's.

They're no longer seen as the invincible Game studio where every single game turns out to be massive hit for years to come.

SC2? A niche game outside of Asia
Diablo 3? Massive hit at first, then died off
HotS? Blizzard is used to being #1, their game only being #3 among Moba's must piss them off.
WoW? Kinda there, not commenting on expansions such as WoD, but overall its relevance has diminished (which is fine with for an Old game)
OW? Does fine, but Blizzard most likely had hoped for a bigger success.

Hearthstone was really the last game that kinda had the typical "Blizzard effect":
They release a game of an already existing type.
It becomes a massive success.
Loads of companies then try to copy Blizzards game.

Blizzard has yet to release a game that really bombed but their reputation has received stains over the years.