Activision Earnings Call, Hearthstone Pop-Up Book, Mobile Titles for Blizzard IPs

[Eapoe]

wait what??? you crazy, is a super cool change. I can use the stupid amount of Sanguicell i get from heroic and mythic to craft feast now.

What if my guild has enough feasts already? Why can’t we just get a vendor that lets us trade it for things like crafting mats or 1-10 for expulsm?

[Santoryu]

"Fan reaction was muted, but fan's reactions at BlizzCon confirmed Diablo Immortal will be well received by players around the world."

Is this an out of season april fools joke? Do they really think we're that stupid we wouldn't notice the obvious discrepancy between this LIE and reality? who the fuck do these guys think they are?

[vipers]

So when blizzard is doing new games only as mobile games do you still go blizzcon to see next new mobile announcement

[dranlord]

nearly 75% off?

is this a normal price cut a few months into an expansion?

is normal every expansion have deal like this just google it and you will find out
the only expansion that didnt have a deal like this was Legion. And ppl rage about that, you can find that too on google.
Is crazy how much ppl are overreacting to stuff, just bc they dont like something. Internet never stop surprising me 1

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What if my guild has enough feasts already? Why can’t we just get a vendor that lets us trade it for things like crafting mats or 1-10 for expulsm?

i agree with you they need to implement a vendor that allow this too.

[ashblond]

Another 12% drop in share price today

[dranlord]

Another 12% drop in share price today

LOL you guys undestand that this droop on market have almost 0 relationship with all of you??? right???

Is related to ACTIVITION BLIZZARD not metting the earning call expectation, and just for a quick google, you can see is more related to the CoD not metting the crazy amount of money they plan to earn and Destiny doing really bad at the moment.

[Vineri]

LOL you guys undestand that this droop on market have almost 0 relationship with all of you??? right???

Is related to ACTIVITION BLIZZARD not metting the earning call expectation, and just for a quick google, you can see is more related to the CoD not metting the crazy amount of money they plan to earn and Destiny doing really bad at the moment.

Every event has a more tangible effect.

CoD not meeting expectations accounts for the drop prior to Blizzcon.

The drop right after Blizzcon --> Blizzard going mobile.

The drop before the Q3 2018 earnings call can be attributed to early data, bleak outlook, little to no anticipated gains, and investors being advised about fan uprising from their financial institutions (yeah unusual, but it happened).

The drop after the Q3 2018 earnings call comes from people not liking what they heard. Perhaps simply non-believers in short term cash grabs, at the risk of losing steady long term growth? Imagine that.

If a serious big investor just learned about CoD underperforming, as you elude to, well shame on them.

..

Overall Activision-Blizzard suffered a loss of around 10 Billion dollars during the past week. (Alot more if you rewind back to Early October.. alot more). It wasn't just a few upset fans dumping their stock. It was the big wigs who watch very carefully how their money is being put to use. Daily, if not by the hour.

[VanishO2]

I know everyone is bitching about mobile games, but it's not like they're MOVING TO mobile games, they're ADDING mobile games to their portfolio, which is smart especially looking at competition.

NCSoft also had their earnings call and they made an absolute shit ton of money off the Lineage 2 Mobile game, so much so that they're also going to make mobile games based on Aion and Blade & Soul, as well as new original mobile mmo's, which will exist besides new PC based Aion 2 and Blade & Soul 2 which are also planned.

As our mobile devices become more powerful year after year, our wireless connections become better and more stable, and the video games these device can handle become more expansive and more graphically intense, then it would be dumb for a video game company like Blizzard not to move into the mobile market with an already existing IP that is suited for such a game, it doesn't mean that there will never be a Diablo 4 for PC, or that all future Blizzard games from now on are going to be just mobile games, it just means that mobile games become part of Blizzard's line of games.

Nothing matters if the plataform is not confortable to play for longer sessions.

That's the problem with mobiles... nobody enjoys playing on it for hours, with the device heating, plugged on a cord (because it will drain your battery really fast) and using wifi, because let's face it, mobile network will always sucks. Mobile devices also suck as they're made with you trading it asap in mind. Next year, who knows, maybe it won't work on your phone anymore.

Nobody enjoys that. Mobile games are just for easy money and not that longer playing sessions.

Lineage 2 is a huge success on mobile? Sure, with most people playing on huge devices/Android emulators... and their PC portifolio is dead btw.

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is normal every expansion have deal like this just google it and you will find out
the only expansion that didnt have a deal like this was Legion. And ppl rage about that, you can find that too on google.
Is crazy how much ppl are overreacting to stuff, just bc they dont like something. Internet never stop surprising me 1

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i agree with you they need to implement a vendor that allow this too.

Nope, it's not normal this kind of deal so soon. They only do it when their product is not performing well.

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LOL you guys undestand that this droop on market have almost 0 relationship with all of you??? right???

Is related to ACTIVITION BLIZZARD not metting the earning call expectation, and just for a quick google, you can see is more related to the CoD not metting the crazy amount of money they plan to earn and Destiny doing really bad at the moment.

And BfA, HS and HotS not doing well.

CoD actually did surprisingly well for the predicted failure.

[derekrh]

Fan reaction was muted, but fan's reactions at BlizzCon confirmed Diablo Immortal will be well received by players around the world.

LOOOOOLLL, swing and a miss Scooter.

[Captain Busybody]

Blizzivision is about to make so much freaking money from the mobile market that the amount will be unfathomable. We western (NA, EU, etc.) PC gamers can be loud, and opinionated all we want, but it will hardly affect the bottom line. We're so irrelevant that Blizzard-Activision is boasting to its investors that they intend to up the ante on mobile games development even after the so called "PR disaster" that was the announcement of Diablo: Immortal at Blizzcon. Whine it up, kiddos. See how far it gets you.

$$ Do you not game on phones? You think you don't, but you will. $$

[oathy]

Just over 55$ at the moment
Not saying it will but if that hits 50$'s watch the reaction from Activision.
Namely any news about diablo a new game will be out.
and a version of immortal for PC.

they can keep looking forward to the mystical 300 million from Asian Markets
in the mean time they are pissing off investors and customers alike.
when that guy made the comment about owing phones he was basically handing in his resignation.

[Kherneas]

The saddest thing is that Blizzard will never admit how awful they've become.
At this point the company is just too rich to sink from anything short of releasing non-stop obvious scam games so bad that even EA wouldn't dare putting them on the market.
They'll just keep making money with trash by virtue of being called Blizzard.

[Gadzooks]

Wow. I mean seriously...wow.

This isn't spin; this is outright lying to investors. There was booing at BlizzCon...that's not a "muted" response, and it is the precise opposite indicator of "confirmed Diablo Immortal will be well received by players around the world".

This is likely why Activision-Blizzard stock is down nearly 14% as of this post. It's one thing to say things a bit disingenuously, but it is entirely different to outright lie to investors and analysts.

Activision-Blizzard senior management should be completely ashamed of what they've become as a gaming company and as a leadership team.

They should be ashamed, but they won't be. They have decided to retool to become a desktop gaming AND mobile gaming company. No number of "for shame!" comments will change it. They're committed now.

The stock hit is bad - but they're probably looking long term. Executives can be very...tunnel visioned, when they're pushing into new business models, sure that they can pull it off. I worked for a company where a new CEO decided to blow off the core market, and get into a new segment they had no experience or expertise in...and within a year, lost 60% of the core market, and utterly failed in the new segment. They bought a company for the new segment, and had to sell it at a loss. It was bad. They laid off most of the staff, they went from 300+ people in the main office to just over half that, and downsized to cramped, new office space. Here's the crazy part - that CEO is still there. The board, for whatever reasons, have kept him there, and the company never recovered, their main competitor too that 60% loss and grabbed it and still retains it, 10+ years later.

Companies rise and fall, and often for big, business model changing reasons like this one. Blizzard could make billions, and go to the next level, or they could fall back significantly. Much like the company I used to work for, they're taking advantage of their core audience, and trying to get a new one, while retaining the old. Sometimes it works. Look at Apple, who were laughed at when they initially announced the iPhone, or going back further, the iPod. Now the iPhone is their core product.

Times change. Used to be, if Blizzard put a game out, you could expect it to be a solid, polished game you'd get a ton of play out of. Those days are long gone.

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Thats just a lie. Is that not Illegal if stocks are involved?

How do you know it's a lie? Do you have access to data they're getting at Blizzard from all over the world, in terms of reception?

Yes, there's a lot of hate towards the game, but Mona is right - once people tried it, they said the game was at worst okay, a lot liked it. Even Rhykker, who put out the most depressing video ever the other day about it, said that once he tried it, said it's a good game - but just not Diablo.

I get it. I get why people are mad, I'm way disapointed and not thrilled with the mobile focus, and have simply given up on Blizzard. But I'm not their market anymore. EVEN IF they put out a new Diablo desktop title, I'm pretty resigned that it will also have an MTX angle of some kind, and won't be the quality I'm expecting, because Blizzard doesn't do that, anymore. The two franchises by Blizzard I used to be completely committed to, Warcraft and Diablo, are dead to me now. And maybe it's just that both are so old at this point, everything ends - tv shows, movie franchises, book series, bands get old and retire.

Eh. I'm over it. I'll find something else to play. It just won't be a Blizzard title. It would be nice if they cared, but they don't, they have 20 million customers in China to replace me with. More power to them.

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i wish they had broken King (candy crush) down in that (or maybe they did later). Presumably that is one of the most played mobile games in the world.

King is printing money with Candy Crush, and they're expanding the franchise, and rolling it out in France.

[ashblond]

LOL you guys undestand that this droop on market have almost 0 relationship with all of you??? right???

Is related to ACTIVITION BLIZZARD not metting the earning call expectation, and just for a quick google, you can see is more related to the CoD not metting the crazy amount of money they plan to earn and Destiny doing really bad at the moment.

Do you even understand what 12% share price drop in 1 day means?

[Deleted]

Fan reaction was muted, but fan's reactions at BlizzCon confirmed Diablo Immortal will be well received by players around the world.

Are they for real? The crowd hated it, boo'd and was very vocal about it all. No doubt the project will score them a ton of relatively easy money, but saying the fans at BlizzCon gave them any indication they loved it... that's just a big fat lie. Not surprising after they tried to remove all the downvotes on YouTube. Sad.

[Deficineiron]

King is printing money with Candy Crush, and they're expanding the franchise, and rolling it out in France.

unlike blizzard, king was paid for with cash (debt), but the concept for kotick seems similar - purchase a AAA property that is already best-in-class, and use his special magic formula to (try to) get even more money out of it.

[Deleted]

Nothing matters if the plataform is not confortable to play for longer sessions.

That's the problem with mobiles... nobody enjoys playing on it for hours, with the device heating, plugged on a cord (because it will drain your battery really fast) and using wifi, because let's face it, mobile network will always sucks. Mobile devices also suck as they're made with you trading it asap in mind. Next year, who knows, maybe it won't work on your phone anymore.

Nobody enjoys that. Mobile games are just for easy money and not that longer playing sessions.

Lineage 2 is a huge success on mobile? Sure, with most people playing on huge devices/Android emulators... and their PC portifolio is dead btw.

Oh I know all about the downsides of mobile devices, but that's the thing, Diablo Immortal will probably not feature anything that makes you want to play hours on end, just a quick dungeon run you can do during your break or something like that, at least that's what I'm expecting of it.

In the end, the big mistake that Blizzard made in my opinion, is that Blizzcon, with all it's hardcore PC fans, was the wrong venue to show this game at, to try and get people exited for it, this should have been done at a more neutral con that's not 100% Blizzard, preferably somewhere in Asia, as that is where the main market for these types of games tends to lie, or maybe a simple blog post would have sufficed, "hey we're doing this side project with NetEase, a mobile Diablo title, take a look if you're interested"
Not on the main stage, at your biggest show, in a hall filled with PC playing fanatics who don't care one damn bit about mobile games, if not hate them outright.

As for Lineage M (not 2 M my bad), ya big hit apparently, tho it seems to be riding on the coattails of Netmarble's Lineage 2 Revolution (also a mobile title)
I was also wrong, NCSoft only mentioned they are committed to future PC games, but the announced Aion 2, Blade & Soul 2, Blade & Soul M, Blade & Soul S and Lineage2M (this time for real) are all mobile games, their only know PC development, Project TL, was not mentioned, so ya you're right their PC portfolio is very very dead.
I got confused because they chose not to use the M(obile) designation for the sequels to Aion and Blade & Soul, and yes those are the fully fledged sequels/prequels to the original PC games.

[Deficineiron]

Oh I know all about the downsides of mobile devices, but that's the thing, Diablo Immortal will probably not feature anything that makes you want to play hours on end, just a quick dungeon run you can do during your break or something like that, at least that's what I'm expecting of it.

In the end, the big mistake that Blizzard made in my opinion, is that Blizzcon, with all it's hardcore PC fans, was the wrong venue to show this game at, to try and get people exited for it, this should have been done at a more neutral con that's not 100% Blizzard, preferably somewhere in Asia, as that is where the main market for these types of games tends to lie, or maybe a simple blog post would have sufficed, "hey we're doing this side project with NetEase, a mobile Diablo title, take a look if you're interested"
Not on the main stage, at your biggest show, in a hall filled with PC playing fanatics who don't care one damn bit about mobile games, if not hate them outright.

As for Lineage M (not 2 M my bad), ya big hit apparently, tho it seems to be riding on the coattails of Netmarble's Lineage 2 Revolution (also a mobile title)
I was also wrong, NCSoft only mentioned they are committed to future PC games, but the announced Aion 2, Blade & Soul 2, Blade & Soul M, Blade & Soul S and Lineage2M (this time for real) are all mobile games, their only know PC development, Project TL, was not mentioned, so ya you're right their PC portfolio is very very dead.
I got confused because they chose not to use the M(obile) designation for the sequels to Aion and Blade & Soul, and yes those are the fully fledged sequels/prequels to the original PC games.

blizzard may have known this wasn't ideal - implication is they didn't have anything else to show or headline as upcoming.

[Deleted]

I heard BLIZZCON 2019 will be renamed to BLIZZPHON. Plus it will also take place in its new home -> Shanghai. True story

[Kayze]

Oh look! Lots of people play bejeweled on their mobile phones! Obviously they want a full fledged game and Diablo is perfect for the fruit ninja market!

For those defending this with Hearthstone, that game started on PC and was ported to mobile. It wasn't made from scratch on mobile AND wasn't made out to be a huge announcement. Diablo Immortals likely won't be bad, but it's still nothing special, a reskin, and not worth a huge announcement that it got.