Morale at Blizzard low?

[DesoPL]

I know where they could cut costs if they had that "autonomy". They'd cut cost of that Activision CFO position.

This is simple like building hammer, but sadly not gonna happend.

Activision has been part of Blizzard since 2008. Why are people jumping on the bandwagon that this is all Activision’s fault suddenly? Maybe Blizzard themselves are making this shift.

Because back in the day, Activision did actually really good games? Like Call Of Duty 1, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 etc? Because the whole hate bandwagon started actually, when Activision took seriously rivaling every year with EA what is better? CoD or BF?

[Prifter]

Then why are you on a Blizzard fan site lol?

Because I used to be a Blizzard fan? Why are you here?

[Nyel]

New management for Blizzard, employees leaving, reduced quality in their games, catering to mobile - yes, morale is low because Blizzard seems to suffer under some bad management / marketing decisions.

[Eapoe]

This is simple like building hammer, but sadly not gonna happend.



Because back in the day, Activision did actually really good games? Like Call Of Duty 1, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 etc? Because the whole hate bandwagon started actually, when Activision took seriously rivaling every year with EA what is better? CoD or BF?

Still makes no sense. Activision Blizzard still makes good games. Or are D3, WoW, and OW suddenly shit games? Is D:Immortal a bad game even though it’s not released yet?
Seems like all this hate is riding on the coattails of mobile gaming being announced as a new medium for Blizzard, something the vocal western audience doesn’t care about but stands to make the company a profit in other regions.

[Molvonos]

I can't fault Blizzard-Activision for trying to get into the mobile market. It's definitely a cash cow. Despite that, I absolutely loath mobile games. I've tried so many and they never hold my interest like PC or Console games, because they feel watered down for the ADHD/Instant Gratification crowd (especially with the P2W aspects). I can't readily fathom playing a game like Diablo on my phone, for example. My tablet? Maybe, it's still prefer a controller over smudging my thumbs on the screen.

So I hope that whatever mobile games they develop doesn't take away from their other development.

I wasn't surprised at all by the hate of Diablo: Immortal given when and how they released it. I feel it was -really- stupid to try and push it at Blizzcon, a primarily PC related event in the United States (when they supposedly claimed the main market for such is China).

[Ungeir]

I wasn't surprised at all by the hate of Diablo: Immortal given when and how they released it. I feel it was -really- stupid to try and push it at Blizzcon, a primarily PC related event in the United States (when they supposedly claimed the main market for such is China).

It may have been a contractual obligation that was part of the deal with NetEase. Back when they made the deal it is likely they expected to have PC-related Diablo news as well. Not that this excuses Blizzard from blame when it comes to disappointing, and perhaps even insulting, a large part of the Diablo fan base. But there was something about the whole thing which felt very much "doing our duty" to me.

This whole deal probably seemed a much safer and better deal when D4 was still on track. Being able to show some teasers/trailers for D4 while presenting Immortal as the franchise branching out to a new platform - that would have resulted in a very different reception. I would not be surprised if NetEase are angry at Activision-Blizzard for botching the presentation by not having some Diablo news of their own to accompany it.

[Molvonos]

It may have been a contractual obligation that was part of the deal with NetEase. Back when they made the deal it is likely they expected to have PC-related Diablo news as well. Not that this excuses Blizzard from blame when it comes to disappointing, and perhaps even insulting, a large part of the Diablo fan base. But there was something about the whole thing which felt very much "doing our duty" to me.

This whole deal probably seemed a much safer and better deal when D4 was still on track. Being able to show some teasers/trailers for D4 while presenting Immortal as the franchise branching out to a new platform - that would have resulted in a very different reception. I would not be surprised if NetEase are angry at Activision-Blizzard for botching the presentation by not having some Diablo news of their own to accompany it.

A very valid point. I don't think it helped at all with the whole 'Don't you have phones' comment. Yes, most of us have phones, but who the fuck wants to squint into a screen when we're getting mauled by a few hundred mobs, as per the usual for Diablo games? Unless they're going to severely nerf the difficulty, either intentionally or unintentionally (phone processors can only handle so many on screen objects, for example).

[Kokolums]

Source
Mobile gaming is bigger then PC and Console combined.

Mobile is a bigger market and growing faster then PC/Console. It makes sense for any developer to try and get a piece of the pie.

The problem is mobile gaming is considered third or fourth rate compared to PC gaming. Its like telling people who prefer to shop at Nordstrom that they now must shop at WalMart for clothes because Walmart is a bigger market.

[Gorsameth]

The problem is mobile gaming is considered third or fourth rate compared to PC gaming. Its like telling people who prefer to shop at Nordstrom that they now must shop at WalMart for clothes because Walmart is a bigger market.

Announcing D:I at Blizzcon was a massive mistake, no argument there. But Blizzard wanting to move into the mobile market makes sense from a business standpoint.

[Sansnom]

The problem is mobile gaming is considered third or fourth rate compared to PC gaming.

That is rather insulting. It is different. Sure you are not going to play an AAA game on the phone. Even if you could, would you? It caters to a different type ogf playing experience. You may not like that style of gaming but in the environment I most likely to be in with a phone, I am not exactly going to play something like WoW while travelling on a bus for example.

And who set this rating that you mentioned.

Its like telling people who prefer to shop at Nordstrom that they now must shop at WalMart for clothes because Walmart is a bigger market.

Can you explain this analogy? I have trouble comparing it with Blizzard moving to the mobile gaming.

[Deleted]

Still makes no sense. Activision Blizzard still makes good games. Or are D3, WoW, and OW suddenly shit games? Is D:Immortal a bad game even though it’s not released yet?
Seems like all this hate is riding on the coattails of mobile gaming being announced as a new medium for Blizzard, something the vocal western audience doesn’t care about but stands to make the company a profit in other regions.

And how many people will leave Blizzard becouse of this decision? Diablo 3 sold 15M copies. RoF expansion sold only like 3M becouse players got burned by D3. D:I will definitly cause huge playerbase losses across all blizzard games as it do no line up with current pc players. Better Asia market be big to made up losses here in west. If Blizzard wont remedem themself with new game they can also just move to Asia and make games for addiceted children.

[Jinzuru]

The simple statement that somehow, Blizz cannot make ends meet, despite their games selling massively, despite WoW subs coming in every month, and despite their expansions and other services being overpriced as they are, and still selling massively, is just laughable.

Meanwhile other studios are making do with far less, selling fewer copies for cheaper, without resorting to predatory triple-A antics or needing phone games to supplement their cash flow.

I suppose that's what you get when you have a merchant doing what's supposed to be artists' work.

Well to me it's back to shareholders. They drew some imaginary line and didn't meet that. IMO very true statement was made that they see $$$ current "hottest" game is making and start to ask questions and pressure: "Where's our Fortnite? Where's our gazillion $$$ from 1st year and every year after?".

Also they pay very little taxes and prefer to put almost everything earned straight to pockets of top people, not even paying company's debts and sometimes(often) not giving partnering companies their fair share of moolah.

Thank God I work in private company.

[DesoPL]

Still makes no sense. Activision Blizzard still makes good games. Or are D3, WoW, and OW suddenly shit games? Is D:Immortal a bad game even though it’s not released yet?
Seems like all this hate is riding on the coattails of mobile gaming being announced as a new medium for Blizzard, something the vocal western audience doesn’t care about but stands to make the company a profit in other regions.

Just look on youtube why Overwatch and WoW are bad games, maybe then you will realize. Diablo players got most less content than other games, hell even HOTS got more way content on Blizzcon this year than Diablo. And yet still HOTS is redhaired kid for which Blizz is ashamed.

[Archmage Alodi]

Thank you! 10/10 #signed

I just can't stand the "just find a guild an be happy" people anymore.

The community has grown older, most people don't have the time to do organized content for x hours a week, please blizz evolve!

I'm not saying that i want everything handed to me without effort. But if you can't stick to a playing schedule you don't have that much todo right now... and how are you supposed to build new communitys or join one if you don't have the time?

Wow never had as many content for people without guilds as it does now...
LFR, Warfronts, IEs,WQs, dungeons... What else do you want? Queue able mythic raids?

[Nobleshield]

Wow never had as many content for people without guilds as it does now...
LFR, Warfronts, IEs,WQs, dungeons... What else do you want? Queue able mythic raids?

More content doesn't equal GOOD content. Warfronts, Islands and especially World Quests are obnoxious as hell and feel more like tiresome chores to get done than actual content.

[Blandalf]

lul

[clevin]

Many companies pay it out end of Nov / first week of Dec.

The whooshing sound? That was the point going right over your head.

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More content doesn't equal GOOD content. Warfronts, Islands and especially World Quests are obnoxious as hell and feel more like tiresome chores to get done than actual content.

What do you expect? In 14 years of WoW, all we've ever had to do at max level is to quest, farm, do PVE group content (5s or raid) or PVP.

People like you act like this is new. It's not. I don't get why people all of sudden act like there was all this wildly innovative content at max level in the past and now there's not. It's ALWAYS been this way. The problem is that when you raided before there was one difficulty and to see the next boss you had to defeat the one you were on. That stretched out the content since you didn't blast through normal (or LFR), then do the same exact content but just harder.

[Gorsameth]

And how many people will leave Blizzard becouse of this decision? Diablo 3 sold 15M copies. RoF expansion sold only like 3M becouse players got burned by D3. D:I will definitly cause huge playerbase losses across all blizzard games as it do no line up with current pc players. Better Asia market be big to made up losses here in west. If Blizzard wont remedem themself with new game they can also just move to Asia and make games for addiceted children.

"The Asia market better be big".
Well, fortunately for Blizzard it is absolutely huge and growing.

But lets also not pretend that the people complaining about D:I and how Blizzard has lost its way and is no more, won't be there standing in line (or behind their keyboard) to buy D4 when it eventually comes out.

[RibRab]

I think Blizzard was reaching a little too far when they acquired King and the sales and reception of their games thus far has been below targets - so now "costs" have become an issue. I am hopeful that the company I loved continues to do the job they love and not bullied into churning out content they aren't happy with.

[Tharkkun]

This guy gets insiders from alot of game companies when theres drama... he has proven it DOZENS of times.

He doesnt show the Blizz employees names because they will probably get sacked. Which is the EXACT reason employees trust him and send him information!

Random Blizzard employees don't just reach out to some youtuber to tell a story. They only thing he has right is he is "okay" at making guesses. When he guesses right he looks like a genius reporter.

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The simple statement that somehow, Blizz cannot make ends meet, despite their games selling massively, despite WoW subs coming in every month, and despite their expansions and other services being overpriced as they are, and still selling massively, is just laughable.

Meanwhile other studios are making do with far less, selling fewer copies for cheaper, without resorting to predatory triple-A antics or needing phone games to supplement their cash flow.

I suppose that's what you get when you have a merchant doing what's supposed to be artists' work.

Why do you think it's only a cash grab? Couldn't Blizzard just want to create an amazing game on mobile now that the technology is finally up to par? You can vote with your wallet and not buy it.