Blizzard Co-Founder Opens New Game Company, Dreamhaven, Developing Two Games

[Forteofgray]

And? Are we supposed to pretend that this sort of thing doesn't happen a lot?

It's called a discussion and people like to have them.

[davesurfer]

And? Are we supposed to pretend that this sort of thing doesn't happen a lot?

That was my thought. This is not an uncommon thing

[Super Kami Dende]

Yes. Afaik wasn't Torchlight made by former blizzard employees from that time? It never became the hit people claim it would be.
same with Hellgate: London which was a flop. Or at least quickly forgotten.

Torchlight 2 was very successful.

[dope_danny]

So get bought by Activision, turn into a massive bloated mess while most of your ips decline or outright go into 'longterm hibernation' then get out with your dosh and found a company free of that.

Talk about playing the long game.

[letssee]

all that matters in the end, is the game.

time will tell

[Rucati]

Until they produce something this seems rather uninteresting. Anyone can found a company, anyone can claim they have multiple teams working on multiple games and promise big things. But until they release a game it's all speculation. And if they're just starting now we're likely 2-3 years away from seeing anything actually released, if anything releases at all.

[Beazy]

Torchlight 2 was very successful.

No, not really. And TL3 is doing even worse right now.

[TriHard]

It's gonna be 4-5 years until we hear anything substantial from these new companies, they are essentially just made after all. It takes time to create big games.

[DesoPL]

I simply wish, they will Buy at least Heroes Of The Storm, and shut down the game.

[Guyviroth]

I simply wish, they will Buy at least Heroes Of The Storm, and shut down the game.

... Why would anyone buy a game licence... Just to shut it down?

You been smoking the herb or something?

[shise]

So get bought by Activision, turn into a massive bloated mess while most of your ips decline or outright go into 'longterm hibernation' then get out with your dosh and found a company free of that.

Talk about playing the long game.

WoW is still successful. Proof are fools like you commenting that nonsense, if it was that bad, you wouldn´t even be here commenting.

[Super Kami Dende]

No, not really. And TL3 is doing even worse right now.

TL3 is a different group and had a horrendous alpha stage and yes TL2 was very successful. It sold over 3 million copies, won multiple awards and had high critic and user ratings across the board.

[dope_danny]

WoW is still successful. Proof are fools like you commenting that nonsense, if it was that bad, you wouldn´t even be here commenting.

You have received .1 cent in your battlenet balance, brave keyboard warrior. [BRAND] thanks you.

[Hekazi]

If they still wanted to develop games... Why did they sell Blizzard to a dirty corporate loser?

- - - Updated - - -

You have received .1 cent in your battlenet balance, brave keyboard warrior. [BRAND] thanks you.

You're a China hater aren't you? You guys are so easy to spot.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

So another company lead by ex blizzard Dev's that will crash and burn? never seen this before what a new and shocking devlopment!

[StillMcfuu]

So bunch of Blizzard veterans, including the CEO and founder, leave Blizzzard and found new games company.

If there ever was clear indication how terrible influence Activision is to the morale, this would be it.

Does Dreamhaven also pay competitive salaries unlike Acti-Blizz?

Old Blizz did this too, they used to have completion bonuses and I believe profit sharing, but paid under average salary as well.
With how many people pile into the game industry, I can't blame companies for paying line workers below some imaginary average, supply and demand, too many people looking for jobs and not enough jobs. It's an employers market. Not to mention the new norm for tech is to work for 2 years and then find a new job, it incentivizes companies to pay even less. Tech is stuck in a loop, big business is a much to blame for poor salaries as employee behavior.

[Gorsameth]

Wouldn't be the first time a bunch of former Blizzard employees put their own companies/studios together, but Mike Morhaime is a major name as far as former Blizzard employees go. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

Indeed, "former blizzard dev" studio's are practically a dime a dozen but Morhaime's name probably carries a fair bit of weight. And he knows something about running a business. Unlike many other devs.

Will be interesting to see if this produces anything, but will likely be a bunch of years before we see any of it.
Mostly I wonder if this company will snag up another bunch of ex-blizzard devs who left previously, wouldn't bet to much on current Blizzard personal leaving as they may well be stuck with non-compete clauses (which I assume is why this only comes out 2 years after he left the company).

[Trivelius]

Your daily reminder that Morhaime is literally the sole reason Blizz sucks up to the chinese government. He convinced bobby kotick to merge with blizzard so they could split from vivendi and his pitch to kotick was that he would get CoD into China.

Glad to see more studios pop up since more games are good but Morhaime is just as bad as Kotick and maybe even worse. This is hero worship of him is pathetic.

[Nerraw]

Indeed, "former blizzard dev" studio's are practically a dime a dozen but Morhaime's name probably carries a fair bit of weight. And he knows something about running a business. Unlike many other devs.

He also brings in three decades of Blizzard CEO money.

[Cerus]

This is nothing newsworthy. It’s just guys who are no longer in the spotlight trying to regain their former glory. Happens all the time.

No one forced them to sell themselves to Activision or any of the other companies they sold themselves too since 1994. They were looking at bankruptcy and decided to get in bed with China and let Activision bail them out.

They also released WOTLK after the Activision merger and saw their 12m sub peak. If anything is wrong with the company and the games it’s solely the fact that those in charge had inflated egos and forgot what made them famous.

If there’s one constant in the universe it’s that people let power, money and fame go to their heads. They stopped being that small company doing the impossible a long time ago.

It’s easy to blame activision and put the founders and employees up on a pedestal. Fact remains, they are the ones who thought they were gods gift to gamers and started running their company with that mindset.