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

[Tuor]

If they manage to bring back Metzen out of his self imposed retirement (i know health problems), then that would be interesting.

[shadowmatrix]

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

I like discussions, if you want to discuss what the new games might be or mike's future then I'm onboard. If this is just another Blizzard is dead because of Activision thread then I'm not wasting my time.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

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?

This is nothing new. You'll be surprised at how much of the American gaming industry can trace its lineage back to Blizzard.

That said, Blizzard has been suffering brain drain for years. Morhime was merely the last of the old guard to leave... though I guess Samwise Didier is still doing art, but pretty much all of the old guys who made your beloved Blizzard games have long since left.

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Wonder if this will get Samwise Dider, one of the last old guard of Blizzard, to pack his bags and head for Dreamhaven. One of my favorite concept artists. Blizzard would lose a great deal seeing him go.

Last I heard, he was doing art for Heroes of the Storm, but HotS went into maintenance mode a couple years ago (besides releasing one hero every 6 months), so IDK what he's actually doing.

[Gorsameth]

Last I heard, he was doing art for Heroes of the Storm, but HotS went into maintenance mode a couple years ago (besides releasing one hero every 6 months), so IDK what he's actually doing.

Probably working on some unannounced project.

[I Push Buttons]

Whatever happened to that survival game made by 'former Blizzard devs' announced like 20 years ago when survival games were all the rage?

Looked to be decently far along in development at the time since they had a trailer/gameplay, it wasn't like this where they just announced they were making a game.

[Dhrizzle]

Um, but they sold themselves to Activision in the first place, for a nice pile of cash. And now they're the rebel heroes showing middle fingers around? Huh.

They never sold themselves to Activision, they sold themselves to Davidson and Associates back in '94 to raise the funds to get the first Warcraft out the door. Some capitalist jiggery-pokery took place and they were passed around for a bit before ending up with Vivendi. Activision wanted to buy Blizzard from Vivendi but Vivendi said no, we're going to buy you instead, so more jiggery-pokery took place and Vivendi ended up controlling Activision-Blizzard (with their previously owned non-Blizzard studios being rolled into Activision.) Later Activision-Blizzard bought themselves from Vivendi and this seems to be when investors really started putting pressure on Blizzard to cut costs and start rolling out more games.

[Ryzek]

Good for them, lets see if they can produce anything worth something.

[october breeze]

It is good to retire rich and early. You get bored and hey, lets make a new company! why not? we got the money and time!

All games and jokes, until big money comes in. Then they will sell their soul to devil again!

[D3athsting]

Hopefully they don't end up like carbine

[Aerisot]

Activision is a monster.

They want total control over everything, its all about money to them, which is why CoD is so frustrating to me, that games makes Millions every year for them, and it arguable is the same game every year.

[kaminaris]

Its all fine and dandy but the thing is, old ideas doesn't work anymore. If they wish to be any successful then they either adapt or die.


We all seen that sentiment to die already.

[Shelly]

Well, can't be worse than Arenanet.

[Varitok]

Um, but they sold themselves to Activision in the first place, for a nice pile of cash. And now they're the rebel heroes showing middle fingers around? Huh.

They didn't sell themselves to Activision. They were bought by Davidson & Associated which was then bought by CuC International. Which at the time bought Sierra On-Line and Blizzard would operate under them in the software division then CuC International merged with HFC Corporations to form Cendant. Then it turns out CuC International was doing a whole bunch of fraud for years before the merger and Cendant lost most of it's value due to the ensuing scandal. Cendant sold it's Software Division (Which was Sierra On-Line and Blizzard) to a french company named Havas. Havas then went on to sell themselves to Vivendi later that year. Blizzard was then put into the Vivendi Games section of the Vivendi corporation itself. This all happened in a span from 1996-1998 by the way. Things went relatively smoothly until 2007.

Activision was struggling through 2006. They saw how well WoW was doing and so they approached Vivendi (Whos own gaming division was struggling sans Blizzard) to acquire Vivendis gaming division and Vivendi said yes with the stipulation of having majority control over the merged company if the deal were to go through (knowing the value of WoW itself, over a billion in subs at that point). It was approved in December of 2008 and fully merged in July of the following year into Activision Blizzard. The rest is history.

It wasn't just a "they sold to Activision!" thing. It was a rollercoaster ride of companies. WoW was not cheap to make and they needed investment, which ended up getting them into the issue to begin with. I dislike seeing lies about it and simplified to the point of misinformation. Not one person could see that coming and in the early days it wasn't as cutthroat and greedy as gaming companies today.

I have hopes for Dreamhaven considering Morheim himself is worth over half a billion to invest into the studios. I hope they stick to private investment via individuals and no company involvement. Don't do an IPO, Mike. You know how bad it can get.

[Nnyco]

Only thing that matters is if they make good games.

Considering they dont even have plans for games yet and its ex-blizzard employees we probably wont see a game from em until 2030.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Good luck to them, for real.

I do hope they bring us good games with this endeavor.

[Daymanmb]

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

I mean, if you want? Its just some news.. whether you choose to pretend or not, its still news.

[Mojo03]

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.

Difference is another company was financing them and Hellgate was clearly rushed and buggy when it came out. It was actually kind of cool, I remember playing it in beta. Was sad to see it get released in a clearly unfinished state.

Morhaime claims he’s not only the CEO but also the person financially backing this himself and not getting other investors involved unless they understand it’s not a company interested in super high profits, but rather the art form.

Seems cool and like what people have been wanting from games companies.

Bonfire games also seems promising with their ex-Blizzard talent, but they are sadly owned by Riot, who is owned by Tencent. Their games with very likely be optimized to get as much money as possible from them.

[Rageonit]

It wasn't just a "they sold to Activision!" thing. It was a rollercoaster ride of companies. WoW was not cheap to make and they needed investment, which ended up getting them into the issue to begin with. I dislike seeing lies about it and simplified to the point of misinformation. Not one person could see that coming and in the early days it wasn't as cutthroat and greedy as gaming companies today.

Not every inaccuracy is a lie, mind you. Yes, I'm quite oblivious to the details of the merger; I only remember Mike Morhaime giving plenty of interviews at the time that nothing is going to change as long as he does his work properly, Blizzard will stay the same company as always blah blah blah (while many, many players saw it differently). Oh well, maybe it was him being oblivious to what's going to happen - or maybe it was already his corporate pitch. Or maybe, in the end, he didn't do his work properly? Who knows. Still I find the narrative that him making Dreamhaven is a middle finger aimed at Acti-Blizz quite amusing.

[Varitok]

Not every inaccuracy is a lie, mind you. Yes, I'm quite oblivious to the details of the merger; I only remember Mike Morhaime giving plenty of interviews at the time that nothing is going to change as long as he does his work properly, Blizzard will stay the same company as always blah blah blah (while many, many players saw it differently). Oh well, maybe it was him being oblivious to what's going to happen - or maybe it was already his corporate pitch. Or maybe, in the end, he didn't do his work properly? Who knows. Still I find the narrative that him making Dreamhaven is a middle finger aimed at Acti-Blizz quite amusing.

You're pretty crazy if you think he was going to say "Its fucking over, we're all fucked!" during an interview. Also, Activision wasn't seen as the horrendous company it's seen as today in 2007. People are applying their hindsight to the past.

[Rageonit]

You're pretty crazy if you think he was going to say "Its fucking over, we're all fucked!" during an interview. Also, Activision wasn't seen as the horrendous company it's seen as today in 2007. People are applying their hindsight to the past.

Did I ever suggest he was supposed to say something as ludicrous? I'm just here, in 2020, wondering if he was oblivious to what's happening or giving us his corporate pitch. You have to admit that it's an interesting question, what was going through his mind at that time. Corporate business being as it is, we will never know.
That being said, players criticizing the move back then (and going all "doom & gloom") were not basing it on hindsight, were they.

EDIT: Here's an article stating that both Vivendi and Blizzard approved the move (with a telling title "Warcraft Fans Have Nothing to Fear From Activision" )
https://www.wired.com/2008/07/blizzard-presid/

EDIT2: Some interesting quotes:

The merger, Morhaime says, works because Activision and Blizzard are complimentary: Blizzard only produces PC games, while Activision focuses on consoles.

"We're not stepping on top of each other with what we're trying to accomplish," says Morhaime. "The areas where we lead the industry, they don't, and we don't have a hand in the areas where they lead."

Still, many fans worry that the merger will inevitably lead to Activision flexing its corporate muscle and drastically altering the games that Blizzard creates.

Morhaime dismisses this possibility. "Activision has their own games," he says. "Blizzard has our own games. We're not going to go in and fire their people and they aren't going to come in and fire any of ours."