Should be "how Corporates kill creativity" as I dont think ATVI snr management (of which Mike was a key member) get to shoulder the blame.
Idealistically being a Fanboy of Blizzard products you want to blame them but ultimately it's being a listed Corporate which kills it.
I expect Mike would have lost a lot of Blizzards freedom when Titan failed.
i still hear that ppl saying „Activision has no influence“ echoing in my head. yeah, of course.
As long as their ambitions are not to make the next big thing but instead focus on smaller games with a focused story and gameplay they might succeed, and if they stay true to their words I hope they will because game development has become such a hostile industry.
I know but if someone buys it’s because someone sells.
What did he think? That shareholders would have cared about quality over money? In which world?
I don’t have anything particular against him, Blizzard is still my fav software house, but let’s not pretend he did not imagine how the story would have ended if they merged with Activision.
I also bet that years “in prison” brought him quite a hella lot of money.
It’s just fine he decided to step out and embark into a new journey but if Blizzard had to start feeling the revenue pressure it’s cause of him too.
Just a reminder that Rob Pardo quit a few years ago, started Bonfire Studios, and outside of the occasional announcement hasn't been much of a presence since. Bonfire has released no titles that I'm aware of nor have they even dropped a name for a project. A lot of the same things that are being said in this thread were said then. Whatever Morhaime is up to with Dreamhaven I wouldn't be expecting to see much any time soon. Likely for a few years if their first release is going to be something =big=.
I do wish everyone at Dreamhaven (including Pardo and Bonfire) a ton of luck. We can always use more good games. On another cautionary note, Morhaime was CEO during the whole Titan debacle and that was at a time when developers were given a lot of free rein at Blizzard.
I still believe that the entire Titan project and its cancellation was an extremely traumatic experience for everyone at the top at Blizzard and has affected those that remain and everyone who has left to a great extent. Overwatch was their first new IP in a while and that was launched four years ago. It's not a great record and Morhaime starting up a company that will give developers a friendly environment to indulge themselves may prove to be quite a risk. You may not see an actual game for sale before 2024 or 2025.
Last edited by MoanaLisa; 2020-09-24 at 07:12 AM.
"...money's most powerful ability is to allow bad people to continue doing bad things at the expense of those who don't have it."
Other companies didnt work, money and leadershipskills, but mike has funds, good devs and he has experience with leadership. I think we will see a game come out very fast.
Last edited by Speedlance; 2020-09-24 at 07:46 AM.
I cannot stress enough how excited I am for their first game so I can drink the tears of the fanboys when they realize nothing is ever gonna make them feel like <their favorite expansion> did.
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Bro thats not fair bro...wildstar was a grindy game that wasn't direct with its leveling path and easy end ga....oh god.....
Ah right, just like Blizzard once was. And as soon as they some sort of success, they find out that having lots of money is really nice too and they go the corporate way. Like all of them.
Anyone who believes that Dreamhaven will remain a a game that cares more about player happiness than money is incredibly naive.
Yes, someone sold. It wasn't him. At most Morhaime would have said he was ok with the transaction. But then every employee of Blizzard was in that position: they could personally go along with it, or they could quit.
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This. Companies like Activision go the directions they do because that's ultimately how profits gets maximized. The purpose of a company isn't to be pure in its adherence to a vision; it's to serve its customers and, by doing so, make money. If a company does not serve its customers, some other company will.
"There is a pervasive myth that making content hard will induce players to rise to the occasion. We find the opposite. " -- Ghostcrawler
"The bit about hardcore players not always caring about the long term interests of the game is spot on." -- Ghostcrawler
"Do you want a game with no casuals so about 500 players?"
No i dont want him to fail, the more good games to play the better, but its also alot diffrent being ceo at Blizzard and having Wow bringing in tons of money each month and having thousands of people working for you, and then go to start from 0 and try to create something with only the money you have yourself, seen many new companys the last years starting up with we will do everything outself, and later needing to find partners that could help them with money or other resources.
I'll admit; I'm actually a little surprised he didn't wind his way over to Bonfire Studios, but I'm definitely thrilled to see Morhaime staying in the industry. It's clearly going to be a smaller operation (same as Bonfire, who still doesn't have anything announced), but I'm hopeful we may actually see some of classic Blizzard in either of these studios.
Sounds like a lot of good people there. They just need a few more and it will be just like before. Heck, i might start buying "BLizzard" games again. I just hope it wont end up the same way in the end.