ActiBlizz Earnings Call is starting, if anyone interested

[Azerate]

Putting issues at Blizzard work place aside, it's good to see the game thrive cause ultimately I just love the game and want it continue.

[Coldkil]

I'm gonna wait for next investor call. What i think about WoW should be and whats actually profitable are two different things.

Q2 went basically as expected. Games are still making revenue, WoW going as natural as it should be and TBC Classing netting a good influx of players. All before the legal shitshow though.

I don't really expect anything different though.

[Gaidax]

yeah, almost seems like all the doomsayers who were talking about wow dying were wrong in 2021 as they were wrong in 2020
and 2019
and 2018
and 2017
and 2016
and 2015
...
and 2005
and 2004

WoW is most certainly not anywhere close to dying, but it is also most certainly in a serious slump now.

It needs to land 10.0 and to make it bloody good. IMO, Blizzard managers themselves can't wait to be done with this arc and open a new page.

Lukewarm (if that) investor calls, lawsuits, streamers exodus it's all bad news, but what will really decide in the end is if they release actual good games and expansions in 2022 or not. And lets be real, even if they will not make it a hit in 2022, they still can last a very very long time enough to try again and again until something hits.

People here have this weird thinking of Blizzard apocalypse happening at every corner, but much of it is BS really. Same goes for WoW, even if Blizz continues to fuck up, it still will have a good decade and 4 more expansions in it.

[Ausr]

WoW is most certainly not anywhere close to dying, but it is also most certainly in a serious slump now.

It needs to land 10.0 and to make it bloody good. IMO, Blizzard managers themselves can't wait to be done with this arc and open a new page.

Lukewarm (if that) investor calls, lawsuits, streamers exodus it's all bad news, but what will really decide in the end is if they release actual good games and expansions in 2022 or not. And lets be real, even if they will not make it a hit in 2022, they still can last a very very long time enough to try again and again until something hits.

People here have this weird thinking of Blizzard apocalypse happening at every corner, but much of it is BS really. Same goes for WoW, even if Blizz continues to fuck up, it still will have a good decade and 4 more expansions in it.

Any realistic person knows/knew an mmo will stop growing in subs and start declining eventually. Happens with any of the long term mmos that are out.

Intentionally not mentioning any of the pop up Asian ones or so called instant WoW killers that die in a month.

[Lolites]

WoW is most certainly not anywhere close to dying, but it is also most certainly in a serious slump now.

i mean, its hard to say without knowing distribution per game but they have roughly as much MAUs as before SL release (which is usual with expansion release)...
so "slump" compared to their absolute peak in wotlk? definitely, but compared to post cata "normal" i would say they hang in there

EDIT: i was looking at activision maus not blizz, so yeah there is decline, but somehow i think only two games (wow +classic) that had contend added in past... i dont even know how long are not realy responsible for that... especialy since wow is literaly mentioned as doing better than usualy in "nonexpansion" years
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Lukewarm (if that) investor calls, lawsuits, streamers exodus it's all bad news

which will be forgoten (by most) in few weeks, remember the blizchung and "lets boycot bliz"? two weeks later, nobody mentioned it...

[Sluvs]

What is "Blizzard" without Chris Metzen? He was the one that created all of the IP's of Blizzard. Blizzard hasn't created a new IP/new game since he left in 2016.

I don't know if he was the one that created all IPs but his absence, and many of the original crew, you can feel their absence. I completely agree with you, they put themselves in the situation that they are right now by building blizzard around these personalities. And when these personalities leave or turn out to be shitty people, all you have left is an empty office building.

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Modern WoW is dying.. their earnings call slide all but says it. If it wasn't for classic, WoW and Blizzard itself would have been fucking screwed. Notice how they didn't even mention Shadowlands and it's new 9.1 patch, but mentioned classic god knows how many times. Shadowlands is irrelevant.

And Shadowlands launch in Q4 2020 only boosting quarterly revenue by 15% over Q3 2020 isn't saying a lot considering the box revenue and supposed surge of players coming back.. lol

Well, they actually did mention modern wow, they just didn't talk too much about it because the big release was TBCC

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i mean, its hard to say without knowing distribution per game but they have roughly as much MAUs as before SL release (which is usual with expansion release)...
so "slump" compared to their absolute peak in wotlk? definitely, but compared to post cata "normal" i would say they hang in there

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which will be forgoten (by most) in few weeks, remember the blizchung and "lets boycot bliz"? two weeks later, nobody mentioned it...

Well, im not so sure people will forget this so easily, it is a bigger problem than blitz and people are still out for blood. Just yesterday JAB was fired and the HR director was fired too. Not to mention that this lawsuit is a little more persistent than your normal crisis and will demand consequences for acti-blizz.

I think people are downplaying it because they think the worst is past us. I'm not so sure.

[Lolites]

Well, im not so sure people will forget this so easily, it is a bigger problem than blitz and people are still out for blood. Just yesterday JAB was fired and the HR director was fired too. Not to mention that this lawsuit is a little more persistent than your normal crisis and will demand consequences for acti-blizz.

people were out for blood back then, how blizz supresses human rights and so on, this is not different, and sure the lawsuit will have some impact, but unless its settled outside of court (which is possible) it will probably drag for years, and firing brack and HR director was literaly to appease people now they will setle down and move to another "sensation"...
people ignore bigger issues, and they will ignore this too soon, some people will be fired (already started) some restructuring will happen they will make some empty statements and people will move on

people will always move on fast for very simple reason - most of them dont give a fuck, they want to SEEM they care, but they dont
i think the most genuine reaction was people who asked if it means 9.2 will be late, thats the extend of how much most people care - "how will it affect ME"

[Beefhammer]

I don't know if he was the one that created all IPs but his absence, and many of the original crew, you can feel their absence. I completely agree with you, they put themselves in the situation that they are right now by building blizzard around these personalities. And when these personalities leave or turn out to be shitty people, all you have left is an empty office building.

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Well, they actually did mention modern wow, they just didn't talk too much about it because the big release was TBCC

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Well, im not so sure people will forget this so easily, it is a bigger problem than blitz and people are still out for blood. Just yesterday JAB was fired and the HR director was fired too. Not to mention that this lawsuit is a little more persistent than your normal crisis and will demand consequences for acti-blizz.

I think people are downplaying it because they think the worst is past us. I'm not so sure.

He didn't create any IPs, he was in charge of creativity, which I'm sure oversaw teams working on new IPs and helped wit art, characters, and story. Creating the IPs wasn't him.

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WoW is most certainly not anywhere close to dying, but it is also most certainly in a serious slump now.

It needs to land 10.0 and to make it bloody good. IMO, Blizzard managers themselves can't wait to be done with this arc and open a new page.

Lukewarm (if that) investor calls, lawsuits, streamers exodus it's all bad news, but what will really decide in the end is if they release actual good games and expansions in 2022 or not. And lets be real, even if they will not make it a hit in 2022, they still can last a very very long time enough to try again and again until something hits.

People here have this weird thinking of Blizzard apocalypse happening at every corner, but much of it is BS really. Same goes for WoW, even if Blizz continues to fuck up, it still will have a good decade and 4 more expansions in it.

And that serious slump would be considered a runaway success for any other MMO. Yes I understand perspective that they had 12M world wide subscribers at one point. But it was still relatively new. WoW pretty much had followed the natural product lifecycle curve, which would have seen it's replacement many years ago.

We know why that will(did) not happen. But thinking a 17 year old game will be able to regain its glory and resemble anything like it was in the super successful, struck gold when there was no legitimate competition, days is foolish.

Of course the product always has room to improve, but it's still tremendously successful.