BlizzConline 2022 Event Cancelled - Reimagining Future BlizzCons

[Thestrawman]

A.) They start working on these games *years* before they actually announce them. Anyone fired a few months ago wouldn't have a huge impact on that, especially like in all corporate settings, a bulk of the work is done by the lowest rung of the development team: Not the people abusing their power.

Unless said person was the game director and said game has gone through two of them in as many months. That just may cause some problems.

[Ersula]

for the past 10 years all Blizz had to do was 1 of two things

1) Hear players when they spoke.

2) Have a decent work environment interally

they chose not to do either.

When is FF14 Fanfest?

Remember when Ghostcrawler tried to condescend toward his former employer when news of the lawsuit was made public: When another employee quickly pointed out the "Bill Cosby suite" thing was his idea in the first place. Ghostcrawler now works at Riot, a place with its own horrifying sexual harassment stories. This is the norm in the Games Industry.

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Man it really is ending isn't it.

15+ years and this is how it ends. In a never-ending shit storm more jacked up than a soup sandwich.

They're definitely going to TRY to fix WoW. A year ago Warcraft Subscriptions were about 30%-40% of Activision-Blizzard's entire revenue. They won't just let that go without a fight.

[Kyphael]

The only silver lining here is, Sylvanas, their most over-sexualized icon will no longer have a place to inspire all the skimpy cosplay outfits, meaning Sylvanas herself will no longer serve a purpose as the company's icon, so they can finally kill her off.

[Onikaroshi]

Remember when Ghostcrawler tried to condescend toward his former employer when news of the lawsuit was made public: When another employee quickly pointed out the "Bill Cosby suite" thing was his idea in the first place. Ghostcrawler now works at Riot, a place with its own horrifying sexual harassment stories. This is the norm in the Games Industry.

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They're definitely going to TRY to fix WoW. A year ago Warcraft Subscriptions were about 30%-40% of Activision-Blizzard's entire revenue. They won't just let that go without a fight.

I think your numbers are a bit off, Blizzard itself isn't 30-40% of Actiblizz's revenue.

[psyscope]

I understand there were issues and some were removed, but they are tearing apart Blizzard like a pack of vultures. Watch they will purge all the original employees, and soon they will start pumping out repetitive iterations of Call of Duty Warcraft Edition. Did they purge so many that they had to cancel Blizzcon?

Try to fix Wow? Really? All they had to do was remove the people who were the problem. I bet you ended up hiring the PC Police, and are literally purging the old. Activision, really only wanted the IP, it finally got a good excuse to lower the headcount of Blizzard. They resisted them for so long.

[Ersula]

I think your numbers are a bit off, Blizzard itself isn't 30-40% of Actiblizz's revenue.

5 million subscribers in 2019: That's 800,000,000 dollars. Not including Shadowlands box sales, its at the very least 10% of the companies earnings. I guess Bobby Kotick could just write that off as a total loss but it would be very dumb.

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I understand there were issues and some were removed, but they are tearing apart Blizzard like a pack of vultures. Watch they will purge all the original employees, and soon they will start pumping out repetitive iterations of Call of Duty Warcraft Edition. Did they purge so many that they had to cancel Blizzcon?

Try to fix Wow? Really? All they had to do was remove the people who were the problem. I bet you ended up hiring the PC Police, and are literally purging the old. Activision, really only wanted the IP, it finally got a good excuse to lower the headcount of Blizzard. They resisted them for so long.

People keep saying "Original Employees". I'm pretty sure Steve Danuser is the only "original employee" still at the company. Who was a bottom rung employee while Warcraft 3 was being developed.

[datguy81]

5 million subscribers in 2019: That's 800,000,000 dollars. Not including Shadowlands box sales, its at the very least 10% of the companies earnings. I guess Bobby Kotick could just write that off as a total loss but it would be very dumb.

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People keep saying "Original Employees". I'm pretty sure Steve Danuser is the only "original employee" still at the company. Who was a bottom rung employee while Warcraft 3 was being developed.

I’m pretty sure subscription prices vary by country due to the exchange rate of the US dollar. Also in Asia wow does not have a subscription it’s a pay by a minute. So I highly doubt it is that monetary number

[Onikaroshi]

5 million subscribers in 2019: That's 800,000,000 dollars. Not including Shadowlands box sales, its at the very least 10% of the companies earnings. I guess Bobby Kotick could just write that off as a total loss but it would be very dumb.

Not saying they're going write it off, though Blizzard is constantly the lowest earner of the three.

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I’m pretty sure subscription prices vary by country due to the exchange rate of the US dollar. Also in Asia wow does not have a subscription it’s a pay by a minute. So I highly doubt it is that monetary number

China switched to subs back in like 2016

[Biglog]

I hope this isn't the beginning of the end for Blizz, but it's a canary in the coal mine. It's probably the end of in-person Blizzcons (at least for quite a few years) because there would literally be more people protesting outside than attendees. It would not be a good time for Blizzard. The brand is at an all-time low, many devs and leaders have left, and they are not a very appealing place to apply for qualified backfills. The job market is already demand >>> supply, and especially skilled workers like devs really have their choice of workplaces to go now.

So between working from home due to the pandemic and teams being very shorthanded or bringing new people up to speed, I'd expect content releases to be light and slow (ex. 9.1.5).

If they did a complete 180, took responsibility for everything, started doing the right things to repair the brand damage, it would still take 10 years to get it back to where it was. That's why I think they will realize this sooner or later that the brand damage is beyond repair like Facebook, and it will end with a rebranding/renaming of Blizzard.

[Torched]

They're definitely going to TRY to fix WoW. A year ago Warcraft Subscriptions were about 30%-40% of Activision-Blizzard's entire revenue. They won't just let that go without a fight.

Not even close, Blizzard makes less than twice the money Activision itself does and KING (Candy Crush) makes more money than Blizzard does for Acti-Blizzard

https://dotesports.com/business/news...illion-in-2020

"In its Q4 2020 earnings and investor report, Activision Blizzard reported record net revenue at $8.09 billion, up from $6.49 billion in 2019—a 25 percent jump."

"Activision was the most successful of the company’s divisions, bumping up year-over-year revenue 77 percent to $3.9 billion. Blizzard and King also increased their total revenues, up eight percent to $1.91 billion and seven percent to $2.16 billion, respectively."

Q4 earning
Activision: 3.9 billion
Blizzard: 1.91 billion
King: 2.16 billion
Activision Blizzard total earning: 8.09 billion

Btw this is Q4 when Shadowlands was still new.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

When is FF14 Fanfest?

Fanfest dates haven't been consistent, and there are usually multiple fanfests. The fanfests for 2021 were rescheduled and were all digital only. There was an announcement livestream for Endwalker in March, and then there was a digitial fanfest in May that revealed the full cinematic trailer, and another digital fanfest last month in September that revealed the class changes. As for 2022, there might be another around 2022 that teases the next expansion after EW.

[Icelin]

All I see are pages of propagating hatred and division in a time human civilization was forced into isolation.

So I have to wonder is it propagators or innocent bystanders that actually believe this nonsense? This was a community once, a very kind one. (Let that sink in and the impeccable timing) I have never seen it so divided.

With Make a Wish foundation memorials ingame, fun times with friends and families. "Blizzard never listened to us and boasted arrogance" this upcoming patch 9.1.5 is pretty much about listening to the community if you read the actual patch notes. I understand the frustration of having to wait, but I think they heard the message loud and clear this time.

I'm actually looking forward to the upcoming patch (9.2) and having more than two raids for an expansion...

I am sorry to hear Blizzcon has been cancelled, but it is understandable. It was a great time for the community to come together. I hope we see it again in the future. I will be honest, I mostly just look forward to seeing the WoW segment. I have been known to check in on the Diablo stuff too and I hope Diablo 4 is doing well.

I look forward to hearing more constructive news from the company.. instead of destructive.

[korijenkins]

Blizzcon should be dead anyway. This company isn't what it once was. The games they make aren't of a quality they once were. The mediocre products they put out do not deserve a self-aggrandizing knock-off E3.

[DesoPL]

Just say you have nothing to show - it's ok to be honest

Pretty much this. I think the same, they have nothing to show because.

HOTS and SC2 are dead.
Overwatch 2? Who cares anymore?
Hearthstone got new game mode lately.
Diablo 2 Refunded was release, and nothing big for D4 is actually worth to show.
Next week 9.1.5 in WoW is happening.

So definetly they have nothing to show, especially to mentioned HOTS and SC2. In both games they do only balance patches, nothing more.

[Ersula]

I’m pretty sure subscription prices vary by country due to the exchange rate of the US dollar. Also in Asia wow does not have a subscription it’s a pay by a minute. So I highly doubt it is that monetary number

That's why that 5m figure was only western countries. It's 10% of Activision's total revenue in 2019 AT THE VERY LEAST. Which is what I said. You've added nothing to this conversation.

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Pretty much this. I think the same, they have nothing to show because.

HOTS and SC2 are dead.
Overwatch 2? Who cares anymore?
Hearthstone got new game mode lately.
Diablo 2 Refunded was release, and nothing big for D4 is actually worth to show.
Next week 9.1.5 in WoW is happening.

Still, by FEBRUARY they should have a lot to show. Remember a year ago Blizzard itself acquired 2 more acclaimed studios. They have to be working on SOMETHING

[Gadzooks]

or it means they want to anounce and put 9.2 on ptr in dec and would have nothing to anounce at blizconline...

Blizzard, like most companies, virtually shut down in December, for the holidays. A PTR for a vastly important patch like 9.2 (they have a lot riding on it, regardless of what side you pick these days) is going to need to hit the ground running, not deployed and then ignored until 2022.

Who knows? It could happen, but objectively, the company isn't in a good place right now with everything going on, and any restructuring the new leadership is doing.

If you're that optimistic, I won't fault you. I'm just more cynical these days at how fast Team 2 or the company as a whole can move, in the wake of the last 6 months, even worse if you factor in Covid.

[Onikaroshi]

Still, by FEBRUARY they should have a lot to show. Remember a year ago Blizzard itself acquired 2 more acclaimed studios. They have to be working on SOMETHING

"Acquired" is a strong word, VV was already part of the company and had been since like 2005, before Blizzard even, and I don't recall a second one, but there could be.

[Soon-TM]

Pretty much this. I think the same, they have nothing to show because.

HOTS and SC2 are dead.
Overwatch 2? Who cares anymore?
Hearthstone got new game mode lately.
Diablo 2 Refunded was release, and nothing big for D4 is actually worth to show.
Next week 9.1.5 in WoW is happening.

So definetly they have nothing to show, especially to mentioned HOTS and SC2. In both games they do only balance patches, nothing more.

In addition to this, I'll go on a limb and imagine that management didn't want anything to do with some devs' irrepressible tendency to say dumb things in public, not to mention that the overall morale at Irvine mustn't be especially high.

[Mosotti]

In online you can't have a Cosby suite.

[Gadzooks]

In addition to this, I'll go on a limb and imagine that management didn't want anything to do with some devs' irrepressible tendency to say dumb things in public, not to mention that the overall morale at Irvine mustn't be especially high.

I would go out on a limb feeling pretty safely saying Blizzard internally is probably a clusterfuck, and will be for some time. The lawsuits, the games ATVI is playing in court, the games they're playing with employees requiring them to speak to ATVI lawyers if they file a complaint, more people being fired/allowed to quit quietly, the attempt to unionize, AND the usual restructuring that happens with new leadership, AND the glacial speed they are at because of not adjusting to the Covid restrictions as well as other companies have, on top of having nothing new in the pipeline and only have rehashed old games to sell, on top of highly anticipated titles like D4 losing key leadership again, I would go with it being a complete and utter shitshow morale-wise. And will continue to be one for the foreseeable future. With luck and the right moves, they could shake it all off eventually and get back to trying for normalcy (or a new normal), I don't expect that to start until the lawsuit with CA is settled or a judgement is made.

2022 is more of the same, as far as I can see. It could get worse easily, too, if they're not profitable enough and they start layoffs again.