With the sale--do you think WoW is moving into maintenance mode after 9.2?

[Miffinat0r]

I know the deal was just announced but do you think they'll halt working on 10 until MS can evaluate the buy? I know 9.2 is actively being worked on right now, but I feel like 10 expansion may not have the same level of support, and could lead to a delay while the company evaluates the IP.

[Maell]

Business as usual till the deal is complete in summer 2023. After that it will take a while after any influence from MS takes root in development of any game.
WoW still makes a lot of money so no reason for any change in the near future.
10.0 will not be affected in any way by the buyout.

[Ragingheadache]

Quite the opposite - this is just the change that is needed to shake up Blizzard and bring in new people with new ideas to turn the game around. We can't go on with Ion in charge of yet another failed expansion.

[willtron]

Quite the opposite - this is just the change that is needed to shake up Blizzard and bring in new people with new ideas to turn the game around. We can't go on with Ion in charge of yet another failed expansion.

Deal wont finalise until 2023. I doubt we'll see the fruits of this, if any, before 2025.

[Kiivar86]

The ink won't be dried until at least mid 2023.

There's no way they'd do that. That's a year and a half away, minimum.

[korijenkins]

Deal wont finalise until 2023. I doubt we'll see the fruits of this, if any, before 2025.

We saw the fruits of the Activision merger fairly quickly in wrath

[Gaidax]

Hahahahaaa...

Bruh, M$ just splurged 70 billion on ActiBlizz, nothing goes to maintenance mode, duurrr.

[deenman]

We saw the fruits of the Activision merger fairly quickly in wrath

Thats so naive to think activision did anything,it was the devs all the long and their greed and cult-like rockstar mentality,they wanted to cash in more,and store stuff was becoming more popular,even in singleplayer games

[AngerFork]

Quite the opposite. I'm sure the Warcraft IP was one of the big pieces of the deal & they will want to try to build it back up stronger than before to give Microsoft a strong property.

However, I'm pretty sure the sale likely means Blizzcon is entirely over & done with.

[Miffinat0r]

Quite the opposite. I'm sure the Warcraft IP was one of the big pieces of the deal & they will want to try to build it back up stronger than before to give Microsoft a strong property.

However, I'm pretty sure the sale likely means Blizzcon is entirely over & done with.

Well tbh I don't think Blizzcon was ever going to last especially given the fact we know subs have been bleeding.

I don't know if WoW was part of consideration with this deal. I can easily see them looking at CoD and Candy Crush as the growth markets. Maybe OW/Diablo/HS could be salvaged but I don't think they cared about Blizz's IPs as they're not the juggernaut they used to be in the gaming industry.

[Sinfelle]

I know the deal was just announced but do you think they'll halt working on 10 until MS can evaluate the buy? I know 9.2 is actively being worked on right now, but I feel like 10 expansion may not have the same level of support, and could lead to a delay while the company evaluates the IP.

yeah.....microsoft spent 68 billion dollars to put it into maintenance mode.......

[dlhak]

I think WoW will get a reboot. and its subscription integrated into Xbox Games Pass.

[Coldkil]

I expect business model changes, possible design pipeline changes aswell. WoW isn't going in maintenance mode at all.

What i would like, is them to take their time to nake the next expansion good. I don't care for a 2023 release if it's going to be like SL.

[ranzino]

Hahahahaaa...

Bruh, M$ just splurged 70 billion on ActiBlizz, nothing goes to maintenance mode, duurrr.

even for MS such amount of money doesnt grow on trees. the offer is way over stock market price.

[Metacrias]

Microsoft has already said the deal won't go through until 2024 at the earliest. It still has too be approved by stock holders (on both sides, I believe - definitely ATVI holders). It still has to receive regulatory approval at a time when the government is becoming more hostile to large acquisitions - and this is Microsoft's largest acquisition in over a decade. So there is a good length of time between now and when Microsoft even takes control, and then it has to do it's own deep dive into all of the intellectual properties, and the management, upcoming products, etc for all of Activision-Blizzard's ongoing projects. That's 2025, at the earliest, until we see any substantial intervention from Microsoft. If you look at their acquisition of Zenimax, they still haven't touched Elder Scrolls Online, nor have they done anything to interfere with the ongoing development of Elder Scrolls VI. They want the intellectual properties, they don't necessarily want to take full control of development or risk making Call of Duty, WoW, Diablo, etc. more like their own games and lose the very thing they spent good money too acquire.

Additionally, companies that get acquired see their stocks rise - and Activision is up 27% today (some people just got quite a nice windfall - and a few just got rich). There is money inflows, and in order to remain worth acquiring it has to maintain some visibility and ongoing game development. They don't just start from scratch on games that take years to develop because a new company takes control. The implications are much more in the medium- to long-term. It'll begin with management restructuring if anything, in a year or two.

[Souflikar]

No way, although hurting at the moment, WOW is the Blizzard cash cow. Microsoft will attempt to better it and capitalize on it.

[Kiivar86]

Well tbh I don't think Blizzcon was ever going to last especially given the fact we know subs have been bleeding.

I don't know if WoW was part of consideration with this deal. I can easily see them looking at CoD and Candy Crush as the growth markets. Maybe OW/Diablo/HS could be salvaged but I don't think they cared about Blizz's IPs as they're not the juggernaut they used to be in the gaming industry.

The Warcraft IP is still one of the highest grossing franchises in the world. As a whole, just a little behind James Bond.

And according to this, ahead of Candy Crush, to boot.

They'd be nuts to ignore Warcraft.

[AngerFork]

Well tbh I don't think Blizzcon was ever going to last especially given the fact we know subs have been bleeding.

Yeah, it's probably been more or less dead ever since the news reports came out last year. But especially now with Microsoft owning the company, it's almost certainly gone & future Blizz announcements will likely happen alongside other gaming announcements.

I don't know if WoW was part of consideration with this deal. I can easily see them looking at CoD and Candy Crush as the growth markets. Maybe OW/Diablo/HS could be salvaged but I don't think they cared about Blizz's IPs as they're not the juggernaut they used to be in the gaming industry.

Those may be the big anchors, but Microsoft almost certainly wants to get what they can out of each IP available, especially for products that are already strong in the market. While WoW may be on a bit of a downslope, Microsoft will likely want to do what they can to keep it up for whatever they can, especially if they can work it into Game Pass. I could see this being a bit of a blow for OW & Diablo, but not something with an ongoing subscription model that still has millions of players & such a long history.

[T-34]

Have you even looked at Acti-Blizz's latest financial reports?
Do you have any idea how much revenue Blizzard makes?
Do you have any idea how much revenue Blizzard makes per MAU compared to Activision or King?
Had you spent just 10 minutes on checking the above and pondered the data for 1 minute then you wouldn't have made this thread, unless it is bait-thread of course.

These threads keep popping up because people can't or won't understand that just because they don't like something any more then that "something" might still be very profitable, because other people still buy that product or service.

[ek0zu]

I don't know what will happen with WoW, but at least Starcraft and Warcraft won't be neglected as bad they did.