Kotaku - Warcraft Version of Pokemon Go Rumor, New Islands Preview in Patch 8.1

[lyphe]

Why does blizzard want to make mobile games for franchises that have fan bases for PC.

Because the wrong people got into positions of power within the company, and as a result the primary driver moved from making great games to making money. This is why BA bought King - so they could leverage existing success by pushing their existing franchises into mobile.

As to why mobile is the money maker, it has to do with the developing markets such as China, India, and other huge population centers where everyone has a smart phone, but few have a gaming PC. It's really sad. Just because there is a huge market in mobile, does not mean Blizz needed to go there. They could have remained king of the hill in high quality PC gaming.

[Mayia]

We do, they're all the junior devs whom Blizz pays in HotS skins and forces to compete for credit to the company cafeteria so they can eat something more nutritious than cup noodles and Mountain Dew and Blizzard gets away with it because they know working at Blizz is seen as a "dream job" to aspiring game devs.

I bet that and everything i've heard from being a dev (really blows and)leaves you with really low amounts of free time which wont help them play something like classic, but BFA is much condensed however i doubt very many really play it because its still pretty heavy time investment but it'd be great if we could see some devs start to play the game again, might encourage them to make it better for their behalf and ours.

[kamuimac]

I am not saying that it won't attract new players to Blizzard, but I sure as hell won't be playing it.

Playing a game on a tiny ass screen with shit controls is not the same as playing it from the comfort of your own home PC.

So Blizz, go down this bullshit mobile route but you also better be planning to expand into PC based AR/VR, that is where the future of home gaming lies.

but its perfect to play :

1)on toilet
2)on school break
3)while waiting for X/Y,Z
4)in work
5)on bus/train etc

why do you think people play mobile games ?

that said initial versions of mobile consoles like gameboy etc had much smaller screens and abysmal graphics yet tell me you didnt play it in school as teenager unless you were adoult there . because i spend ton of hours playing stuff like pokemon red and other games on this and never thought that screen was not big enough .

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Because the wrong people got into positions of power within the company, and as a result the primary driver moved from making great games to making money. This is why BA bought King - so they could leverage existing success by pushing their existing franchises into mobile.

As to why mobile is the money maker, it has to do with the developing markets such as China, India, and other huge population centers where everyone has a smart phone, but few have a gaming PC. It's really sad. Just because there is a huge market in mobile, does not mean Blizz needed to go there. They could have remained king of the hill in high quality PC gaming.

stop spreading this nonsense.

mobile gaming is beating every other gaming all around the world.

you know why ? because teens are playing on mobiles.

who the f... cares about 30 year old dinosaurs . youth are the future of gaming and youth want mobile games.

[Merie]

I understand the big CEOs and board director wanting this. But the article says the devs themselves are excited about this. Which honestly, only make me think that maybe Blizzard started recruiting damn casuals that do not reflect at all the Blizzard playerbase.

Frankly I think that's a load of crap. Same as when Gamestop would be closed on Thanksgiving citing they want their staff to be with their families, up to now when they said they'd open claiming their employees "begged" them to do it.

[Zantos]

Lol how shall they confirm something or not that is not even stated. You gotta squeeze a confirmation or denial out of them with articles Like this one.

Wait for an actual announcement? You don't squeeze nothing out of them. They will either respond or just ignore it and not care. Seems its the later of the choices.

[lyphe]

stop spreading this nonsense.

mobile gaming is beating every other gaming all around the world.

you know why ? because teens are playing on mobiles.

Wow, you are indeed living in another world aren't you.

First, nobody plays mobile over console or pc by choice, it gets played when people are not home or when somebody has no other option.

Second, if you think teenagers in the West is what's driving mobile growth, then you don't have a very good understanding of demographics, or how they play out globally. The combined populations of China & India alone are 8x larger than the US with most people in those countries having access to smart phones, but not consoles or PC.

And for the bonus round, 'no', youth are not the most important market, even in the West. Feel free to go make friends with any educated person in marketing and ask them what the core demographic is for profit-oriented gaming corporations ( hint ... those 30 year old males you just dismissed are what companies care about ).

Cheers and you're welcome.

[Eapoe]

After my initial question was failed to be answered realistically, here’s a part 2:
Why is everyone assuming Blizz moving into mobile gaming means they are done making PC content? Last few pages I’ve seen quite a few posts insinuating people are worried about that.
Did Blizz stop making content for WoW when Hearthstone was released? Did they stop making content for D3, Hearthstone, and HotS when OW came about?
Blizz expanding into new markets doesn’t mean they are giving up their older market areas; but, considering genres like MMORPGs are slowly on the way out as well as games like D3 having revolving door content it’s clear to see why they want to get into new territory. Especially one as lucrative as mobile gaming where profits are concerned.

[IIamaKing]

do u know any loyal mobile gaming fanbase ? or even good ? mobile 'gamers' are the most casual who don't give a sh8t about anything and do that mostly as to just waste time at work faking working or in traffic
the only reason mobile gaming is growing is because how cheap it is and u'll make profit because they cost near nothing (not counting marketing, i talk about game itself)

Pretty sure the mobile gamers of the US are not comparable to the mobile gamers of China. Which, obviously, all this mobile shit is aimed at.

[therealbowser]

"Blizzard employees say one of the biggest ongoing conversations this year has been cutting costs."

"The perception is that Activision is starting to get more and more involved with Blizzard because 2018 had been a weak year for them."

"Mike Morhaime stepping down was a big blow because he was seen as the Anti-CEO and just wanted to make good games and keep employees happy without worrying about profitability."

I am glad Activision is at least clearing up our perceptions since someone might otherwise assume that they aren't intentionally milking this cow until it's dry. Only the bottom line matters, right? Quality is irrelevant now to Activision, it's fairly blatant that they do not value good game development. It's not shocking that they feel this way; what's shocking is that they are so full of themselves that they would say so as directly and bluntly as this. It's like they aren't even trying to pretend they are trying to make quality games.

The stuff I have seen lately is more disheartening than anything I have witnessed in Blizzard's entire lifespan (at least, since I was watching; which began just before Warcraft III's initial release). The only thing I can genuinely say that I am interested in or excited in in the near future is Warcraft III Reforged; a remaster of a classic game. Well, there's still that, at least, right? Even Battle for Azeroth--which I have supported directly--is starting to really disappoint and underwhelm me (long before these announcements, the future content in Blizzcon was rather underwhelming and the level of backtracking lately amazes even me--is it good or bad?).

For the first time since Blizzard and Activision first merged (alongside that forum real ID bullshit) I am genuinely concerned for the future of Blizzard. Not in terms of a belief they will go bankrupt, but rather, that the magic that went into Blizzard is going to die. Their comment as to why Mike stepped down really killed it for me. I feel genuinely disgusted continuing to support them, and I don't normally react overly emotionally to this kind of thing. Blizzard isn't noble by any means but I loved their games and game development style. What's left, now? The future has never seemed so bleak for Blizzard. I sincerely hope I'm wrong...

PS: With how many people are leaving Blizzard and all this talk of cutting costs, it really is not shocking at all that they are losing long-term employees at such a high rate, is it? I wonder if Mike actually did step down and was not merely strongly recommended to do so. I certainly can't blame him if he did...

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After my initial question was failed to be answered realistically, here’s a part 2:
Why is everyone assuming Blizz moving into mobile gaming means they are done making PC content? Last few pages I’ve seen quite a few posts insinuating people are worried about that.
Did Blizz stop making content for WoW when Hearthstone was released? Did they stop making content for D3, Hearthstone, and HotS when OW came about?
Blizz expanding into new markets doesn’t mean they are giving up their older market areas; but, considering genres like MMORPGs are slowly on the way out as well as games like D3 having revolving door content it’s clear to see why they want to get into new territory. Especially one as lucrative as mobile gaming where profits are concerned.

I should comment that my concerns in this post don't even correlate to the mobile gaming movement. I dislike playing most mobile games, but I don't hate them, nor do I assume that Blizzard is going to stop developing PC games just because they are working on some mobile ones. It's not like Diablo IV was canceled because of this mobile game that I'll almost certainly never play.

It's just not the core issue here, at least not to me.

[silverdragon234]

Come on, peaople. We all know Blizzard would never make mobile games, 'cause phones cannot allow gaming.

[Vineri]

Diablo 3 on the Switch is the better mobile option, as far as mobile gaming goes.

Pretty much someone will play at home on the big screen with a real controller, and then as a handheld while away. I see a brighter future when there are more options available on how a game gets consumed.

Games that are exclusive only for a phone don't interest me in the slightest. There are plenty of OK titles out there, but I just stopped caring. But then again everyone living outside Asia is apparently not the primary target audience I guess.