New Leadership at Blizzard

[Cena]

This changes exactly nothing

They're doing that thing where they say "oh we got rid of the guy in charge! it's all better now, right?"

A woman too - could this BE anymore of a blatant PR move?

Your PR is in the fucking dumpster, Blizzard.
This won't save you.

the issue has always been the people ABOVE J Allen Brack - his former bosses.

This changes nothing.
Let me repeat:
This, changes, nothing.

Until you start making good games again, until you stop with the store mounts? and shitty half-baked remakes? then nobody is interested anymore Blizzard.

We've already given you too many chances over the past decade.
Wake the fuck up

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. If you are that mad then vote with your wallet. Don't play their games. EZ clap.

[Th3Scourge]

So they put a diversity hire in the lead role who only joined 7 months ago, and a corporate systems guy from Microsoft?

And that's the final nail in the coffin for Blizzard and WoW.

[Kumorii]

I mean, in this case she was the head of a games studio. Actually one that has quite some sweet titles under its hat. He is the guy who spends his time making the plattform nobody pays attention to outside of quickly accessing their blizz games look nicer. I mean, in this case its not a matter of feminism, she's an actual game dev.

Talk about downplaying someones experience in various companies at leading positions...Doesn't make you come across in a good light tbh. Shows some bias.
Also, being a game dev has little to do with running a gaming company at the size of Blizzards scale. My entire point was that none of us know why they chose 2 this time, so the person wanted to see what he wanted to see... that it's sexism. That's my entire point.

First thing I thought of is that Blizzard is in such shambles that they either needs 2 people helping cleaning it up. Or they want leadership to instead of 1, being run a by 2 which mean they can give more insight from their areas of expertise and thus make a better decision by running their ideas between each other. Or they just wanted diversity due to the current situation. Ergo, you see what you want to see... No reason to argue this further though. I don't know why they chose 2 and we won't know by discussing it anyway...

[procne]

10 years ago I would have read a change in leadership like this and thought "Nice, I bet she worked hard to get this far"

Now, because of all the controversy and movements I can't help but wonder "Did she work hard for it or did she just have the politically correct gender?"

Time will tell and I sure hope things will improve but that doubt will not go away until then.

She surely worked hard, she was a head of another studio. But to jump straight to the head of another studio? In the middle of sexual misconduct scandal?
I wonder if she accepted the offer happily or did she have to be convinced? I wouldn't take the offer in her place because of how it looks

[Claymore]

I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they are positioning the studio for an IP sell-off / company split to appease stockholders short-term. Having a lead already in place for both sides will make the move more stable.

That honestly makes a lot of sense. Two separate "leaders" is hardly the most stable situation, and if the name "Blizzard" is now tainted with negative public opinion... yeah, I could kind of see them "rebranding" and dicing things up.

Crazy to imagine seeing those iconic Blizzard statues brought down, though.

[vsb]

So Blizzard is dead. A pity.

[phattsao]

Brack was in over his head from the beginning. But yeah, putting two random suits with no actual experience in the role is just basically giving Activision corporate direct control over Blizzard.
So expect WoW to officially finish it's transition into COD style seasons and loot boxes.

[Zaqwert]

Hate to be a debbie downer but while the culture inside Blizzard HQ will likely improve, the quality of their games will not. "Blizzard" no longer exists. Every single person who built, created, and grew the company has left. People make video games, not companies. The people who built everything that made Blizzard special are gone.

[StillMcfuu]

The woman from VV is a good choice, they've just integrated and have done good work in the past, and are dedicated to the D2R experience. I don't know this other guy. I don't expect much to change, it seems the Diablo teams are pretty sheltered from the BS and I quit wow 6 months ago so I don't care what Blizz does as long as D2R and D4 are good.

[Kumorii]

I mean, VV was the best thing Activision had going and they rolled it into blizz. They should have rolled blizz into VV and we would get a lot better games, imo.

well, now a top dog from VV is leading Blizzard, so I mean... it might become like VV.

[Loveliest]

I don't know why, but it rubs me the wrong way. It's like they needed a woman for PR purposes but they couldn't find one. They picked one that is newly hired but she cant lead alone, of course... whether due to lack of experience at blizz or because she didn't want to or because she's there as a pr face only to prove they value women, it comes across as "we dont think she is truly fit for leadership but we'll make it work because we have to"...

[Laerrus]

That still won't bring me back, fix your damn game Blizzard and FFS, bring back the fun.

[procne]

Hate to be a debbie downer but while the culture inside Blizzard HQ will likely improve, the quality of their games will not. "Blizzard" no longer exists. Every single person who built, created, and grew the company has left. People make video games, not companies. The people who built everything that made Blizzard special are gone.

yes, but I think it has been like that for quite some time. And the lack of original creators doesn't mean the company cannot produce good games. New people can make good stuff too.

Although I don't think it will be like that this time. Blizzard has shown over the last few years they are a corporation through and through. Devoid of creativity, slave to the investors, bottom line, and their PR

[Ophenia]

I wasn't aware of any court verdict proving the allegations.

We don't need that in 2021, we have Twitter now

[Soon-TM]

Oh look, a woman and an arabic guy. Such PR.

Completely ignoring the extensive experience of both in gaming-related jobs. Especially this Oneal lady, given that VV has already some pretty sweet titles under its hat.

Yeah, totally a token promotion... I'd bet that you weren't singing the same tune when a white dude was promoted, even if he didn't have any merits other than being an Activision yesman *cough* Brack *cough*.

As for JAB, he appears to be the sacrificial lamb for all this "frat boys" carfire. Not that he didn't deserve it (he certainly does imo), but I have a hard time believing that he was the only one turning a blind eye to all of the funky things going on at Irvine.

[Makabreska]

Hey, at least Mike plays WoW

[Toybox]

Jason Schreier makes a very good point.

Morhaime was CEO.
Brack was President.
& now the new folks are "co-leaders."

Ah well, it's been a good run for ol' Blizzard.

[DesoPL]

This only confirms, what i have saying since 2016. Activision now got full control.

[Daedius]

Stocks took a dip to 78 after this announcement... :V

[Zaqwert]

yes, but I think it has been like that for quite some time. And the lack of original creators doesn't mean the company cannot produce good games. New people can make good stuff too.

Although I don't think it will be like that this time. Blizzard has shown over the last few years they are a corporation through and through. Devoid of creativity, slave to the investors, bottom line, and their PR

There's a famous video of Steve Jobs describing the corporation phenomenon and definitely worth looking up. He essentially says big successful companies are built by innovators and artists with passion. That's what drives the company in the early days and makes it successful. Eventually sales people take over though and the innovators no longer run the company, they answer to the sales people.