Now before you think this a troll thread about the recent changes hang in there for a minute and read some facts.
- Blizzard HQ is like 15 minutes drive from Disneyland and not that far from Burbank where the Disney HQ resides. PROXIMITY
- A lot of the art-style of Hearthstone is turning Disney-like and Overwatch is almost a Disney ripoff. COMPATIBILITY
- There is a focus to keep things family friendly and as politically correct (by California standards) as possible to smooth out any hesitancy for outside investors. POLISH
- The reaction to the lawsuit was to sacrifice ANY and ALL scapegoats regardless of investigation results and purging any record pf their existence. SELLABILITY
- Pushing out almost all the old-guard from Blizzard to reduce any resistance to the acquisition. PLIABILITY
- Appeasing China. CHINA
I've had that nagging thought since I watched the first Overwatch cinematics and the art and animation style were very close to Disney, but I dismissed it as just a outsized influence of Disney on artists due to the very close proximity. But the more big-name talents left Blizz and the game was slowly turning into a Monthly Active User hamster-wheel for fans, long term outlook was starting to look fuzzy. So it hit me, Blizzard is being propped up to transition from a cash cow to a cash grab. And corporate are doing the seductive mating dance just for Disney's eyes. The Art, the Movie, the investor friendly but customer unfriendly decisions, the double-speak.. it kinda fits, doesn't it? And Blizzard is no stranger to being handed from one big corporation to another.
I bet the plan was around the time they stopped sharing sub-numbers because of "the cyclical nature" of wow subs.
I am sure there are much smarter and more importantly, patient people who can dig more concrete evidence to prove -or disprove- this theory. But I believe that it won't be so long now that Blizzard would be up for sale so the Bobby will keep seeing Activation in the sweet sweet green.