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[VGC] Microsoft has ‘let Blizzard be Blizzard’ following its acquisition, studio says

jungius

jungius

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Sep 5, 2021
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That's according to Holly Longdale, executive producer and vice president of World of Warcraft, who discussed what life at Microsoft has been like for the developer during a recent interview with VGC.

"If anything, it's just been helpful," Longdale said. "We got time with Helen Chang from Mojang, and we were sharing information, so it's almost as if we have access to what worked for them. We got to speak to the Elder Scrolls Online team and share what we're up to and what's been working, it's almost like we get a benefit.

"There's no one asking us to do anything," she continued. "World of Warcraft is doing very well and they're very proud of what it's been able to accomplish, so it's almost like just let it be, and let it keep being awesome. They've been tremendously supportive and it's like 'let Blizzard be Blizzard'."
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source: https://www.videogameschronicle.com...izzard-following-its-acquisition-studio-says/

so MS did what they also did to obsidius and other studios by giving them full control, do you think this is good? or do you expect blizzard to become blizzara or blizzaga under MS?
 
brawndolicious

brawndolicious

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Oct 27, 2017
4,994
That's what they usually do. Obviously sometimes you get a Redfall which you then have to correct into a Blade but it is probably best to stand back and let a new studio brew for a bit before messing with the formula.
 
AgentStrange

AgentStrange

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Oct 25, 2017
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One could argue that this is not an improvement judging by how they've been struggling with Overwatch 2
 

mrmoose

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Nov 13, 2017
21,399
It's still pretty early though, but IIRC Activision let acquired Blizzard be Blizzard too, at least for a while.
 
Nazo

Nazo

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Oct 25, 2017
2,844
That's the worst thing you can say about a company that has a problem with sex pests
 
Edward

Edward

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Oct 30, 2017
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In terms of quality it's too soon to judge them now they have distance from ol bobby dick face but World of Warcraft is in the best state it's been in since i don't know when and Diablo 4's team has done an incredible job listening to feedback and it's upcoming season looks absolutely incredible.

I don't follow OW or HS so i can't speak on those but the friends i have that do play OW are enjoying current changes that are taking place.
 
mael

mael

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Nov 3, 2017
17,102
We're talking about cosby room company?
Why would you let them be themselves?
 
jonasvutt

jonasvutt

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Jan 17, 2018
382
Letting Blizzard be Blizzard means absolutely nothing. There are extremely bad things associated to Blizzard "being Blizzard".
 
VoidShaman

VoidShaman

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Jul 11, 2023
383
To be fair, Blizzard has undergone multiple changes since the acquisition was announced, and multiple changes before, and they aren't the same company.

Then again, this strategy hasn't always produced the best results in terms of their other studios. Ask any Halo fan.
 
Senjuro

Senjuro

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Oct 10, 2019
1,105
That would have been a good policy when Blizzard was still classic Blizzard, not whatever the hell they are now.
 
Killer

Killer

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Oct 27, 2017
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I appreciate this approach in general but it doesn't work for every studio . 343i for example
 
Shahadan

Shahadan

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Oct 27, 2017
4,101
I don't know if I'm losing more brain cells reading her answer or some of the replies in here

VoidShaman said:
To be fair, Blizzard has undergone multiple changes since the acquisition was announced, and multiple changes before, and they aren't the same company.

Then again, this strategy hasn't always produced the best results in terms of their other studios. Ask any Halo fan.
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Ha, thank you, better
 
TripleBee

TripleBee

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Oct 30, 2017
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Senjuro said:
That would have been a good policy when Blizzard was still classic Blizzard, not whatever the hell they are now.
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Diablo 4 ptr looks very promising and the community is up on it, World of Warcraft is doing very well again and the community is positive. Overwatch 2 is really the only current franchise struggling - but even it is doing far better than the average live service game.
 

Fanuilos

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
4,182
I mean, a CoD manager was put in as blizz president after the acquisition. It's hard to tell what that will mean in the long run, could be good, could be bad, will probably be a whole mix of things. My gut reaction was "oh no", but that was primarily to the headline. Blizzard's tenure under Microsoft will be interesting. Fwiw, the stuff with WoW is hitting on all cylinders. That's likely due to years of planning and effort, but other parts of the company need help. The Warcraft teams likely will at somepoint too. So here's hoping it's a good relationship and they make cool stuff.
 
BobLoblaw

BobLoblaw

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Oct 27, 2017
8,360
Some of these posts. Lol If the article said MS was taking a hands on approach, people would be complaining about how they're meddling and should just let Blizzard be Blizzard. Every studio they acquire should have a say in what they do, at least initially. If it turns out to be a disaster, then they should step in.
 
SimplyComplex

SimplyComplex

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May 23, 2018
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Call me gullible but I'm assuming this has more to do with letting the creatives be creative in development instead of Microsoft being overbearing. I hope Microsoft can still provide a better culture with more oversight in that regard.
 
Dest

Dest

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Jun 4, 2018
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WoW is in a really great state right now, Diablo 4 is on the up. They're only fumbling Overwatch at the moment so I'm failing to see why people would see that as a bad thing really.
So much of that talent that made these franchises have left so of course things are going to be rocky, but I think they're finding their way now and doing quite a good job of it too. Let them cook.
 
meenseen84

meenseen84

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Feb 15, 2018
1,983
Minneapolis
Some will view this as positive and others as a negative. The reality likely falls somewhere in the middle. You don't want to destroy what makes Blizzard unique, but you also don't want to be so hands off that they can't be the best version of themselves.
 
stopmrdomino

stopmrdomino

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Jun 25, 2023
4,724
mael said:
Can't read the article ....
If they didn't fire execs then it's a Ubisoft level of change.
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J. Allen Brack, Alex Afrasiabi, Jesse McCree, Luis Barriga, and more (all senior employees higher up in the rungs) were all ousted (e.g. fired or "stepped down") because of the sexual harassment.

AFAIK Blizzard's actual executive positions have all changed since then as well, completing with the departure of Kotick
 
Shoot

Shoot

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Oct 25, 2017
4,676
Zurch said:
Was canceling the survival game not a Microsoft directive?
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It was. I think the quote is being taken out of context. The VP of World of Warcraft is talking about the World of Warcraft team. Her words mean nothing for the Diablo, Overwatch, etc teams and for the Odyssey team which was destroyed.

World of Warcraft is in a great place so it's easy to see why that team is being treated well.
 
B-Dubs

B-Dubs

That's some catch, that catch-22
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Oct 25, 2017
33,178
Fanuilos said:
I mean, a CoD manager was put in as blizz president after the acquisition. It's hard to tell what that will mean in the long run, could be good, could be bad, will probably be a whole mix of things. My gut reaction was "oh no", but that was primarily to the headline. Blizzard's tenure under Microsoft will be interesting. Fwiw, the stuff with WoW is hitting on all cylinders. That's likely due to years of planning and effort, but other parts of the company need help. The Warcraft teams likely will at somepoint too. So here's hoping it's a good relationship and they make cool stuff.
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The Warcraft teams seems to be running like a well-oiled machine. They just did a big reveal of the alpha content for the next expansion and the people who got to experience it cannot stop raving. Beyond that, they've got the next decade planned out. Unless this expansion somehow turns into a dud, you leave that shit alone.
 
Jakisthe

Jakisthe

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Oct 25, 2017
5,695
Yes, I'm sure when a studio says "they just let us be us", surely this means that the extremely public personnel issues they had are still the exact same, and it's totally not referring to their creative process.

What a gonzo bad faith read on that quote. I'm sure there will be surface area to push back on who's saying things, and how that creative direction works or doesn't work, but it just sounds like some goofy gotcha to read that and be like "oh so you're saying you still have the sexual predators there hmm!"
 
Nateo

Nateo

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Oct 27, 2017
7,655
Why would they do that? Just going to lead to more theft of breast milk.. idiots.
 
Cort

Cort

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Nov 4, 2017
4,372
mrmoose said:
It's still pretty early though, but IIRC Activision let acquired Blizzard be Blizzard too, at least for a while.
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Things changed after Titan's implosion.

For instance, Jeff Kaplan and the team had to get Bobby Kotick and the ATVI board to greenlight Overwatch, as an example.

There may be more autonomy now that Activision Blizzard board has dissolved.
 
ALXJ

ALXJ

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Feb 16, 2021
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i really, really doubt that a console version of wow was even in consideration before the MS acquisition lol
 
wafflebrain

wafflebrain

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Oct 27, 2017
10,464
Ehhh...the level of hands off MS does with all these acquisitions has always seemed like a mess waiting to happen. See Redfall, which Spencer admitted they should have been more involved with overseeing before launch.

Blizzard of all these acquisitions could use more oversight and hands on from MS.
 
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