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

SilentEagle · Apr 18, 2024

I don't think majority of key talent still at Blizzard from prime era. Blizzard North got closed. Morhaime, Pardo, Didier, Kaplan left Blizzard.

They still have talented devs like Metzen, Cheng, Chilton but Blizzard needs to abandon their monetization policy. They need to focus on PC rather than mobile and even console. Well as a console main player for my life I think some games become more casual for console audience lately. Old Blizzard titles were focused on PC and then ported to consoles. Diablo is great example. Compared to first two games Diablo IV looks like basic MMO.

lairo · Apr 18, 2024

This might be the first time we've wanted an acquisition to be extremely hands on, and change as much as possible. Blizzard today should absolutely not just be Blizzard.

Anoregon · Apr 18, 2024

SilentEagle said:
I don't think majority of key talent still at Blizzard from prime era. Blizzard North got closed. Morhaime, Pardo, Didier, Kaplan left Blizzard.

They still have talented devs like Metzen, Cheng, Chilton but Blizzard needs to abandon their monetization policy. They need to focus on PC rather than mobile and even console. Well as a console main player for my life I think some games become more casual for console audience lately. Old Blizzard titles were focused on PC and then ported to consoles. Diablo is great example. Compared to first two games Diablo IV looks like basic MMO.

I wonder what the Diablo franchise would look like if things turned out differently with Blizzard North/Condor. David Brevik ended up making another absolute banger ARPG (RIP Marvel Heroes, it started rough and had a pitiful end, but its peak was amazing). Diablo 3 certainly would have been a different and probably better game at the very least.

Or not. With Activision and everything else going on, it's hard to imagine any single change in a vacuum.

HellofaMouse · Apr 18, 2024

i was hoping they wouldnt let blizzard be blizzard.

Finaj · Apr 18, 2024

lairo said:
This might be the first time we've wanted an acquisition to be extremely hands on, and change as much as possible. Blizzard today should absolutely not just be Blizzard.

WoW is in a fantastic state, Diablo is making great strides in season 4 and the Overwatch team just made a lot of really positive monetization changes. What team/game do you think needs a more hands-on approach from MS?

Empyrean Cocytus · Apr 18, 2024

I mean if they got The Coalition or Arkane to restart development on Starcraft Ghost, I wouldn't say no...

Pixelpusher · Apr 18, 2024

This means nothing. It hasn't been that long yet. Everything is fine till profits are taking a hit, and the finance teams start looking at the waste. In any acquisition they are looking to avoid attrition, unless they want to force it. Time will tell, but history isnt in their favor lol.

David Matter · Apr 18, 2024

i love blizzard and i love xbox, but i dont know if this will be forever true, big entities arent friends of anyone when profits are at stake

Falchion · Apr 19, 2024

Full control until they feel the need to step in if things are less profitable in a few years I'm guessing.

Bengraven · Apr 19, 2024

Old Blizzard, outside of people like Metzen, is long gone and yes, they were the ones who created the things we loved. But as someone said above: we shouldn't let Blizzard be Blizzard TOO much.

What exists is a team that is trying to replicate their successes, within their IPs, without being as toxic or destructive as well as creating new IPs with the same list of Blizzard core values (yes, there's a list) created near the beginning of the company's founding. They're hiring people who are comfortable in these worlds and can expand on these worlds. Yes, it might feel different because the people who created the tone are gone for the most part, and that's the most difficult thing to have to accept. "The chuds are gone however the chuds were creative and made something I liked" is something we just have to accept is better as it is now than it was then.

Blizzard is much more than a small group of mostly white guys from the 90s. They created a standard and a vision that now a diverse group of hundreds of people are representing.

At this point, Microsoft just needs to makes sure they are allowed a comfortable and safe environment and that's literally it. Pay the bills, give them benefits, don't lay off people for fuck's sake, and let Blizzard be Blizzard CREATIVELY and they're gonna be happy with their investment.

Tommy Showbiz · Apr 19, 2024

Some very baffling responses in this thread.

For one there have been significant leadership changes across almost every single Blizzard team since the lawsuit, so this idea that people just did absolutely nothing in the wake of the lawsuit is pretty false. Not only that, but most Blizzard games are widely considered by their communities to be on the mend in recent months, WoW especially. By every account from people I know who play WoW, the game is in one of it's strongest states since 2011.

I think the idea that Blizzard has no talented people left, especially at a company that employs as many people as they currently do, is categorically ridiculous. Most of the recent decisions that have infuriated people that aren't directly related to the lawsuit are the result of Activision C-Suite taking a more active heavy-handed approach.

Anoregon · Apr 19, 2024

Tommy Showbiz said:
Some very baffling responses in this thread.

For one there have been significant leadership changes across almost every single Blizzard team since the lawsuit, so this idea that people just did absolutely nothing in the wake of the lawsuit is pretty false. Not only that, but most Blizzard games are widely considered by their communities to be on the mend in recent months, WoW especially.

I think the idea that Blizzard has no talented people left, especially at a company that employees as many people as they currently do, is categorically ridiculous. Most of the recent decisions that have infuriated people that aren't directly related to the lawsuit are the result of Activision C-Suite taking a more active heavy-handed approach.

I can't really begrudge anyone for just swearing off Blizzard entirely in the fallout of everything that came to light over the past few years, given the nature and severity of it all. But I do agree that it's unfortunate that is sort of where a lot of folks interest on the topic begins and ends, since there have clearly been positive changes both in terms of personnel and overarching company policies in the last year or so. It is sadly ironic (although understandable) that a thread about an interview with someone who is like, the poster child for a positive new direction for Blizzard, is still heavily weighed down by things the company did before she was a part of it. And that's to say nothing of the "all the good devs are gone" narrative.

Tommy Showbiz · Apr 19, 2024

Anoregon said:
I can't really begrudge anyone for just swearing off Blizzard entirely in the fallout of everything that came to light over the past few years, given the nature and severity of it all. But I do agree that it's unfortunate that is sort of where a lot of folks interest on the topic begins and ends, since there have clearly been positive changes both in terms of personnel and overarching company policies in the last year or so. It is sadly ironic (although understandable) that a thread about an interview with someone who is like, the poster child for a positive new direction for Blizzard, is still heavily weighed down by things the company did before she was a part of it. And that's to say nothing of the "all the good devs are gone" narrative.

Yeah, I get it completely if people just don't want anything to do with Blizzard ever again after everything that went down. I just wish people would be a bit more forthcoming that this was the case instead of trying to posture that the thing they actually want is for Blizzard's employees to be under total lock and key by management again.

I guarantee you not a single person working at Blizzard, y'know the people who were historically the victims in all this, are actually wanting a return to that.

Check it out · Apr 19, 2024

Microsoft replaced Ybarra and is allowing and trusting new leadership to ensure that things are running properly.

This is how it should be. Put good people at the top of publishers and studios and trust that they can handle it and if they can't, trust that they will reach out for help.

The idea of Blizzard getting to pretend like the parents are gone and they are throwing a party is insane.

SilentEagle · Apr 19, 2024

Tommy Showbiz said:
Some very baffling responses in this thread.

For one there have been significant leadership changes across almost every single Blizzard team since the lawsuit, so this idea that people just did absolutely nothing in the wake of the lawsuit is pretty false. Not only that, but most Blizzard games are widely considered by their communities to be on the mend in recent months, WoW especially. By every account from people I know who play WoW, the game is in one of it's strongest states since 2011.

I think the idea that Blizzard has no talented people left, especially at a company that employs as many people as they currently do, is categorically ridiculous. Most of the recent decisions that have infuriated people that aren't directly related to the lawsuit are the result of Activision C-Suite taking a more active heavy-handed approach.

I really wonder what happened to Blizzard. They released all-time great games back in 90s and early 2000s when they were just a small studio with bunch of young people.

They are much bigger studio now. And I am sure that they have talented folks in there. But why they can't release iconic games they used to?

vixolus · Apr 19, 2024

SilentEagle said:
I really wonder what happened to Blizzard. They released all-time great games back in 90s and early 2000s when they were just a small studio with bunch of young people.

They are much bigger studio now. And I am sure that they have talented folks in there. But why they can't release iconic games they used to?

Because Activision/Kotick took control in the late 2000s and has slowly but surely took power. I imagine Schreiers book will go into detail about it all.

Who knows how things will end up over the next ten to twenty years now though.

davepoobond · Apr 19, 2024

vixolus said:
Because Activision/Kotick took control in the late 2000s and has slowly but surely took power. I imagine Schreiers book will go into detail about it all.

Who knows how things will end up over the next ten to twenty years now though.

everyone likes to blame Activision, but the issues were cropping up before. i'm not convinced of Kotick being the bogeyman as far as Blizzard is concerned

Tbm24 · Apr 19, 2024

SilentEagle said:
I really wonder what happened to Blizzard. They released all-time great games back in 90s and early 2000s when they were just a small studio with bunch of young people.

They are much bigger studio now. And I am sure that they have talented folks in there. But why they can't release iconic games they used to?

Depends on what you're looking for. OW was their last new game and it certainly was iconic. What's extra funny about OW is the game and its future was entirely fumbled by the old guard of Blizzard stuck in their ways trying to work towards something they already failed at once.

The reality is releasing a good game is hard enough. Following up on it with more is even harder.

As an OW fan I can't be more thankful the team has pivoted entirely away from where it was going because I get to play a game now instead of talking about how great their idea that they just cannot finish and release could have been.

Odyssey is on that list now too.

Not to say there wasn't other things that contributed, but I will always be upset they almost nuked the game chasing after Titan again.

SilentEagle · Apr 19, 2024

Tbm24 said:
Depends on what you're looking for. OW was their last new game and it certainly was iconic. What's extra funny about OW is the game and its future was entirely fumbled by the old guard of Blizzard stuck in their ways trying to work towards something they already failed at once.

The reality is releasing a good game is hard enough. Following up on it with more is even harder.

As an OW can I can't be more thankful the team has pivoted entirely away from where it was going because I get to play a game now instead of talking about how great their idea that they just cannot finish and release could have been.

Odyssey is on that list now too.

Not to say there wasn't other things that contributed, but I will always be upset they almost nuked the game chasing after Titan again.

As someone who really liked Overwatch back in 2016/2017, I find it pretty overrated. But I can't deny its success. Winning GOTY + 50 million sales is insane for multiplayer only game.

Excluding Heartstone which is my favorite Blizzard game in last 10 years, I don't remember when I really enjoyed from Blizzard game. I was really hyped for Diablo IV but it's one of my biggest disappointments in 2023. Even small indie studios can make better ARPGs then Blizzard now. WoW is better state than what it used to be in 4-5 years ago but still far from older glory.

Blizzard really needs to abandon mobile focus and their monetization policy. Blizzard was PC studio at and they should focus on PC. I don't want casual games from them.

Anoregon · Apr 19, 2024

SilentEagle said:
Blizzard really needs to abandon mobile focus and their monetization policy. Blizzard was PC studio at and they should focus on PC. I don't want casual games from them.

it feels pretty premature to say that they are focusing on mobile over PC. They have what... 2 mobile games? 3 if you count hearthstone? The tentpole franchises are still firmly PC/console-centric.

Shoichi · Apr 19, 2024

I don't want Microsoft to touch WoW at all. Right now the narrative looks like its finally heading back in the right direction again. Especially with Metzen helping construct it.

If anything, I hope Blizzard gets at least nudged to make a new Warcraft or Starcraft again. Instead of just sticking to Diablo, WoW, Hearthstone and Overwatch.

00Quan[T] · Apr 19, 2024

Eh... I feel like they should get more involved in general with their studios.
Some fly just fine alone, but others clearly struggle hard.

JT_77 · Apr 19, 2024

This is just simplified PR speak

SilentEagle · Apr 19, 2024

Anoregon said:
it feels pretty premature to say that they are focusing on mobile over PC. They have what... 2 mobile games? 3 if you count hearthstone? The tentpole franchises are still firmly PC/console-centric.

Diablo IV feels like Diablo Immortal with fancy visuals for me. UI and skill tree feels like mobile game. Meanwhile Path of Exile is much deeper game. Closer to Diablo II.

jschreier · Apr 19, 2024

SilentEagle said:
I really wonder what happened to Blizzard. They released all-time great games back in 90s and early 2000s when they were just a small studio with bunch of young people.

They are much bigger studio now. And I am sure that they have talented folks in there. But why they can't release iconic games they used to?

October 8!

SilentEagle · Apr 19, 2024

jschreier said:
October 8!

I loved your first two books and I can't wait for this one.

JhOnNY_HD · Apr 19, 2024

Diablo 4 is pure meme fuel

The super comeback of season 4 is the feedback of the comunity since de first open beta a year ago....

Anoregon · Apr 19, 2024

JhOnNY_HD said:
Diablo 4 is pure meme fuel

The super comeback of season 4 is the feedback of the comunity since de first open beta a year ago....

It's nice that the game is finally coming out of early access

elenarie · Apr 19, 2024

SilentEagle said:
Diablo IV feels like Diablo Immortal with fancy visuals for me. UI and skill tree feels like mobile game. Meanwhile Path of Exile is much deeper game. Closer to Diablo II.

Funny considering there is 0 depth in D2. Something having a convoluted UX does not equal to it having depth.

Cort · Apr 19, 2024

davepoobond said:
everyone likes to blame Activision, but the issues were cropping up before. i'm not convinced of Kotick being the bogeyman as far as Blizzard is concerned

Agreed. It seems like Activision's involvement has been mostly about controlling their budget. And it's hard not to blame them when the community is aware of like 8 projects that Blizzard has canned in that timeframe. Who knows what other projects they began cooking before getting canned.

JasperMyst · Apr 19, 2024

That doesn't really sound reassuring given the company's incompetence as of late.

Mocha Joe · Apr 19, 2024

davepoobond said:
everyone likes to blame Activision, but the issues were cropping up before. i'm not convinced of Kotick being the bogeyman as far as Blizzard is concerned

It's kinda like how people liked to blame Activision for Destiny's issues over the years. And then we eventually found out nah it's actually Bungie

Finaj · Apr 19, 2024

JasperMyst said:
That doesn't really sound reassuring given the company's incompetence as of late.

It was said by Holly Longdale, the Executive Producer for WoW, the current, excellent state of which was in no small part due to her efforts.

Mobius and Pet Octopus · Apr 19, 2024

SilentEagle said:
I really wonder what happened to Blizzard. They released all-time great games back in 90s and early 2000s when they were just a small studio with bunch of young people.

They are much bigger studio now. And I am sure that they have talented folks in there. But why they can't release iconic games they used to?

OW came out how many years ago? And we're still calling the new marvel game, Marvelwatch. Blizzard also led the DCG trend and many many games have challenged and failed to meet Hearthstone. They don't release iconic games anymore? That's false imo.

thediamondage · Apr 19, 2024

If it wasn't for gamepass i would not be touching any Microsoft game other than Forza Horizon.

Activision means almost nothing to me other than annual call of duty.

I can't even really think of the last Blizzard game I played, maybe overwatch 1 at launch which is almost 8 years ago now?

So yeah, not exactly three leaders in the gaming space, at least for me. I hope they can get it together but statements like this just make me feel like there is no real vision or direction happening still at xbox, which is disappointing.

It is pretty funny though that I enjoyed Fallout tv show... brought to you by Amazon lol. I guess if nothing else Microsoft can get into the hot new licensing video games into movie/TV shows biz. One miss with Halo, but one hit with Fallout. Time for Call of Duty the movie.

SilentEagle · Apr 20, 2024

elenarie said:
Funny considering there is 0 depth in D2. Something having a convoluted UX does not equal to it having depth.

I don't agree with the former. Meanwhile it wasn't as complicated as PoE (which is not a bad thing because I don't like the games to become full time job) it has the most complex mechanics among Diablo games. Especially itemization of Diablo II is still gold standard for ARPGs. I really dislike the UI because it looks like mobile game. But at the same time I think they are on the right track with Season 4 changes but the game still needs lots of improvement.

Well I do really want Blizzard to make Diablo IV better experience because I loved the art direction.

PJTierney · Apr 20, 2024

jungius said:
do you expect blizzard to become blizzara or blizzaga under MS?

👏🏻

Bansai · Apr 20, 2024

Hide your breast milk folks

JahIthBer · Apr 20, 2024

SilentEagle said:
I really wonder what happened to Blizzard. They released all-time great games back in 90s and early 2000s when they were just a small studio with bunch of young people.

They are much bigger studio now. And I am sure that they have talented folks in there. But why they can't release iconic games they used to?

Talent drain, suits meddling and putting a lot of their best devs on Titan.

Ambient · Apr 20, 2024

JahIthBer said:
Talent drain, suits meddling and putting a lot of their best devs on Titan.

Yeah I think people want some grand explanation of what happened to the studio but it's pretty simple.

Razgriz-Specter · Apr 20, 2024

I wish they'd at least force Activision to upgrade their damn servers

ciddative · Apr 22, 2024

Maybe they shouldn't have

GulfCoastZilla · Apr 22, 2024

SilentEagle said:
I really wonder what happened to Blizzard. They released all-time great games back in 90s and early 2000s when they were just a small studio with bunch of young people.

They are much bigger studio now. And I am sure that they have talented folks in there. But why they can't release iconic games they used to?

Those games are still going and making money

SilentEagle · Apr 22, 2024

GulfCoastZilla said:
Those games are still going and making money

Well aren't OW, Hearthstone and even WoW player count peak anymore? I am playing Warcraft Rumble and looks like it's the closest thing we got to Warcraft IV. I just hope MS greenlights RTS projects for Blizzard because they are probably the only AAA publisher who is into RTS games.

GulfCoastZilla · Apr 22, 2024

SilentEagle said:
Well aren't OW, Hearthstone and even WoW player count peak anymore? I am playing Warcraft Rumble and looks like it's the closest thing we got to Warcraft IV. I just hope MS greenlights RTS projects for Blizzard because they are probably the only AAA publisher who is into RTS games.

Wow is getting 3 new expansions they are doing fine.
It sounds like people want big time single player experiences from a multiplayer focused company.

Acidote · Apr 22, 2024

SilentEagle said:
Well aren't OW, Hearthstone and even WoW player count peak anymore? I am playing Warcraft Rumble and looks like it's the closest thing we got to Warcraft IV. I just hope MS greenlights RTS projects for Blizzard because they are probably the only AAA publisher who is into RTS games.

OW numbers seem to be doing a little bit better, Hearthstone I have no idea, and WoW is doing right now, at the end of the expansion, better numbers than it was at the start. And it also looks like the new expansion (trilogy) is going to do great numbers. They probably have the best content pace the game has ever had between Retail (with Mists of Pandaria Remix coming in a about a month), Classic and SoD.

SilentEagle · Apr 22, 2024

GulfCoastZilla said:
Wow is getting 3 new expansions they are doing fine.
It sounds like people want big time single player experiences from a multiplayer focused company.

Of course not. I don't expect and want Blizzard to focus on single-player games. Multiplayer is their DNA.

But I want them to return their roots. RTS, ARPG and MMO and do it better than any other studio.

Tbm24 · Apr 22, 2024

SilentEagle said:
Of course not. I don't expect and want Blizzard to focus on single-player games. Multiplayer is their DNA.

But I want them to return their roots. RTS, ARPG and MMO and do it better than any other studio.

They're still doing MMOs better than everyone else. I will happily meet anyone in the MMO arena over that take.

LiK · Apr 22, 2024

It'll take time so we'll see.

7thFloor · Apr 22, 2024

Hope that works out

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

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