Blizzard is behaving exactly like the corporation they have become. They're no different than EA and the other heavy hitters and any semblance of giving shit about what gamers care about is just PR spin based on what it once was but has not been for many years now.
What surprises me is that this surprises anyone in 2019.
If you still insist in wanting to like studios and not just individual games you need to set your sights much lower to independent studios before they become too big and start behaving just like every other corporation.
But the early gaming corporations where not this bad, its the top executives coming in from industries outside gaming which changed the ethos of such companies and indeed the ethos of what gaming is al about.
I feel somewhat diminished after reading all of the virtuous grace written here. You guys must have a tough time slogging through each day determining each candy bar and egg mcmuffin purchase to see if it meets the mythical virtuous purchase meter qualifications..I'm simply a barbarian on the other hand and if I think something has value i buy it. Maybe someday I can become a better person..and post about it.
I kind of felt that blizzard was a sellout around 2008 or so. They started making games with the sole purpose to maximize money and not to make intrinsically good games.
Hence, i don't play blizzard games. Last game i played was SC 2. I didnt bother even researching any thing they put out.
The only reason i played destiny was my brothers were playing it, when they made destiny 2, clearly way too early, i didnt even bothrr looking at it.
I kind of prefer the indie studios, problem is, with indie studios you sacrifice production quality for passion.
Also, this laying off of 800 workers is a restructuring so it kind of has nothing to do with record profits. Asking a CEO to take a pay cut instead of laying off workers who dont fit your new structure, is absurd.
Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
Without quoting, I am going to pretty much second what MMRV said, and add this.
If it is okay for a company to make a profit what is the problem?
Many here - in this and other articles related to the latest developments at Blizzard - are suggesting that its not okay to make TOO much profit.
How much is too much? Who determines the amount that is too much?
There are people living on and around literal dumps in the world that would call pretty much everyone here on this forum greedy based upon income comparisons......How bout you equal out your income with thiers. Sell your house, your car...gasp even your phone and go live on a dump, that will make everything better right?
Media everywhere is being used - much as governments and laws are used - to bludgeon people into submission by force, or fear.
I had to laugh at the "tribal capitalism" comment I saw in this thread. Tribalism as I understand the word is thriving in today's more 'civilized' society more than it ever has.
Perhaps MMORPG.com can send the additional revenue gained from these articles toward helping those displaced from Blizzard until they get their feet under them again? At least then some justice will be regained from making money off their sad story.
Activision has been around for a while. However, they left Blizzard alone for the most part as the studio kept making a lot of money for the company."
Missed in this is that back in 2014 Vivendi still owned Activision Blizzard.
Activision Blizzard was formed when Vivendi - who already owned Blizzard - bought Activision. With the then Blizzard CEO becoming deputy CEO. And you always had the impression that Blizzard - who will previously have reported up to Vivendi management - still had those contacts.
AB buying themselves out from Vivendi came at a (financial) cost. Independent AB has been "sweating the assets" and cutting back on costs - they ran the AB team down to 125 people for example, no surprise content between expansions dried up.
And buying King was another huge cost - instant growth though - at a price.
Happy as all get out at ESO. They gave me WoD when I bought Legion. I had been away for a couple years. Wolfe was right you can never go back. Legion sucked WoD sucked MoP sucked.
However I would go back if they made it free to play just see what's happening. I have a ton of gold marrooned there.
Blizzard is dead. Just let it die. Put your money and support behind CD Projekt.
In due time CD Projekt will also disappoint you.
Mark my words.
Don't put your faith in companies above the product. Put your faith in the individual products and when those products no longer deliver, then walk away and you've invested in nothing more than what you needed.
People who partially tie up their personal identity with a corporate identity, unless they're a major stakeholder or owner, will only be disappointed in the long run. Anyone who you are paying for a product, should always be kept at an emotional arms length.
Sure, a really good game can invoke a lot of wonderful emotions and really offer you a great experience, but be very careful about extending those emotions to the company.
I feel there is a much bigger picture and way more going on in gaming than just Blizzard struggles.
"complacent"? Well yes of course that is a given but in Blizzard's case i feel a bigger problem,they actually feel their products are good.
So now the bigger picture and it revolves around money.It is because Blizzard is so big and in the media so much that is is a VERY easy target for new upstart solo business minded people to make money off of Blizzard games.Being bigger/larger means way more viewers and potentially more money earned via the many facets such as You Tube,Twitch etc etc.
In the early days like when Wow became popular,when online gaming was becoming really big,account selling was very popular,so yet again,all about making money and what better platform than a busy game.
RMT,yet another factor in the bigger picture,want to make a ton of money,no problem ,hit up the bigger,busier games.There is a reason Blizzard shut down the D3 AH however in hindsight,they likely wish they kept it on as it meant more money for Blizzard.
So w/o getting into the many more facets feeding the bigger picture,it is easy to see how everyone surrounding the money side of gaming is going to praise and piggyback off of successful games because it means money for them.
So why would ANYONE making money off of Blizzard games want to say anything bad about them,well they won't and the ways the law and nda's protect these deceptive businesses ,means Blizzard actually thinks they are a AAA developer.I know otherwise,i can see all of their products,i played them to see for myself,they all look and feel like Indie games and aside from Wow they are all low budget cheaply designed games.
"How to fix it'?? Easy,start worrying about the QUALITY of your games instead of trying to market and create gimmick micro transactions to feed off of the whales.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
It's part of a trend I see everywhere with a lot of companies. Cut corners, raise pricing, sacrifice the staff, create a mobile version...
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
All this rests at the feet of Bobby Kotick. His only thoughts are short term profits and his bonus check. It would take a miracle for Blizzard to turn this around. I do not see it happening. I have stopped playing all Blizzard games and I really don't see that changing. These Diablo projects will die on the vine. The mobile version might have some initial success, but it won't last long.
All this rests at the feet of Bobby Kotick. His only thoughts are short term profits and his bonus check. It would take a miracle for Blizzard to turn this around. I do not see it happening. I have stopped playing all Blizzard games and I really don't see that changing. These Diablo projects will die on the vine. The mobile version might have some initial success, but it won't last long.
The best thing for the MMO industry and it's players is to watch Blizzard fail over and over again to the point it hits rock bottom and it either goes back to its core values or it disappears. They made their bed and now they need to lay in it.
its a good thing the top execs didn't need to take a pay cut due to the profitable year the company had, I was so worried about them. I cant imagine the struggles they would have to endure if they only made $1m-$5m instead of $5m-$24m. Thankfully they were able to layoff 8% of their employees instead to makeup for those increased earnings.
its a good thing the top execs didn't need to take a pay cut due to the profitable year the company had, I was so worried about them. I cant imagine the struggles they would have to endure if they only made $1m-$5m instead of $5m-$24m. Thankfully they were able to layoff 8% of their employees instead to makeup for those increased earnings.
Nice narrative, how about steering the ship in another direction, 8% were no longer needed.
He is probably going to trade PC gamers for mobile gamers.
Blizzard is a sellout for profit, but i do expect the stock to increase.
Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
Expect to see a Battle Royale mode or game (think HotS, where franchise characters are used). And probably a more advanced 'out of game' mini game for WoW.
...also, I suspect the WoW Store will start to see an influx of new mounts, battle pets, transmogs, and perhaps even character appearances (ie new hairstyles and faces). Hell, with the new character modeling, we might even see them take a page from FF14 and put emotes in the store.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.
Um, it's not the guys at the top that have all the power. All those little minions that work below them do. If they didn't like the direction the game/company was headed, they could have left. Some people did, those that remained liked the fact that they had a cushy job for far more time than anyone else could find in the same industry.
Those people you thought had a passion about making a good game were only interested in job security. The people who had a passion already left. You act as if everyone was a blind fool as to what was going on around them. They new exactly what was going on. They chose to ignore it.
The company is what it is today because that is what their employees let it become. This is the same Blizzard it has always been. You just chose to see it with rose colored glasses.
All I can say on the matter is that my pre-existing boycott of Blizzard still stands. It will stand until we get a proper Diablo game or remake. And if that never happens, then Blizzard will continue to be an irrelevant company to me.
When the guy at the helm cares more about how much money he gets than the success of the company or the well being of the company employees, well, i guess this is why Nintendo are a better company to work for than Blizzard, when the chips were down the upper echelons in the company took a pay cut to keep staff and boost morale, because they were the ones who would be responsible for turning around the companies fortunes, probably a foreign concept to Blizzard, which is why i think Blizzard are going to keep on failing.
When the guy at the helm cares more about how much money he gets than the success of the company or the well being of the company employees, well, i guess this is why Nintendo are a better company to work for than Blizzard, when the chips were down the upper echelons in the company took a pay cut to keep staff and boost morale, because they were the ones who would be responsible for turning around the companies fortunes, probably a foreign concept to Blizzard, which is why i think Blizzard are going to keep on failing.
I mean that's just one reason among many why Nintendo is, was, and always will be the best company in the industry.
I would just like to add IMHO, there is no CFO in the gaming industry worth a $15 million signing bonus plus the second highest salary in the company. Money better spent would have been giving each of the 800 that were let go an additional $18,750 in the final paycheck to help them land on their feet at another job. Just my thoughts.
...so how much do you pay a CFO in your private 10k employee company?
I never said the CFO shouldn't be paid a seven figure salary. What I did say is that no CFO is worth an eight figure signing bonus, maybe mid to high five figure if the person is experienced. Besides, Blizzard isn't a private company, ActivisionBlizzard is public.
...private because you won't have a board assigning you a CFO.
Once you get a CFO of qual experience to work for similar sized company and you will be paying him what you find "worthy", you can start talking about how Blizzard CFO isn't worth that money...until then...
Blizzard is dead. Just let it die. Put your money and support behind CD Projekt.
In due time CD Projekt will also disappoint you.
Mark my words.
Don't put your faith in companies above the product. Put your faith in the individual products and when those products no longer deliver, then walk away and you've invested in nothing more than what you needed.
People who partially tie up their personal identity with a corporate identity, unless they're a major stakeholder or owner, will only be disappointed in the long run. Anyone who you are paying for a product, should always be kept at an emotional arms length.
Sure, a really good game can invoke a lot of wonderful emotions and really offer you a great experience, but be very careful about extending those emotions to the company.
This is just needless pessimism.
By all means, don't give CDProjekt your social security number and set up a shrine to them in your closet. That goes without saying.
However, when a company's actions and products meet the ideal, we should not hesitate to praise them for it and support their products financially.
It is important to criticize and boycott those games and companies which are disappointing, but it is even more important that positive examples be rewarded. Money speaks, and the CDProjekts of the world will only stay as such while it is profitable for them to do so.
That's why when Nintendo releases a new Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Zelda, or Mario, I will be first in line to support them (not literally - I would much rather have that copy mailed to me). When Atlus puts years of research and passion into a new Persona or SMT, I'll buy a copy for myself and a friend. When CDProjekt shows up the entire industry with a new masterpiece, I'm getting a copy for all of my interested friends. When Arenanet releases a new expansion for Guild Wars 2, I'm getting the deluxe edition as repayment for all of their free content updates.
Support your favorite developers if you want them to remain your favorite developers. It's the most important thing we can do for our industry.
Comments
Hence, i don't play blizzard games. Last game i played was SC 2. I didnt bother even researching any thing they put out.
The only reason i played destiny was my brothers were playing it, when they made destiny 2, clearly way too early, i didnt even bothrr looking at it.
I kind of prefer the indie studios, problem is, with indie studios you sacrifice production quality for passion.
Also, this laying off of 800 workers is a restructuring so it kind of has nothing to do with record profits. Asking a CEO to take a pay cut instead of laying off workers who dont fit your new structure, is absurd.
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
If it is okay for a company to make a profit what is the problem?
Many here - in this and other articles related to the latest developments at Blizzard - are suggesting that its not okay to make TOO much profit.
How much is too much? Who determines the amount that is too much?
There are people living on and around literal dumps in the world that would call pretty much everyone here on this forum greedy based upon income comparisons......How bout you equal out your income with thiers. Sell your house, your car...gasp even your phone and go live on a dump, that will make everything better right?
Media everywhere is being used - much as governments and laws are used - to bludgeon people into submission by force, or fear.
I had to laugh at the "tribal capitalism" comment I saw in this thread. Tribalism as I understand the word is thriving in today's more 'civilized' society more than it ever has.
@SB Ford:
Perhaps MMORPG.com can send the additional revenue gained from these articles toward helping those displaced from Blizzard until they get their feet under them again? At least then some justice will be regained from making money off their sad story.
"Enter Activision
Activision has been around for a while. However, they left Blizzard alone for the most part as the studio kept making a lot of money for the company."
Missed in this is that back in 2014 Vivendi still owned Activision Blizzard.
Activision Blizzard was formed when Vivendi - who already owned Blizzard - bought Activision. With the then Blizzard CEO becoming deputy CEO. And you always had the impression that Blizzard - who will previously have reported up to Vivendi management - still had those contacts.
AB buying themselves out from Vivendi came at a (financial) cost. Independent AB has been "sweating the assets" and cutting back on costs - they ran the AB team down to 125 people for example, no surprise content between expansions dried up.
And buying King was another huge cost - instant growth though - at a price.
However I would go back if they made it free to play just see what's happening. I have a ton of gold marrooned there.
Mark my words.
Don't put your faith in companies above the product. Put your faith in the individual products and when those products no longer deliver, then walk away and you've invested in nothing more than what you needed.
People who partially tie up their personal identity with a corporate identity, unless they're a major stakeholder or owner, will only be disappointed in the long run. Anyone who you are paying for a product, should always be kept at an emotional arms length.
Sure, a really good game can invoke a lot of wonderful emotions and really offer you a great experience, but be very careful about extending those emotions to the company.
"complacent"? Well yes of course that is a given but in Blizzard's case i feel a bigger problem,they actually feel their products are good.
So now the bigger picture and it revolves around money.It is because Blizzard is so big and in the media so much that is is a VERY easy target for new upstart solo business minded people to make money off of Blizzard games.Being bigger/larger means way more viewers and potentially more money earned via the many facets such as You Tube,Twitch etc etc.
In the early days like when Wow became popular,when online gaming was becoming really big,account selling was very popular,so yet again,all about making money and what better platform than a busy game.
RMT,yet another factor in the bigger picture,want to make a ton of money,no problem ,hit up the bigger,busier games.There is a reason Blizzard shut down the D3 AH however in hindsight,they likely wish they kept it on as it meant more money for Blizzard.
So w/o getting into the many more facets feeding the bigger picture,it is easy to see how everyone surrounding the money side of gaming is going to praise and piggyback off of successful games because it means money for them.
So why would ANYONE making money off of Blizzard games want to say anything bad about them,well they won't and the ways the law and nda's protect these deceptive businesses ,means Blizzard actually thinks they are a AAA developer.I know otherwise,i can see all of their products,i played them to see for myself,they all look and feel like Indie games and aside from Wow they are all low budget cheaply designed games.
"How to fix it'?? Easy,start worrying about the QUALITY of your games instead of trying to market and create gimmick micro transactions to feed off of the whales.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Expect their game development and customer support to quickly become shite.
He is probably going to trade PC gamers for mobile gamers.
Blizzard is a sellout for profit, but i do expect the stock to increase.
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
Expect to see a Battle Royale mode or game (think HotS, where franchise characters are used). And probably a more advanced 'out of game' mini game for WoW.
...also, I suspect the WoW Store will start to see an influx of new mounts, battle pets, transmogs, and perhaps even character appearances (ie new hairstyles and faces). Hell, with the new character modeling, we might even see them take a page from FF14 and put emotes in the store.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.
Those people you thought had a passion about making a good game were only interested in job security. The people who had a passion already left. You act as if everyone was a blind fool as to what was going on around them. They new exactly what was going on. They chose to ignore it.
The company is what it is today because that is what their employees let it become. This is the same Blizzard it has always been. You just chose to see it with rose colored glasses.
Once you get a CFO of qual experience to work for similar sized company and you will be paying him what you find "worthy", you can start talking about how Blizzard CFO isn't worth that money...until then...
By all means, don't give CDProjekt your social security number and set up a shrine to them in your closet. That goes without saying.
However, when a company's actions and products meet the ideal, we should not hesitate to praise them for it and support their products financially.
It is important to criticize and boycott those games and companies which are disappointing, but it is even more important that positive examples be rewarded. Money speaks, and the CDProjekts of the world will only stay as such while it is profitable for them to do so.
That's why when Nintendo releases a new Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Zelda, or Mario, I will be first in line to support them (not literally - I would much rather have that copy mailed to me). When Atlus puts years of research and passion into a new Persona or SMT, I'll buy a copy for myself and a friend. When CDProjekt shows up the entire industry with a new masterpiece, I'm getting a copy for all of my interested friends. When Arenanet releases a new expansion for Guild Wars 2, I'm getting the deluxe edition as repayment for all of their free content updates.
Support your favorite developers if you want them to remain your favorite developers. It's the most important thing we can do for our industry.