Is Activision finally devouring Blizzard Entertainment?

Blizzard recently put out a video dubbed "Worlds Unite," showcasing the diverse franchises that accept spawned i of gaming'due south most defended, near passionate fanbases. I count myself amongst those fans, with literally over a year'due south worth of Earth of Warcraft playtime and hundreds of hours across Diablo, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch. But, after a yr of plunging quality, the divergence of Cofounder Mike Morhaime, and some dubious Activision-style moves, fans are concerned.

The "Worlds Unite" video on YouTube, at the time of posting, has a 2:1 similar-to-dislike ratio, with a stream of comments ranging from "cheers simply no cheers," to expletive-filled rants about Activision, which isn't exactly known for existence consumer-friendly. The same is true across Blizzard's Instagram and Twitter feeds, where fans of all Blizzard'southward worlds take indeed united — against what they see as a hostile corporate encroachment of what made Blizzard so cracking.

How did we become here? What will the time to come concord? Is this the terminate of Blizzard as we know it?

A twelvemonth of missteps

Many will argue that we started to run into uncharacteristic greed on Blizzard's behalf long before 2022, with manipulative, gambling boodle crates in Overwatch and overpriced micropayments in the World of Warcraft store. But it actually feels like things came to a head this year.

Somehow, Blizzard has managed to upset not one but several of its core fanbases this yr, and I'grand sure there are numerous other grievances core fans are enlightened of. For me, information technology all started with this summer'due south Battle for Azeroth expansion for World of Warcraft. What is arguably the least-stable, least-balanced, and maybe, least fun expansion in recent retentivity, Battle for Azeroth launched in an exceptionally bad country. Poor features in the form of Warfronts and Island Expeditions, combined with ever-increasingly frustrating loot and progression systems, and a litany of other problems, go on to brand Boxing for Azeroth a controversy that won't seem to become away. It's all the more painful when you consider the previous expansion, Legion, could be considered the all-time ever.

The dreaded Azerite progression systems that made WoW ho-hum.

Not long afterwards Battle for Azeroth soured Warcraft fans' opinions of Blizzard's apparent dismissal of its long-held "ship when it'southward ready" mantra, Blizzard angered Diablo fans with 1 of the biggest PR disasters of contempo memory. At Blizzcon 2022, Blizzard revealed the latest Diablo projection to the franchise's most passionate, hardcore PC loyalists — a reskinned NetEase Diablo clone specifically for mobile devices. When asked if the game would always come to PC, Blizzard's reply was "don't you guys take phones?" which has become a meme-worthy analogy for corporate tone deafness.

About recently, Blizzard revealed information technology was shutting down Heroes of the Storm'south esports programs, putting dozens of people out of work right before Christmas. Additionally, Blizzard warned fans not to await as much support every bit the game had enjoyed in previous years, although a smaller development coiffure would remain to maintain the free-to-play MOBA.

Blizzard had been criticized earlier 2022 for the way it has handled things. Diablo III's launch was mired in controversy for its "colourful" tone, weak connectivity, and existent money sale business firm, and previous WoW expansions similar Warlord's of Draenor disappointed fans too. But somehow, information technology feels a little different in 2022. And things are a little different.

Putting the Activision in Activision-Blizzard

Kotaku has washed a ton of reporting on the situation at Blizzard, speaking to by and present employees. The common narrative is that Activision is exerting more than influence over Blizzard's creative direction in contempo years, pushing the visitor to cut costs and release more games.

Activision's about notable cadre franchise, Call of Duty, releases on an annual cadence with fairly minimal changes. Blackness Ops 4 launched this year, setting records despite having cut its entrada manner, and shipping with a range of remastered maps rather than, y'all know, new ones. Call of Duty is also notorious for its poor networking infrastructure that has never really seen whatever serious bumps in quality. By cut corners, Call of Duty maximizes its margins in a mode I worry Activision hopes Blizzard tin can emulate, in what has proven to be a modest year for the corporation financially.

Upwardly until recently, it felt very much similar Blizzard was a separate entity with completely different standards of quality, where fans of all franchises came together and celebrated everything Blizzard, with a ton of cantankerous-over between those core backdrop. At present, Destiny 2 and Call of Duty feature prominently in Blizzard's marketing and PC launcher, which is non something many fans want to see. Will there be Telephone call of Duty booths at Blizzcon next year? Destiny skins in Overwatch? The fears may be unfounded, but with Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime stepping downwards, he was seen by many equally the concluding line of defense against Activision's encroachment.

The future?

It's easy to betoken the finger at Activision for the recent cavalcade of missteps at Blizzard. Activision, every bit an entity, actually doesn't seem to care what its customers think, nor does information technology seem fifty-fifty slightly bothered nigh its paradigm equally an unfeeling, greedy megacorp. That is perchance in part because millions of players are more than happy to option up Call of Duty every twelvemonth, and more than happy to soldier on in Destiny ii, which has also endured its fair share of criticism. For what Activision core franchises seem to lack in try, they generally deliver in terms of pure casual fun. Only put, while in that location is a lot of racket on social media virtually Activision's influences on Blizzard, at that place may be even more people who just don't care.

Peradventure the core fans who concur Blizzard to that level of quality we've come up to expect volition move on and be replaced by a new generation of less discerning gamers Activision might run into as more assisting. Perhaps Blizzard will right itself in 2022 and across, and we can write off this year as an anomaly. A reportedly much-darker Diablo 4 is apparently on the way, despite its no-prove at Blizzcon 2022.

As an Overwatch player, a Diablo faithful, a Warcraft devotee, and a Heroes of the Storm fan, I can't assist simply be disappointed in Blizzard as of belatedly. I don't want to succumb to negativity, but the company has done little to reassure me recently, and I get the feeling plenty of other Blizzard fans feel the same mode. We tin only really sentinel and expect to see where the hereafter takes the visitor, and whether it'due south time to simply accept that no monarch rules forever.

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