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Top French Publication Says Diablo 4 Has Been Shown to Blizzard Employees

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Le Monde, one of France's most respected publications, said in a piece published yesterday (full content for subscribers only) about the layoffs at Blizzard Europe and that Diablo 4 was shown to Blizzard employees.

The article focuses mostly on the struggles at Blizzard Europe caused by the process of laying off 30% of the employees, which has apparently not been completed yet. Later in the article, the author starts explaining Blizzard's current situation, with most of its titles reaching the end of their lives or having not performed as expected. The following paragraph then follows about the future of the company.

Quote

Quid de l’avenir ? Les équipes de Blizzard Entertainment ont déjà eu le droit à une présentation du très attendu Diablo 4 et savent qu’un nouveau Overwatch est dans les tuyaux. Mais aucun ne sortira avant 2020, au mieux, et les salariés de Versailles ignorent s’ils en verront la couleur. « Activision Blizzard fera moins de bénéfices, mais fera quand même beaucoup de bénéfices », veut croire un vétéran.

This translates as:

What about the future? Teams at Blizzard Entertainment have already been presented with the long-awaited Diablo 4 and know that a new Overwatch game is in development. But neither of these two games will be released before 2020, at the very best, and employees at Versailles have no idea if they will still be around when they eventually release. « Activision Blizzard will be making less of a profit, but this will still amount to a lot of profit », says a veteran employee.

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It is rather disturbing when you read this article....as a fan and or loyal patron of any franchise you want the company to succeed, flourish, and create exceptional content.  However you also don't want to feel as if the final product you received has been 'slapped together' at the very last moment with a sense of disappointment for waiting on years for it to be released in the first place.

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22 minutes ago, Ragingwolf said:

It is rather disturbing when you read this article....as a fan and or loyal patron of any franchise you want the company to succeed, flourish, and create exceptional content.  However you also don't want to feel as if the final product you received has been 'slapped together' at the very last moment with a sense of disappointment for waiting on years for it to be released in the first place.

Just show blizz the freefolk sub on reddit to show what awaits for a hyped project with a disappointing end...

 

They could look at Blizz related threads too but that ones salty enough. (I agree, S8 was a rubbish ending, but no amount of moaning will fix that or make them redo it...)

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40 minutes ago, Ragingwolf said:

It is rather disturbing when you read this article....as a fan and or loyal patron of any franchise you want the company to succeed, flourish, and create exceptional content.  However you also don't want to feel as if the final product you received has been 'slapped together' at the very last moment with a sense of disappointment for waiting on years for it to be released in the first place.

Moral of the story: people refuse to be content.

*shrug*

 

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Blizzard used to wait years past the original "expected release date".     They held to the "wait until it's ready" in the face of everything.

And it worked.     Quality products take time and testing.  The moment they began trying to meet deadlines no matter the readiness or testing state of the product is when the real Blizzard Entertainment died.   

Edited by Migol
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was there any more information about how D4 looks like or what kind of systems (like for skills, attributes etc) it uses or the itemization it has?

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7 minutes ago, clueso said:

was there any more information about how D4 looks like or what kind of systems (like for skills, attributes etc) it uses or the itemization it has?

Sure not. But one can easily speculate that if Diablo 4 exists and will survive enough to be released, it will surely be cross-platform and will have microtransactions.

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1 hour ago, Ragingwolf said:

It is rather disturbing when you read this article....as a fan and or loyal patron of any franchise you want the company to succeed, flourish, and create exceptional content.  However you also don't want to feel as if the final product you received has been 'slapped together' at the very last moment with a sense of disappointment for waiting on years for it to be released in the first place.

What's more interesting is why they keep Diablo 4 still as a secret. It's important to note that they never officially named this "Diablo project" as "4". Perhaps it has something to do with them testing games from different genres. Apparently there were some cancelled projects, which makes me wonder if new Diablo is really the 4th, straight continuation and more of the same, or something else.

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It almost has to be a continuation as Diablo 3 left off storywise with Tyrion almost anointing the Nephalim as the new threat.

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4 hours ago, Migol said:

It almost has to be a continuation as Diablo 3 left off storywise with Tyrion almost anointing the Nephalim as the new threat.

But if us (the nephalem) have transcended to a power level matching archangels and prime evils (effectively the most powerful beings of the Diablo Universe), who can stop him/her? 

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44 minutes ago, VirgilvanDijk said:

Meh, not bothered by any ill Diablo 4 news. PoE is great and Baldur's Gate 4 is in the making.

Yet bothered enough to leave this comment. Anyway, I seriously doubt anyone is too excited for Diablo 4. If game releases of the past few years have taught us anything - that is not to get hyped by anything and expect at least playability.

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14 hours ago, Migol said:

Blizzard used to wait years past the original "expected release date". They held to the "wait until it's ready" in the face of everything.

And it worked. Quality products take time and testing.  The moment they began trying to meet deadlines no matter the readiness or testing state of the product is when the real Blizzard Entertainment died.   

Used to? Reports say they recently canceled a Starcraft FPS Shooter and completely rebooted Diablo 4 in 2016. Even Diablo: Immortal is taking longer to release than they initially anticipated. They're still shipping games when they're ready, or not at all.

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15 hours ago, Migol said:

Blizzard used to wait years past the original "expected release date".     They held to the "wait until it's ready" in the face of everything.

And it worked.     Quality products take time and testing.  The moment they began trying to meet deadlines no matter the readiness or testing state of the product is when the real Blizzard Entertainment died.   

They still don't hold onto deadlines and do as they used to. Diablo Immortal is delayed, other projects canceled. And the WarCraft 3 Reforged Beta, which was supposed to come during spring time, also got delayed.

IMHO the problem is the mix of two things. 
High demands from a community who just complains and is never thankful.
And the high popularity and quality of previous games which is always hard to surpass.

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3 minutes ago, Alkasar said:

They still don't hold onto deadlines and do as they used to. Diablo Immortal is delayed, other projects canceled. And the WarCraft 3 Reforged Beta, which was supposed to come during spring time, also got delayed.

IMHO the problem is the mix of two things. 
High demands from a community who just complains and is never thankful.
And the high popularity and quality of previous games which is always hard to surpass.

Although W3 Reforged is slated to release no later than end of december 2019, so they have to keep this date, since pre-orders are being sold (I think it makes them obliged to do so by law, they were never late in similar cases with WoW expansions).

Demands from community matter, but not as much when making decisions. People active on forums don't always represent what will sell. Best quite recent example was a backlash against void elf race on forums, yet by statistics they are the most played allied race on Alliance, surpassing even some vanilla ones. If "community" is to be believed, almost no one should be playing them.

Another issue is that they are trying to capitalise on current gold rush, whatever genre/mechanics are popular these days. That's why we are not going to see another RTS, "good enough" numbers are not good for company and it's share holders. They are aiming at numbers similar to top games like Fortnite as much as possible. In Blizzard's case, it's also Overwatch's "fault", when it exploded during first year, so this sets high expectations in the company, what should be considered successful. 

As for Diablo, there is going to be backlash anyway, especially from those hating on Diablo 3. Those who are expecting Diablo 2 with better graphics (because, according to them, Diablo 3 "failed"), are going to be disappointed and will keep complaining anyway.

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4 minutes ago, Arcling said:

As for Diablo, there is going to be backlash anyway, especially from those hating on Diablo 3. Those who are expecting Diablo 2 with better graphics (because, according to them, Diablo 3 "failed"), are going to be disappointed and will keep complaining anyway.

True. I have a friend who's really into Vanilla WoW and he's always into some new drama about WoW Classic being different and not what he wants. This is just neverending. It's actually funny since you brought up Fortnite. Fortnite Reddit was always incredibly whiny and bitchy about pretty much everything, and sometimes good new ideas from devs got buried or implemented but then removed only because the devs were listening to the most active minority they would abandon their own game design philosophy to fit.

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19 hours ago, Migol said:

It almost has to be a continuation as Diablo 3 left off storywise with Tyrion almost anointing the Nephalim as the new threat.

Wait, when did I miss the Nephalem trying to take Casterly Rock and Red Keep?

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18 hours ago, Alkasar said:

IMHO the problem is the mix of two things. 
High demands from a community who just complains and is never thankful.
And the high popularity and quality of previous games which is always hard to surpass.

YES, the community is at fault.

Like with Anthem!

It's only the community who isn't greatful that they are allowed to pay money. No, they even demand a good game in return.

How dare they???

"Give us your money and shut up"

 

Yes, there is a lot of complains, especially about formerly great companies like Bioware and Blizzard.

But why is this? Because the community is ungrateful? No. Because they expect games to be decent.

Blizzard-games still work great in the technical aspect. Gameflow is good, I've never played a Hack and Slay that can even remotely compare to Diablo in how fights / skills feel.
Starcraft 2 has very good gameplay.

However, technic is just one part of a game. Another one is the story. Storytelling, characters, dialogue, atmosphere.

And here Blizzard fails horribly. The games are empty shells.
And the marketing department of Blizzrd should all be fired. How they handle every new thing in the last years is beyond description. They pump up bullshit and sell it to you like it is the greatest inventory ever. Diablo is the best example. Since years they talk big, how important Diablo is. What big projects they have. And then we get Darkening of Tristram. Which would MAY be acceptable if it would be a fan-made modification. Then we get Blizzcon and Diablo Immoral.
Hearthstone. They talk about the new solo adventure. How awesome it will be. How many possibilities. And as soon as you play it you realize: Absolutly no story, the possibilities are mathematically correct, but have next to no influence to your gameplay, bosses get repeated over and over and over again. And after wing 3 you have seen everything the adventure has to offer. More then once. More like thrice.
And you could spent 20 bucks for this!

Bioware has reached a point in which nothing is done well. Story is non existend or horrible. Gameplay is buggy and bad. In fact Anthem isn't even a "real" game, it is more like a beta with at least 50% of the content still missing. Sold for full price.


That's why the community - at least part of the community - is not satisfied. With Bioware most are unhappy. With Blizzard it is a little better.

 

If you take a look at companies that make great games you will realize that good work is received warmly by the community.

The Witcher 3 was an outstanding project. The game was awesome and both expansions were brilliant. Gamelay was good (however, personally I would have preferred a smaller world) AND the storytelling was fantastic. Great characters, important decisions, hard decisions.

XCOM - the new games in this franchise were fantastic and a new reference for turn-based strategy. Again, both games got great expansions. Not a cheap money-grab, no, there was a lot it added to the game.
Personally I preferred the first game, it was more difficult and you had much more of a feeling: *filtered*, I need much more money, because I need new weapons for my soldiers. I need to build my base. I need more fightercrafts. More, more, more. And money was always short.  The second game had this feeling way less. Still, it was a really good game.

Did the community whine about those games? Did it complain? No. Because the games were great.

 

Or look at smaller games like The Banner Saga. For less money then you could buy the horribly boring new hearthstone Adventure you can buy the first part of the Banner Saga. A fantastic game with great story and characters. The fighting-system is interesting, however in some aspects not absolutly perfect. But the world is so rich, it is so interesting and some moments can be heart-breaking.
Compared to that you just get *filtered* from Blizzard.

 

But yeah, it is only the community who is at fault. Sure...

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23 hours ago, WedgeAntilles said:

Yes, there is a lot of complains, especially about formerly great companies like Bioware and Blizzard.

Blizzard made the best games when they just did their thing. We didnt ask for Diablo 2 or Warcraft 2, they just made them. Pretty much like Nintendo still does it today and makes good games.

But these days not even Warcraft Reforged gets positive feedback. Nothing. It is just "Fix this.", "Change that", "You suck". And these senseless comments and feedbacks made WoW and Diablo3 into what they are. The major changes in those games started with demands on the Forums. Blizzards biggest mistake is that they listen too much, and the community has just become more toxic than the LoL community. Criticism is alright. But not what happens right now.

Edited by Alkasar

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5 hours ago, Alkasar said:

Blizzard made the best games when they just did their thing. We didnt ask for Diablo 2 or Warcraft 2, they just made them. Pretty much like Nintendo still does it today and makes good games.

WoW and D3 did a lot of things that were against the "community" (BfA still does). Hence why some praise Diablo 2. Nintendo... barely exists in many countries (I know, it must sound strange for people from these console-centric countries), especially those where PC is the dominant platform, so overall global community is smaller and less attention is being paid to it. Diablo 2 was released in a very different time, so you can't really compare it with modern games. Most people back then didn't have internet, so memories of it will always be better, as there was no influence from other people's opinions, whatever opinions existed, were heavily localized.

Edited by Arcling

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7 hours ago, Alkasar said:

Blizzard made the best games when they just did their thing. We didnt ask for Diablo 2 or Warcraft 2, they just made them. Pretty much like Nintendo still does it today and makes good games.

But these days not even Warcraft Reforged gets positive feedback. Nothing. It is just "Fix this.", "Change that", "You suck". And these senseless comments and feedbacks made WoW and Diablo3 into what they are. The major changes in those games started with demands on the Forums. Blizzards biggest mistake is that they listen too much, and the community has just become more toxic than the LoL community. Criticism is alright. But not what happens right now.

I am not with you.

Ok, maybe I do not spent enough time with "community" (whatever that is), but I am quite sure the community didn't ask for real-money auction house. Or no quests (remember some of the great side-quests in Diablo 2? Tower of the Baroness in Act 1 e.g.? Or some interesting quest-rewards?). Or a story that is to "fremdschämen" since act 3?

That were some big points - and the horrible story btw is why I discouraged several friends from buying Diablo 3. Personally I played it a lot, because the combat-mechanic works great. But if you are not that into hack and slay and you want a game with good story and awesome atomsphere - then Diablo 3 is just horrible.

In other parts I do not get the critic, I am with you there. The possibilities to change skills is a MUST HAVE IMO. I do not get the crying in this.

But if you take a look at the last 3 years: the Darkening of Tristram Event, Blizzcon 2018 - are you really surprised about the rage?

 

Never played WoW, can't say anything about it.

 

Blizzard games just lack what they had in earlier years. Heart and soul. They are only a polished shiny big of nothing. But at least the game-meachanics still work great. That's much more then can be said about Bioware e.g. That's why I'd still rate Blizzard as maybe 5 or even 6 from 10. But that's a long fall from 9 or even 10 out of 10.

 

And please do not say that this is just because "everything was better earlier on" - I named several games from the last years that are awesome. Some of them from small companies. Or even free to play!

X Com. The Witcher. LIfe is Strange. The Banner Saga. Doki Doki Literature Club (absolutly amazing!). Gone Home. This war of mine.

There are still lots of games that are awesome. That touch you deeply emotional. That are amazing. That are "perfect".

But those games are not from Ubisoft, EA, Bioware. Or from Blizzard. And 15 years ago if you made of list of amazing games nearly everyone had games from Lucas Arts, Blizzard and / or Bioware in this list. That you can now make a list of the best 20 games in the last 5 years and there isn't a single game from those companies - that makes me sad and sometimes angry.

Edited by Guest

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13 hours ago, WedgeAntilles said:

And please do not say that this is just because "everything was better earlier on" - I named several games from the last years that are awesome. Some of them from small companies. Or even free to play!

X Com. The Witcher. LIfe is Strange. The Banner Saga. Doki Doki Literature Club (absolutly amazing!). Gone Home. This war of mine.

There are still lots of games that are awesome. That touch you deeply emotional. That are amazing. That are "perfect".

But those games are not from Ubisoft, EA, Bioware. Or from Blizzard. And 15 years ago if you made of list of amazing games nearly everyone had games from Lucas Arts, Blizzard and / or Bioware in this list. That you can now make a list of the best 20 games in the last 5 years and there isn't a single game from those companies - that makes me sad and sometimes angry.

I have played computer games for so many years. (Do not guess my age - but there was no screen on the first computer I tried . And you had to use carboard cards with holes in them to input the program).

X Com. The Wicher and "This war of mine" are so full of stories. Have played them again and again.

Loved Heroes. Hated what Ubisoft did with the series in the end. Loved EAs Genarals (and Red Alert and Command & Conquer) (lets not discuss EA)

Really loved Total Annihilation from Cave Dog. (Actually also like Ubers Planetary Annihilation)

Really really love Dawn of War (still play the Ultimate Apocalypse Mod)

All these games have story AND game play. (PA is a bit low on story :-))

Some of the first versions of them are from a time when you needed to carry 150 kg of computer hardware to a single location and use 2 - 3 hours to connect them together to get 6 people to play in network.

 

Now you can play Heartstone on your mobile while riding the train. And have just as much fun.

I am happy that there still are companies that make AAA games that are "fantastic" games for people like me.

But as WedgeAntilles says it is not the same companies any more. Most of the big ones do not target people like me.

I believe Blizzard makes god games. Some of them I like a lot some of them not so much. Some of them I like for the story (Starcraft I and II). Some for the gameplay  - Sorry but I keep comming back to Heartstone. I find it too addictive - even if Blizzard manipulate the meta with nerfs to make more money - oh sorry - was that a standard community remark? ? 

I pay for those of Blizzards games I find good. If Blizzard do not make money (yes - I know they make good money)  they have no reason to make more of the same type of games.

But I am affraid that when King can make so many money on Candy Crush. It makes less sense for Blizzard to invest programming time in good stories. There are so many people with mobile phones

But I do hope they will continue with the stories.     

    

Edited by PanPan

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On 6/22/2019 at 6:36 AM, Stan said:

Used to? Reports say they recently canceled a Starcraft FPS Shooter and completely rebooted Diablo 4 in 2016. Even Diablo: Immortal is taking longer to release than they initially anticipated. They're still shipping games when they're ready, or not at all.

You say that, but they're trying to get WoW expansions and various games preordered with a qualifying "To be released on or before _____".      And boy howdee, some of those have -not- been well received, BFA is just the clearest example to date.    

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11 hours ago, PanPan said:

Loved Heroes. Hated what Ubisoft did with the series in the end. Loved EAs Genarals (and Red Alert and Command & Conquer) (lets not discuss EA)

 

Oh yeah, Heroes 5 was such an awesome game! Both AddOns were great too and I played them three times.

I was excited about Heroes 6, but what a disappointment. Story wasn't even bad and some of the Dynasty-features were fun - but WHY did they have to destroy the AI completly? Sure, AI in Heroes was never great. But it was good enough to have fun with it.

In Heroes 6 I had several huge battles (laying siege to a town) - with the enemy outnumbering me drastically. But I had more ranged units. And the AI just did nothing with the melee units. After 2 rounds I had eleminated his ranged units - and the enemy just waited behind the walls until he was destroyed 20 turns later.

The AddOn I bought for 5? bucks or something like that. Whole Heroes 6 was such a disappointment after Heroes 5.

And Heroes 7? After Heroes 6 I was sceptical - and unfortunatly completly right. Bug disaster. Boring game. I played it 2? years later, after I got it as full version (without add on) from a computer magazine.

From buying the full price + 2 full price add ons (heroes 5) I decended to full price + extremly cheap add on + didn't bother to buy it at all (Heroes 7).

They completly *filtered* a franchise that made several sucessfull games that had a good, caring and enthusiastic community. (Sure, it was never a game that made several hundred millions - but it netted the developers some good money.)

 

And C&C is a crime too. I loved the first C&C, it was a revolution for RTS. Before you played Dune 2 - which was a good game, don't get me wrong. But you had to select each unit, you had no mechanic to select more then one unit....

C&C was a very interesting setting, great story and interesting characters. Great cut-scenes too. Still remember the one on an GDI Carrier and a reporter tells about the GDI flying attacks against Nod. Awesome.

Over the years there were some really good games, some quite "insane" games (like Red Alert) that were "crazy" but very fun to play.

And C&C Generals established a new setting. Not the crazy Red Alert, not GDI vs NOD but a more realistic terror-setting.

A great game. And the last C&C game that was high quality.

Everything that came later got worse and worse. Cain had be an interesting character, in C&C 3 he became a laughing stock. They completly forgot how to tell a story, how to make the story interesting and not something you pity. Similar to Blizzard.

And today? C&C is dead, sucessfully killed.

Maybe it will be revived someday. May hopes are very slow.

 

Like I said: It makes me said. And angry.

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On 6/22/2019 at 11:48 AM, Kuarinofu said:

Yet bothered enough to leave this comment. Anyway, I seriously doubt anyone is too excited for Diablo 4. If game releases of the past few years have taught us anything - that is not to get hyped by anything and expect at least playability.

Your first sentence makes little sense to me. You presume that I do not care about the diablo franchise which is not true. Anyway, there are potential grounds to get excited if they actually listen to the community and deliver a game with good lore and mechanics closer to the original games. They certainly have examples of the same genre that puts smiles on peoples faces. Nobody wants Diablo 4 to be a Diablo 3 clone with prettier graphics. Now we wait and enjoy the fruits of other developers that seem to spark excitement. Blizzard can turn this around, but we will have to see how it pans out.

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      One of the other major projects this year has been taking a deep look at the mission, vision and values upon which Blizzard was built. We have been talking about how these values are interpreted and lived, how they could be improved or modernized, and everyone at Blizzard had the chance to have their voice heard in this critical work. This is a project that our employees, as well as players, will see the results of in the new year.

      We’ve also made solid progress advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I): we held a successful fourth Women's Summit, we deployed DE&I-focused training across all employees, we’ve expanded self-identification options to be more inclusive, and over the past year, we increased the percentage representation of women and non-binary people within Blizzard from 22% to 25% while also increasing the percentage of employees from under-represented ethnic groups from 34% to 36%. While this is progress, our commitment is that our focus on culture and inclusion will be a core part of our everyday efforts at Blizzard. This work will never be done. For you – our players – our hope is that you are seeing it in our games, the way we communicate, and more. We’re learning along the way, and it’s all of you who are keeping us on the right track.

      We have received a lot of feedback this year, and our teams are always listening—as we grow in these areas, we have had important moments that help us learn and be better. Our players are always quick to let us know what they are thinking and feeling, and for that, I want to thank you. I’m three years into my journey at Blizzard, and not long into having the privilege of playing a small role in leading Blizzard forward. It’s inspiring to work here: every day, I learn from Blizzard and learn from you, and as we close out 2022, I couldn’t be more thankful for that.
      Finally, to our wonderful teams at Blizzard: thank you. We’re on a journey together to create an amazing culture that fosters and enables creative energy and fresh thinking. Together we’re bringing Blizzard back, better than ever.
      Take care this holiday season: spend time with loved ones, your favorite games, your favorite movies and books, and take the time for yourselves. We’ll be doing the same.
      I’ll see you in Azeroth, Sanctuary, the tavern, and in the optimistic vision of the future!
      - Mike “Qwik” Ybarra
    • By Starym
      As was was expected, the US Federal Trade Commission has now voted and filed a suit to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, saying the deal would harm competition. As reported by Bloomberg, the commission voted 3-1 on the matter and already filed the suit. The proceedings usually take from several months to a year to resolve, and here's what Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition had to say:
      Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals. Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets. Microsoft has been trying to address the exclusivity issues recently, offering 10 year Call of Duty availability deals to Steam, Nintendo and Sony, to assuage their concerns about Activision Blizzard titles becoming available on Microsoft platforms only, as the main focal point of the exclusivity discussion has been Activision's premiere FPS franchise.
      This also isn't the only legislative opposition the merger faces, as both UK and EU organizations and legislative bodies are in the process of evaluating whether the deal can be approved. When it comes to the FTC, since Lina Khan was appointed to lead the agency in 2021, it has successfully blocked  mergers between Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings as well as Nvidia ’s attempt to buy ARM.
      Here's the full press release from the FTC:
      FTC Seeks to Block Microsoft Corp.’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc.
      Agency alleges that maker of Xbox would gain control of top video game franchises, enabling it to harm competition in high-performance gaming consoles and subscription services by denying or degrading rivals’ access to its popular content December 8, 2022   The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its blockbuster gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, alleging that the $69 billion deal, Microsoft’s largest ever and the largest ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.
      In a complaint issued today, the FTC pointed to Microsoft’s record of acquiring and using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles, including its acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks (a well-known game developer). Microsoft decided to make several of Bethesda's titles including Starfield and Redfall Microsoft exclusives despite assurances it had given to European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles.
      “Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” said Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
      Microsoft’s Xbox Series S and Series X are one of only two types of high performance video game consoles. Importantly, Microsoft also offers a leading video game content subscription service called Xbox Game Pass, as well as a cutting-edge cloud-based video game streaming service, according to the complaint.
      Activision is one of only a very small number of top video game developers in the world that create and publish high-quality video games for multiple devices, including video game consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. It produces some of the most iconic and popular video game titles, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch, and has a combined 154 million monthly active users around the world, according to the FTC’s complaint. Activision currently has a strategy of offering its games on many devices regardless of producer.
      But that could change if the deal is allowed to proceed. With control over Activision’s blockbuster franchises, Microsoft would have both the means and motive to harm competition by manipulating Activision’s pricing, degrading Activision’s game quality or player experience on rival consoles and gaming services, changing the terms and timing of access to Activision’s content, or withholding content from competitors entirely, resulting in harm to consumers.
      The Commission vote to issue the complaint was 3-1, with Commissioner Christine S. Wilson voting no. A copy of the administrative complaint will be available shortly.
      NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The issuance of the administrative complaint marks the beginning of a proceeding in which the allegations will be tried in a formal hearing before an administrative law judge.
      The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about how competition benefits consumers or file an antitrust complaint.  For the latest news and resources, follow the FTC on social media, subscribe to press releases and read our blog.
    • By Starym
      Here's some potentially bad news for the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft, as Politico is reporting that it is likely the US FTC will be filing a lawsuit to stop the acquisition - based on three sources "familiar with the matter". A lawsuit could postpone the deal's timing and even endanger it altogether, regardless of its result.
      The acquisition deal has seen a lot of pressure and antitrust probes coming from many sides (including several other countries' regulating bodies and watchdog organizations), as it could constitute an unfair boost for Microsoft's side. The most vocal voice against the sale is Microsoft's chief console competitor, Sony, who argues that the sale would open the door to making many Activision Blizzard games (mostly focusing on Call of Duty) exclusive to Microsoft platforms. This, Sony argues, would significantly disadvantage Sony platforms and leave consumers with less choices for gaming.
      A lawsuit challenging the deal is not guaranteed, and the FTC’s four commissioners have yet to vote out a complaint or meet with lawyers for the companies, two of the people said. However, the FTC staff reviewing the deal are skeptical of the companies’ arguments, those people said.
      The investigation remains ongoing, but much of the heavy lifting is completed, including depositions of Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Activision head Bobby Kotick, the people with knowledge of the investigation said. If the agency does move ahead with a case, it could come as soon as next month, said the people, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss a confidential matter.
      - Politico's Josh Sisco
      Well known gaming industry journalist Jason Schreier also weighed in on the story as well:
      You can read the full Politico article here, as it goes in to detail about both Microsoft and Sony's arguments so far, as well as Google and Epic's involvement.
    • By Starym
      A pretty big bombshell was dropped a couple of days ago, as Blizzard announced the end of their partnership with NetEase and a possible end of their games being available in China. We've seen the official posts and responses, but there's a lot of context missing there. Luckily for us, however, well known Chinese WoW community figure NasDa has jumped in to explain things and add some new information and even rumors. 
      There's actually quite a few new elements presented below, from a rumor of an (unlikely) potential  new partner for Blizzard,     an explanation on how exactly publishing and certification work in China and how long it takes, the potential Microsoft involvement, the fact that the last time Blizzard did something like this China got WotLK almost a year later, and more.
      The below is from a TwitLonger by NasDa:
      All the base knowlegde you need to know about this Blizzard-NetEase CATASTROPHE.
      - Foreign game companies must work with a domestic game publisher who will operate the game in China. That's why you never see CN region on Blizzard's map when a new patch is about to hit the live servers. CN region is basically in another "parallel universe". It's like peeing in a dark rainy night, you know it's definitely there, but you can't really tell where.

      - The publishing partner for Microsoft in China is NetEase, ironically.

      - Chinese law requires all digital games to receive a license from the regulator to be published in China.

      - In the past getting a game license is not an issue. Since last year it's been extremely difficult for any game, domestic or foreign, to receive a license, even more so for the latter. Last time a foreign title received a lisence was over 500 days ago. Popular ones like PUBG, Fortnite, Apex and Valorant still don't have their Chinese publishing licenses yet. All Tencent games.

      - China has resumed issuing new game licenses since April, for dometic games.

      - Changing a publishing partnership means re-applying for game licenses even if the games are already approved by the regulator and it could take months or even years.

      - This is the second time Blizzard changes their Chinese publishing partner. 14 years ago, Blizzard ended the partnership with their first partner, The 9, and then started worked with NetEase. Combining the process of re-applying for new game license for TBC expansion due to changing the partnership from The 9 to NetEase and the difficulty of getting a game license for WotLK expansion, the original Burning Crusade exapanion in CN region lasted for a total of 1090 days. Chinese players were forced to play LK pre-patch for 19 months. Imaging playing TBC for 3 whole years.

      NetEase launched WotLK expansion in CN region on 31/08/2010. Just giving you an idea of how late that was. Paragon killed Arthas on 26th of March 2010. LOL. This is one of the reasons why LK classics is so popular in China.

      Now you can see why Blizz and NetEase's "divorce" is widely considered to be a BLOODY CATASTROPHE by the Chinese community.

      - Potenital buyer or interesting parties:

      miHoYo, the developer of Genshin Impact, has denies the rumors of licensing deal with Blizzard;

      Tencent replied that there was no relevant news internally for the time being;

      Perfect world is another hot candidate according to rumors;

      My source told me(and it's a good source), ByteDance, the parent company of Tiktok will be the successor or at least in the lead.

      "Does ByteDance have any experience of operating a game before?" Ye, that was my first question but I guess time will tell.

      - NetEase has promised that they will be issuing refund for all the players that still have remaining blizzard bucks and active game time in their accounts.

      - After 24th of Jan. all Blizzard services in China will be shutting down. I still don't know what to do after that and where to play wow yet.

      Thanks a lot to NasDa for all this information and I really do hope something can be done before January 23rd, as I cannot even imagine simply losing your entire WoW account, not to mention other Blizzard games - even temporarily, and especially with the potential of it being permanently gone. There are so many Chinese players who are part of the WoW community it would truly be a tragedy to see them lose everything they worked, a decade+ of time invested into the game could simply disappear.
    • By Staff
      Update: there's now also a very interesting comment from the NetEase Global Investment and Partnership President, which you can find at the bottom of the article.

      We now also have two NetEase messages to their Blizzard game players, detailing exactly what will happen on January 24th, when their license ends, from the Battle.net client being shut down, to support of new releases before that date, what will happen to character data and more. 

      Thanks to Neo once again for translating the below statement. 
      NetEase (Source)
      To all of you, dear Blizzard gamers.
      Thank you for your continued support and love of Blizzard products. We are honored to have worked with you for 14 years to create and share an unforgettable gaming experience, and once again, we thank you most sincerely!
      Due to the expiration of our agreement with Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone Legend, Overwatch Return, Diablo III, StarCraft II, Warcraft III: Remastered, Heroes of the Storm (collectively referred to as "Blizzard products"), which are operated by Shanghai NetEase Network Technology Development Co, will terminate operation at 0:00 on January 24, 2023, and we hereby notify you of the following matters related to the termination of operation in mainland China.
      November 23, 2022 onwards, we will close Blizzard game products in Battle.net and the client paid service and user registration portal.
      During the period from November 23, 2022 to January 23, 2023, the servers of Blizzard game products will be open normally, and the content update of World of Warcraft "Dragonflight", Hearthstone Legend "The March Of The Lich King" and "Overwatch Return Season 2" will be available as usual, and users can continue to log in and experience the game content. At the same time, users will still be able to spend their Battle.net points and virtual currency on their accounts.
      From 0:00 on January 24, 2023, the operation of Blizzard game products will be officially stopped, Battle.net login and all game servers will be closed, as well as the client download.
      After the game servers are closed, all account data and character data in each game (including but not limited to character data, remaining game time, each game's items, materials, subscription and paid information, etc.) will be sealed. We will properly handle the game data in accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations to protect the legitimate rights and interests of users. For players who have paid but not used all online game virtual currency and paid game time (if any) that has not yet expired, we will start to arrange refunds after Blizzard game products cease operation.
      ...
      Dear Blizzard gamers:
      Due to the expiration of Activision Blizzard's license agreement with NetEase on January 23, 2023, Blizzard will discontinue most of its game services in mainland China (including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone Legend, Overwatch Returned, Diablo III, StarCraft II, Heroes of the Storm) starting January 24 at 00:00, based on contractual restrictions, while Diablo: Immortal's service will not be affected.
      NetEase and Blizzard first partnered in 2008. Over the past 14 years, we have introduced Blizzard's high-quality games to China step by step, starting with World of Warcraft, and even synchronizing global release. With each introduction of a new game, we were excited, because these games also carry our passion and youth.
      Within NetEase, there are also several thousand hard-core fans of Blizzard games. Therefore, we are more empathetic to the feelings of players at this moment. Before today, we had been doing our best and negotiating with Blizzard in good faith to seek continued cooperation in mainland China. However, after long negotiations, we were still unable to reach agreement with Activision Blizzard on some key terms of cooperation. Unfortunately, Activision Blizzard has announced earlier today that they are ceasing its cooperation and we will have to accept this decision. After January 23, 2023, NetEase will lose its distributorship and will no longer be able to continue to manage and operate these games that have carried players' memories for 14 years.
      Next, NetEase Games will do its best to fulfill its responsibilities and serve players until the last moment. We promise that we will do our best to negotiate with Activision Blizzard to protect the interests of Chinese players to the greatest extent possible for the issues related to refunds, game data, virtual property, game rights, etc. that everyone is concerned about.
      At the same time, we will work with Activision Blizzard to achieve "business to business, game to game", pay attention to the voice of players, value all that players who have paid for the game, and properly protect everyone's game assets and memories. We will continue to inform players of the progress of the work through official channels such as the "Blizzard Game Service Center". Once again, we thank all players for their understanding and support. If possible, we hope that Blizzard's departure is only temporary. After the shutdown, we will continue to hold on in our own way and not give up lightly. We believe that those who meet can meet again.
      It seems there may have indeed  been some behind-the-scenes drama, as NetEase Global Investment and Partnership President Simon Zhu talked about his own characters and a certain "jerk" that caused or affected this outcome, over on his LinkedIn.

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