BlizzCon ‘18 is likely something that will live on the employees’ nightmares. Granted, a lot of the backlash stemmed from Diablo, but Blizzard as a whole has been on a downward spiral.
Basically, BlizzCon '18 was a mistake. They did everything wrong, and that’s as simple as that. When you’re getting booed by the audience for your announcement, and they cheer the guy who asks “Is this an out-of-season April Fools joke?”, you know you done messed up.
And a mistake it certainly was. They fired their CFO, lost half their stock value, and AB laid off over 800 employees because they fell below expectations. While Diablo was the primary source, as mentioned above, Overwatch isn’t exactly doing super well itself.
At this point, we all know the issue Overwatch is facing: Stagnation. The game has grown stale to many and they’re moving elsewhere. It’s become a trend to point out Overwatch’s decline, to say “I’m done with Overwatch”. That’s all because the game doesn’t progress. There’s nothing new, and when you get something new, your brain releases chemicals that make you feel good. We haven’t had that in a long time, not from this game at least.
And yet it continues to disappoint. I mean, Storm Rising for a lot of fans was just a letdown, and no one tried to hide it. I feel like had the event been the first, back in the golden era, the fans would’ve been a lot more forgiving and even beloved. But after three years, with little to no progress? You don’t get off that easy.
Anyways, I feel like everything is riding on BlizzCon '19 to turn things around. That’s when they should be bringing their A-game and delivering things that excite fans. Rumor is that Diablo 4 is in development, and a Diablo Netflix animated series is almost completely confirmed.
As for Overwatch? There have been vague rumors going around in the past that they’re developing a new game, but nothing solid. Hopefully that’s true, something with actual lore goodness that we all crave.
A Netflix animated series announcement would be amazing too, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves yet. I don’t want to speculate something I’ve dreamed of for a long time, until we get more evidence pointing that way.
Basically, at BlizzCon '19, Blizzard had better deliver this time. Word from the wise, do not, and I repeat, do not announce an Overwatch mobile game as your big reveal. Not unless you want rotten tomatoes thrown at your faces.
What do you think?