The Activision Blizzard Relationship

Community General Discussion
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Has been detrimental indeed - to us the community, to [old] Blizzard and to the gaming industry. I hope Blizzard has a rebound year in 2019 where they make fun, engaging game experiences for their community. I hope my gaming family can retain most of its members in the next coming year. I care deeply about the people I’ve met and befriended in WOW - well, most. I hate seeing people leave, especially when their reasons for leaving are the same reasons why my gaming experience is hurting yet I stick around.

If you stand by Blizzard, I don’t blame you - you’re probably like me and have loved their games for the longest time (since 2006 for me personally). But Blizzard is in trouble. It’s my estimation that the partnership with Activision has been such a detriment because of the publisher mind set. They need to crank out as much content as possible, regardless of the state it’s in, so they make shareholders happy. It has poisoned the gamer’s game-making company that is or was Blizzard.

If you’re like me or even remotely interested in understanding why Blizzard has been getting so much hatred I suggest you watch the video I’ve linked. It has opened so many eyes and maybe it could open yours. Knowledge is power. /clap

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“Spend less to have something sooner, get s*** moving” is something that somebody who was threatened with their job says.

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It smells of desperation and greed. No gaming company should ever release a game for the sake of “getting things moving”. Blizzard used to have more integrity than that. Blizzard used to be more interested in releasing a game that everyone was going to enjoy. They regularly would cancel projects that they felt weren’t the absolute best product they could present. Activison doesn’t care about that - they care about due dates and money.

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I agree and as someone who works in an organization with similar goals and structure, I see this kind of thing often. Some manager gets threatened because so much time has passed and lots of money spent but nothing (yet) to show for it, so they’re given an ultimatum and deadline to get something ready for a demonstration or they’re out. At that point, the manager starts finger-pointing and rushing things. That’s why we end up with all the sub-par things we’ve been given lately. Granted, sometimes, it’s impatient shareholders wanting stuff NAO!

I can definitely relate to the person in the video. I played several Blizzard games and loved them. I also played Destiny 1 and loved it. Then after the merge, I cannot in good conscience defend/recommend the products. I may find some “fun” in them or maybe it’s just me holding onto hope of redemption.

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It’s not a partnership. Activision owns Blizzard. It’s a significant difference in how the relationship between the two exists.

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Good point. And it further proves the point that Blizzard is a shell of itself, therefore the games that are produced are shells of themselves. Empty gaming experiences massively produced to customers for the sake of making money and nothing more.

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Activision Blizzard is the parent of Blizzard Entertainment.

h ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activision_Blizzard

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Parent is a good term. Should be “bad parent”. A bad parent is one that rules over their child or whoever their responsible for and in a tyrannical manner - usually with only their own interests in mind. Blizzard is suffering to their narrow minded parent in Activision. The community suffers at the hands of Activision along with the Blizzard we used to know and love.

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Actually, they’re merged. One doesn’t own the other. Hence the name: activition-blizzard. Obviously that doesn’t mean they won’t ever be effected/influenced by the other. That being said, if blizzard was owned by Activision I think things would have gone down hill drastically 6+ years ago.

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I mentioned this on Reddit. I’ve personally felt the negative effects of parent companies that push for more profits, doing things for cheaper and cheaper, expecting the same levels of quality. It just doesn’t happen.

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I wonder if Blizzard still likes their new forum when things like this pop up. :thinking:

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Good question - regardless, I’m happy that it can be discussed and not deleted on sight.

Edit I’m not entirely sure that higher up Blizzard employees even pay attention to these forums, which are attached to their actual website. I’m almost positive Twitter and their own bubble are the only locations they’re interested in.

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Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment never merged. Activision Inc (Activision Publishing’s parent company) and Vivendi Games who were Blizzard’s parent company merged.

They included Blizzard in the name of the new merged company to signify how large a contribution to the company Blizzard was at the time (AKA how much money they could make from the Blizzard side of the company)

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At the time hehe I hope Blizzard can continue to be a huge contributor but that would insist that Blizzard gets the resources and freedom and passion to produce fun, engaging, meaningful gaming experiences.

This would be helped if they rekindled the connection between at least the game developers and the game players.

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We go around this fairly regularly around here and it really doesn’t produce anything.

ATVI is a holding company. Blizzard and Activision are independent entities under that umbrella (as is King).

Bemoaning imagined invisible strings pulling development decisions doesn’t get you what you want. Talking about what you want is more likely to do so.

The gaming market has changed markedly over the past decade or so. And companies can adapt and respond to those changes or risk being a company that doesn’t exist in the future. We used to have console and PC and there were periods of boom and bust in both markets. Now we have mobile and the world has additional pulls on its collective pocketbook. We used to purchase games outright. Now we have DLCs and P2W and various other models to contend with.

None of this can be laid at the feet of any one company. (Though there were a few massive booms that caused a bunch of companies to throw money at various things–I’m looking at Clash and Candy Crush and WoW for some real standout examples that said “hey, maybe people will give us money differently.”)

Talk about what you want to see in the game. It’s a lot more clear than the whole “Activision ruined WoW” thing.

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I just want to discuss it further and share the video. I find discussing matters is beneficial for everyone involved. If discussions are avoided then it forms a breeding ground of confusion, resentment and other negative side effects.

As for what I want to see implemented in the game, I and countless other members of this community have been very vocal at least here on the forums. I’ve never been so involved on the forums than I have when BFA was launched. It was when BFA was launched that it was so painfully clear to me that Blizzard is well disconnected from not only the community but their passion to make good gaming experiences.

It’s up to Blizzard now, and you as a MVP, to sort out what’s useful from the useless whining and implement positive, meaningful change to modern day WOW.

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The only reason Blizzard was able to do the things they eventually did was because they made a deal with the devil. If you watch the interviews and documentaries about Blizzard you’ll hear them talk about how unexpected the popularity of WoW was and that the company that was Blizzard did not have the resources to meet the demand for it’s product.

And while this deal with the devil helped them in the begining by pushing forward the Blizzard as we know it (or knew it depending on your perspective), deals with the devil do not end well for anyone. Activation now wants it’s pound of flesh and there’s nothing that’s going to stop that from happening.

It’s a sad fate for the company we all grew to admire, but what they were was only ever possible by making this pact and that time seems to be coming to an end.

All is not lost, however, as the developers who made Blizzard what it was have gone forth out into the world and are creating new works. And while I’m not saying that everyone needs to abandon their favorite Blizzard games, perhaps it’s time to start giving some other companies your attention as well.

glhf :smiley:

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A lot of changes in the chain of command have happened in the last couple of years which will always, and has, affect the company

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I also recommend my gamer family here who are involved with WOW and other Blizzard titles to devote time, money and effort elsewhere. Only then will Blizzard possibly consider changing their game making philosophy.

I personally have re-downloaded Path of Exile to my PC. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying slaying the Immortal Syndicate (lol Diablo: Immortal). The game is fun, complex and it’s healing my gaming soul. GGG is a fantastic gaming company and they deserve nothing but the best for not only staying connected with their community but upholding the gamer’s experience as paramount.

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Wait … are you saying you’ve worked at a company that expects outcomes from their investments and asks questions when money seems to be flowing into an abyss?

Such a strange place.

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