And they said no planned major release in 2019. Thoughts?
“Turning to Blizzard, we expect materially lower financial performance this year. 2018 benefited from the release of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth whereas we are not planning a major frontline release for blizzard in 2019.”
Polygon is also trying to get clarification
Not surprising that they don’t think Classic is a major frontline release, as they said it was a “passion project” for them.
Considering that they’ve said they wanted to get games out more regularly, I imagine 2020 will see a few big releases from Blizzard.
But they’re also expecting not a good year fiscally which to me wouldn’t be the case if Classic was releasing. I hope we get some clarification soon. I mean they didn’t even mention Classic in the call.
Passion project is basically corporate speak for “We’re doing this because we want to rather than because we think it’ll make tons of money”.
Naturally they wouldn’t do it if they didn’t think it would turn some profit, it’s just that clearly they don’t think it will be as big as some people around here do.
I know some people want to act like Classic is the second coming of video game Jesus around here, but Blizzard really doesn’t see it that way.
idk for me it’s a bit troubling. I just hope we get some clarification. I don’t think the project is going to be canceled, but I hope they will be able to tell us if it’s being pushed back.
The fact they don’t even mention it a single time is kinda ![:frowning_face:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/frowning_face.png?v=6" ":frowning_face:")
I mostly expected it.
It’s been clear for a while now that Blizzard treats Overwatch as their flagship title now, not World of Warcraft and certainly not a remake of the 2004 version of it. They’ve been trying to get in on that esports money since Starcraft 2.
If Classic is pushed back, then they’ll tell us sooner or later.
The potential silver lining here is that if Classic isn’t viewed as as frontline project for them, there will probably not be pressure to fill it with things like the WoW token or cash shop.
Right. WoW overall seemed like a minor player in even the Blizzard side of the business now. The primary emphasis was on Overwatch, followed by Diablo and Warcraft.
There’s plenty of articles out there right now that explain in detail about what areas the lay offs occurred and what areas are affected and not.
It doesn’t look like development for classic and wow in general will be affected. Might even get strengthened is the impression I got.
Blockquote
In the future, Kotick said Activision-Blizzard will invest primarily in live services, battlenet, and esports, with a focus on the following franchises: Candy Crush, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Warcraft, Diablo, and Hearthstone. For those franchises, Activision actually expects to increase, not reduce, development resources in 2019
Blockquote
Considering they’re rolling classic into the standard sub this isn’t super surprising. I guess this also means they don’t consider WC3 re release a major release either.
For what it’s worth, this 2018 article on the sudden breaking up of the Diablo 3 team (and their Diablo projects) is pretty engrossing, and gives some insight into what is happening at Acti-Blizzard right now. The author was also warning back in 2018 that major cost cutting and a change in corporate philosophy was looming in 2019:
https://kotaku.com/the-past-present-and-future-of-diablo-1830593195
I’m not even talking about the lay offs though here I’m just going on the words that was said during the call that no major frontline release was planned in 2019 regarding Warcraft.
This either means 3 things, The comment ignores Classic completely, Classic is pushed back until 2020, or Classic is canceled.
Yes most likely the comment might have just ignored Classic, but for me it’s a little concerning. Again I just hope we get some clarification within a few weeks.
Given that they got rid of the one person at Blizzard who actually sometimes talked to us around here, I wouldn’t hold out that much hope for clarification =P
This is sadly true.
Don’t sweat it. I’m sure they knew layoffs were going to happen prior to Blizzcon, and with that said, they would have never showcased it at Blizzcon, nor would they have announced a target release.
They’re not going to stroke a 14 year old title to the investors, it wasn’t surprising. As an investor, I would have actually been alarmed if they tried to tout Classic. It’s a drop in the bucket they believe they can make a return on, but nothing on par with their flagship titles, which is really what the investors are concerned about, as well as any new IP’s they plan on developing.
Nothing from the call had any cause for alarm imo as far as Classic is concerned.
All will be well.
I read it as meaning no new games.
I think classic will be more or less on schedule and have the man-power to get it done.
However, canning the CM is not a good look. And the last thing they need to do is ignore the community.
I really hope time proves you right.
If I made you feel better, and I’m wrong, you’re free to hold my feet to the fire.
But rest easy. When they said transitional year, it actually alleviated any concerns. ![:slight_smile:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=6" ":slight_smile:")
I think they are probably treating Classic as a free DLC to WoW and hence not consider as a major release product that needs to be mentioned.
I’m trying to look for positives today. I guess if they don’t consider it a major release, then they’re less apt to interfere in it…which is a good thing.
Also, keep in mind, that our former CM did release some information within the past few days. I’m sure most of you had seen. Nothing specific, but very positive.
Trust me, it would have never made the light of day if there was something to be concerned about. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was timed accordingly. Poor guy prolly knew his fate weeks ago.
Okay, going to go watch some GOT. Can’t wait for April either!