Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years • Hacker News Board

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#11

Post by spinlock_ » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:15 PM UTC

nickstinemates wrote: post #3

Not surprising, Blizzard has lost its way and its brand doesn't mean what it once did. The fall from grace started with the advent of paid services, and in game cosmetic shop in WoW and all of the issues surrounding the launch of Diablo 3 (let alone the disaster that is OWL/Overwatch, complete abandonment in HotS, etc.)

Not to mention the huge mess around WC3 reforged.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#12

Post by Rooster61 » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:15 PM UTC

sergiotapia wrote: post #6

Their games just don't feel like labors of love anymore. They feel like icky skinner boxes through and through. Every aspect of their games are a/b tested up the ass to convert as many MTX as possible and personally it's a total turn off. I downloaded Warzone and tried it out this weekend and uninstalled after 2 matches, it just felt off. Hard to describe. Like a AAA graphics Candy Crush. yuck!

Blizzard didn't develop Warzone. Yes, they are both published/owned by Activision, and they share a launcher, but they are from very different developers.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#13

Post by JohnWhigham » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:15 PM UTC

VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #2

do they have any good games still

Their remastered Diablo 2 is on track to be a hit, but it won't be out until later this year.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#14

Post by Covzire » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:16 PM UTC

I still can't believe they butchered WC3:reforged so badly. It could have been a massive boon for them were it not for the hideously greedy ToS along with all the technical issues and straight up downgrades from the original in terms of multiplayer.

There have to be some epic stories of mismanagement or hubris, if only someone would tell them.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#15

Post by tsimionescu » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:16 PM UTC

sergiotapia wrote: post #6

Their games just don't feel like labors of love anymore. They feel like icky skinner boxes through and through. Every aspect of their games are a/b tested up the ass to convert as many MTX as possible and personally it's a total turn off. I downloaded Warzone and tried it out this weekend and uninstalled after 2 matches, it just felt off. Hard to describe. Like a AAA graphics Candy Crush. yuck!

Also, the once famous Blizzard polish is all but reversed - Warcraft 3 Reforged speaks for itself, but also looking into World of Warcraft commentary, it has become common to expect systems present in the game at launch to require major fixes or overhauls over the coming patches. The very fact that players and commentators alike have grown to expect this speaks volumes to me about the changing perception.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#16

Post by Lammy » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:18 PM UTC

1-6 wrote: post #10

VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #2

do they have any good games still

SC1

SC 1.15.1 specifically, so you can LAN with your friends who run Mac OS 9 :) https://web.archive.org/web/20140908015809/http://ftp.blizza...

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#17

Post by uyt » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:18 PM UTC

I am pretty hyped about playing d2 again with "Diablo 2 Resurrected". But I guess it's a bad sign that the most exciting thing they have going is a remake of a 20 year old past glory.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#18

Post by disgruntledphd2 » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:19 PM UTC

Rooster61 wrote: post #12

sergiotapia wrote: post #6

Their games just don't feel like labors of love anymore. They feel like icky skinner boxes through and through. Every aspect of their games are a/b tested up the ass to convert as many MTX as possible and personally it's a total turn off. I downloaded Warzone and tried it out this weekend and uninstalled after 2 matches, it just felt off. Hard to describe. Like a AAA graphics Candy Crush. yuck!

Blizzard didn't develop Warzone. Yes, they are both published/owned by Activision, and they share a launcher, but they are from very different developers.

It's odd how often people put studios and publishers together, when the relations are (often) a lot less close than people on the outside realise.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#19

Post by TOSSAWAY_1 » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:19 PM UTC

I quit playing overwatch and hots when they sided with SJWs (and by extension censorship and china). I also skipped tlou2 and other big titles.

I'm old enough to stand up against censorship and for the right to use ugly speech.

I'm not saying I expect blizzard to not exercise its rights as a private company, but I am saying I dont support companies that dont support unfettered free speech.

Re: Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years

#20

Post by bluescrn » Wed, May 05, 2021, 8:20 PM UTC

World of Warcraft was so far ahead of the competition that it basically killed the MMO genre. Even 15+ years later, it's not really been beaten. But players have drifted away, or just grown up and have less time for gaming.

It's kind of a shame we never got to find out what MMOs could have become if the market had remained more competitive.