A short history of Activision Blizzard

The nerds are mobilising over there :)

The usual Blizzard line of "Trust us" is wearing a bit thin with regards to Battlenet 2.0's intergration with Starcraft 2.
 
from a money making point of view they seem to be doing a good job. they are a business after all.
 
Big business follows the money and the money is where the people are. If you don't like it don't spend your money, if only people had never started playing for DLC we would still be getting it for free.
 
Orcish-Horde said:
Big business follows the money and the money is where the people are. If you don't like it don't spend your money, if only people had never started playing for DLC we would still be getting it for free.
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No, if people didn't buy it, they wouldn't make it.

I know it's a business, but they have no morals at all. Shutting down game developments because they don't have to potential to be exploited for millions every year is just disgusting.
 
Damn that is 1 hell of a pedastal Kotick is on. If he ever gets knocked off that he'll be at terminal velocity before he smacks into the ground.
 
G-Man said:
The amount of QQ from teamliquid about SC2 and battle.net is getting silly now...
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Oh?

I was sent the link yesterday, and they all seem extremely valid points, especially given Activision's history, and the quotes are all sourced. I like Blizzard, and the point about introducing 'pay for' features into WoW I don't mind. Its all cosmetic things, server changes and so on, or shiny mounts that don't provide gameplay benefits. That's a reasonably way to make money, if people want to pay for it then let them. Its their other practices I have a problem with.
 
Calneon said:
No, if people didn't buy it, they wouldn't make it.
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yea and developers would still be releasing moding tools so we could make it oiur selfs.

maybe you werent around back when every game had tons of mods going for it these days its rare for a game to have any mods or total conversions
 
Evilsod said:
Damn that is 1 hell of a pedastal Kotick is on. If he ever gets knocked off that he'll be at terminal velocity before he smacks into the ground.
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And more and more people will be queuing up to give him that little push with every day that passes.
Only takes one person...
 
arknor said:
yea and developers would still be releasing moding tools so we could make it oiur selfs.

maybe you werent around back when every game had tons of mods going for it these days its rare for a game to have any mods or total conversions
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Hells year, take alook at fallout 3 & Oblivion, both had dlc/expansion packs, and both have some of the best mods i have ever seen. Their really isnt anything in the way of modding+dlc partnership.

This Kotick guy seems like he takes real pleasure if destroying peoples souls....:eek:
 
I used to love Activision many years ago, around the Mechwarrior titles time, but my god they really have turned around that opinion around.

Whats so sad is when Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 hits their going to make a ridiculous amount of money, and were gonna be stuck with having to pay for small extra content ala rip off CoD MW2 packs. Their making a killing already, and their gonna make another killing on these titles.... After gaining that amount of cash I doubt you would see any big split, and even if they did Blizzard have tasted the potential to milk customers for all their worth. Its past the point of return of making games primarily for entertainment, they now make it just for the money.

Some may say "well duh", I like to think that companys like Blizzard before the merge made games for entertainment and the money that came from it was the bonus, its a shame we wont see really big games anymore without having to splash out on "DLC" (if they didnt already save it on retail disk).

Edit: Forgot to mention the lack of modding tools or making it hard to mod games is really sour too, stoping the community from modding so they dont make mods better than their DLC. I still lol at the horse armor on Oblivion, you could download about 10 from mods.
 
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I think Activision's balance between making as much money as possible and pleasing the customers has shifted massively towards the former over the past 2 years. They really are greedy so and so's. I can only hope it comes back around and bite them in the rear.
 
Activision are a beastly business but they have screwed up with cod mw the last one was terrible I'm a pc gamer not a console gamer. Infinity ward will make a new game under there new alias that will destroy cod.
 
How long before these publishers get sidelined and groups of people get together and release games directly through the internet?

It would create a much tighter and fairer gaming community, where men in suites don't dirty up the scene.
 
Isn't that what indie games are? :p

The problem with that, really, is funding.
Game devs go to a publisher: 'We want to make this game, this is why its awesome!'
Publisher: 'Hmm, that could be pretty good. You've got two years, here's £500k.

Publishers fund the devs, so they can afford to actually create the games, as well as deal with advertising, distribution and so on, it means that the devs only have to worry about getting the game finished by the deadline.

Of course, with the rise of digital distribution services, Steam and Impulse for example, its much easier for devs to get their games to a market, assuming Steam or Stardock want to sell it. If they don't, its an uphill battle.
And don't forget money, somehow they have to support themselves while creating the game, a process that can take years, especially if they're having to work around other jobs to get money.



Its exactly like the record industry. You sign a deal with a label, selling your soul and giving them most of the profit in exchange for marketing and support.
 
EpicCarnage said:
Activision are a beastly business but they have screwed up with cod mw the last one was terrible I'm a pc gamer not a console gamer. Infinity ward will make a new game under there new alias that will destroy cod.
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I think you're hoping a bit much there...

Franchises will always have more power than new releases because most gamers couldn't give a toss and just buy whatever they see is advertised the most and something that is familiar to them. 99% of people who bought MW2 will have no idea of the ensueing chaos between Activision and IW and have no idea about Activisions intentions for screwing every last penny out of customers. The fact is they openly state they want to make profit and couldn't give a toss about the gamers and yet people still flock to give them money. Maybe some day they'll run out of lube and people might actually notice... but i can't see it coming anytime soon.
 
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