Blizzcon 2018 - Blizzard No Longer Attempting To Make Top Games!

The recent events at Blizzcon reduced Blizzard’s fan count. Whilst overall people were not impressed there was a single announcement and following Q&A session which showed Blizzard’s no longer in touch with it’s hardcore supporters.

Let’s talk about that moment first!

I’ve been critical of Blizzard for many years. They don’t produce games with much content taking way too long to develop way too little. They don’t innovate or push the boundaries of gaming in a technological sense like they use to before 2004. A common phrase I iterate to the big developers and publishers in the industry is “If you arn’t moving forward, then you eventually move backwards”. Blizzard had defining qualities but with the announcement of “Diablo Immortal” that quality to praise them for has disappeared.

Diablo Immortal

Diablo Immortal is a Mobile Phone game for Androis and iOS with no intentions of coming to PC. Fans have been waiting for so long to get something new from Blizzard most notably a new Diablo game or Warcraft RTS game. This isn’t a “I Told You So” Moment because ultimately this is sadness for all gamers.

Why The Mobile Phone Games?

Blizzard can’t seem to understand why the dislike for a game being on Mobile Phone. So let’s clear some things up about why people do not like this move;

Mobile Phones have limited hardware. Just like the PC vs Console wars argument. A Phone just isn’t capable of providing a platform for more quality and quantity of features.

People don’t want to play games on a tiny screen. They want to make use of their monitors and computers that they’ve bought with the intention of playing, among others, Blizzard’s games.

Blizzard have been a PC company for 27 years. Mobile games are very much on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Mobile Phones have limited control. If you have only so few buttons to press then you can only do so many things. It limits the gameplay.

Disgruntled attendees express their dissatisfaction with Blizzard’s decision to create a mobile Diablo experience. The hosts are put in a difficult position to defend themselves not only in the moment. They are removing comments from the official announcement video.

If Blizzard wanted this to go down smoother. They should look to Bethesda’s convention in 2015. Fallout 4 was the big announcement and “by the way, here is some dumb mobile game”. Releasing mobile phone games is fine but for the ‘Big Triple A’ companies, treating them your masterpiece and expecting folk to bow before your minimal effort will never go down well. But this tells us something about Blizzard and it isn’t about ‘misreading the room’ or ‘not understanding their fans’.

Blizzard is Growing Their Audience

This is a major turning point for Blizzard but likely a more successful one for them. For those who may not understand. Blizzard are looking at the next and newer generation of gamers. Many of Blizzard fans grew up as PC gamers but that’s not true today. Mum’s and Dad’s give their kids mobile phones to play with and not Desktop computers or Playstations. The Mobile Phone is likely the first gaming device a child will explore.

Even as Blizzard alienates their core fans, they are building a brand new fan base. A fan base that accepts low quality games that are easy to make with awful micro transactions that generate more money than a simple game sale. To them, Diablo Immortal will be Nostalgia because they have no experience to compare to. I talk a lot about “Conditioning Gamers” and this will be a moment that is identifiable as a perfect example of it.

Now we wait for the next Blizzcon.

There isn’t much left to talk about Blizzards events. Not many people were interested in testing Diablo Immortal out. It was mostly business as usual. Heroes of the Storm got very little changes a new “Nexus Original” Hero which just looks like a Warcraft Character. I guess we should look to next years Blizzcon to see how Blizzard avoids making PC games next.