Blizzard continues to walk on thin ice, but justified [Opinion]
After Bllizzcon 2019, many people who still remember the unforgivable conference of 2018 exhaled and with the words: "Hurray, they have improved!", began to return to studio projects. However, there is nothing to rejoice at, because if last year's exhibition was at least terrible, but caused at least some emotions, then this one leaves a feeling of some kind of emptiness. And in truth, I also thought that the studio was beginning to understand its mistakes, but the more information we get about its new projects, and the more time passes after the conference, I realized that Blizzard continues to walk on thin ice. Diablo IVLet's start with something more pleasant - Diablo 4. We have been waiting for the game for a long time, and we will continue to wait for it for at least one and a half or two years. However, we already knew that the game was being developed, even though Blizzard did not make an official announcement. When the new trailer was shown to the audience, their reaction in the audience was not mind-blowing, but rather: "Diablo 4, wow, finally ... is that all?".
Yes, the video itself in 9 minutes is beautiful, gloomy and generally top class, as the studio can do. Alas, we did not find out more details. Of course, the journalists played the demo and gave good reviews, but for some reason the general impression is that it will be just a good game. Don't get me wrong, great games are cool. But when it comes to Diablo, you expect something more, exciting and interesting. Compare with the same Cyberpunk 2077, although the information storm has eased, but from time to time gusts of wind fan our fire of interest, because we know that Cyberpunk 2077 will be a phenomenon, or at least we are being prepared for it. But at the Blizzard presentation, I did not see any interest even in the presenter, he looked tired, as if what was happening for him was no different from a typical routine. But we love this studio precisely for the fact that in 80% of cases they put their soul into and realize to the maximum the enchanting magic of Blizzard. But now it seems that this is a completely different company that has lost its magic.
The sequel looks dull. The same Diablo 3, but with an oblique look to the gloomy classics with twisted graphics. And yes, it looks cool when you watch the gameplay, but there is nothing special about it. This is the same grind, only now with a new villain. It's like an indie project and nothing more. SorryThe second important point is related to the ban of the Taiwanese esports player. The Blizzard representative on the stage apologized sluggishly and with a corporate smell, saying that they did not have time to react and “forgive us, please”. But why apologize if nothing is fixed? We perfectly understand what happened. There is China, a huge lucrative marketplace where Blizzard games are adored and generate tons of money for developers. Blizzard is a corporation, their main activity is selling games and making money from it. The company is trying to maintain its status and not get involved in political situations, because it has something to lose. And if China weren't important, Diablo Immortal would never have existed.
And now an athlete appears at your tournament, whose speeches threaten that your company will be associated with a revolutionary movement that is not liked in the largest share of your market. In China, it is already difficult to release games with all their stupid and laws, like the fact that there should be no deaths in the game. And this promises colossal losses. Therefore, the company's management, trying not to lose the money for which the studio exists, decides to disqualify it. Did they do the right thing? Not. Is it justified? Yes. It was a difficult situation in which Blizzard decided to stay on the side of themselves and this is normal for the business. Many companies would do the same, even if it's morally disgusting.
The company made a decision, a difficult and wrong decision in the eyes of society, but justified. And then her representative comes out and offers his sincere apologies, trying to assure the public that they did not want to and repent. So what? Maybe you will let the player return to the league? Will you give him back his legally won prize money? Will you give jobs back to fired commentators who were simply unlucky enough to work on the day that player shouted the slogans of Taiwanese protest? No.
Then why do we need these apologies, since you are not going to remove the consequences of the current situation? Overwatch 2 - the same but with the number 2We did not forget to tell you about other little games. Heroes of Storm, WoW Shadowlands, Hearthstone, and of course, about WoW Classic. A studio representative joked that the players complained that they didn't need this game, but as it turned out, everyone liked it. The message: "we were right and you were not." Here we admit.
What we really didn't ask for was Overwatch 2. I don't really understand what the point of this game is. The fact is that this is exactly the same first part, only with tweaked graphics and a bit of a plot. Otherwise, it's the same game with the same cards, characters and opponents. In fact, it looks like a DLC about omniks, only it is not clear why, turned into a full-fledged game. One more thing - all the content of the second part will be available in the first. And you can transfer all progress. And if you don't want to play PvE, then the second part is of no value to you. And here the question is, then why all this? For skins from donations?
Okay, you can be an optimist here. There is still a lot of time before the release and the fact that we saw more of a prelude than a serious reason to start saving money. We don't even know the price, but the requirements for the product will depend on it. For if the game turns out to be not that expensive for the price, just a good update of everything, plus a nice bonus from PvE, then nothing bad will happen. But if it turns out that this is a full-fledged second part, which is a super-duper sequel, then it is already worse, because so far the game does not pull at the second option in more than one parameter. The bottom line is one - I don't know anything. And this is exactly the whole leitmotif of everything that was told to us at the exhibition. As if they gave me some information without specifics about all the projects, and left me waiting for something cool. The magic did not happen, something flared up, the haze remained and nothing else, and at this time the magician ran away. All announced projects do not differ from what we have seen before, plus, all of them don't even know when they come out.
Now I can say, and this is my opinion, that Blizzards walk on thin ice, and instead of going ashore, they slowly crawl on their belly. They have already failed under it, got out, but still have not gone down. The Topic of Article: Blizzard continues to walk on thin ice, but justified [Opinion]. |
