180°

Blizzard's New Cash Cows

StarCraft: IncGamers has a guest column on Blizzard and what ways they will continue to gain money, if WoW indeed will become free-to-play, as discussed.

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starcraft.incgamers.com
Chazmers5020d ago

quite easily the main option is micro-transactions or even introducing premium content for SCII

Porco5020d ago

With mapmakers being able to create almost anything, what would that be, exactly?

Montrealien5020d ago

this is not the subject of the article, just the title and the blurb, that actual article goes a little deaper. however, since we are on the subject, If I am not mistaken, SC2 galaxy editor will let you make some good mods and sell them through bnet and Blizzard would take a cut from that.

Imagine if the makers of DoTa where able to sell their mod for 5$, or the best tower defense cost 1-2$, this has huge potential to be a cash cow.

Djorgo5020d ago

Interesting idea, but what?

More campaign material?

Porco5020d ago

Exclusive models and stuff?

Djorgo5020d ago

@ Porco - yeah, but those could easily be copied and added by mapmakers, making them not-so-exclusive... :P

Djorgo5020d ago

Free-to-play, ey?

So just taking after GW then?

Apollyn5020d ago

Because gw invented f2p mmo's

Montrealien5020d ago (Edited 5020d ago )

Well only the free to play part would be taking after GWs, similar free to play structures havebeen used in many games, even before GW came out. Taking after GW as a game would invole making wow an instance based mmorpg and destroying the persistent world which is the main difference between GW and WoW. With that Said, GW 2 seems be impleting many features only seen in persistent worlds which may prove to be some pretty solid competition to wow and that is why this article came to be, more competition may make Bliaard find a new subscription model.

Cogo5020d ago

Maybe not to take after, but to compete with them.

Porco5020d ago

Lovely illustration, I must say!

Vipermagi5020d ago

That was a pretty good read :) Keep it up.

Dorjan5020d ago

It might work, pretty cool to pay a subscription to play 3 games instead of just 1...

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260°

Microsoft has ‘let Blizzard be Blizzard’ following its acquisition, studio says

Microsoft has 'let Blizzard be Blizzard' following the acquisition of the veteran developer according to World of Warcraft's executive producer.

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videogameschronicle.com
Kaii1d 7h ago

Diablo 4 storefront being a cash grabbing shitshow does unironically attest to that, kudos.

kythlyn54m ago

Microsoft needs to be guiding Blizzard to be what it USED to be, not allowing it to continue to be the greedy bastardization of itself that it has become.

XiNatsuDragnel1d 5h ago (Edited 1d 5h ago )

Okay i will be interested if they become old Blizzard but might as well be dead.

Rynxie14h ago

They will never be old blizzard. Most of all the OG's left from developers to those on the top (even some decision making folks left).

Vits1d 4h ago

Shame most of the people that made Blizzard what they were, have already left a while ago.

ApocalypseShadow1d 4h ago

I was about to say this. How can they be blizzard when they're no longer blizzard from yesteryear?

blacktiger19h ago

Rare was the thing I lost heart

victorMaje16h ago

Exactly. Blizzard hasn’t been Blizzard for a long time.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Knightofelemia1d 1h ago

Blizzard is not the same Blizzard like it use to be.

PassNextquestion19h ago

Were you expecting Microsoft to hire everyone that had left Blizzard long before they purchased the company...

Microsoft has let the Blizzard company they purchased continue to be the Blizzard company they purchased.

thesoftware73012h ago

Wow, PassNextquestion,

You fully understand what that saying means, unlike some people on here who just have to say negative garbage talk.

When someone says, "Just let *blank* be *blank*, "they are just letting them operate how they operate.

It's pretty much how Sony "let Bungie be Bungie."

This comment section is full of outright haters, but you have to "let N4G be N4G"

GamerRN10h ago

This site leans so heavily in one direction...

BISHOP-BRASIL1h ago

I don't think people commenting are necessarily blaming MS for anything here, this is just collective longing for what Blizzard/Vivendi was before Activision's meddling.

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40°

World of Warcraft Opens Beta Sign-Ups for 'The War Within'

Blizzard Entertainment has announced the opening of beta registrations for “World of Warcraft: The War Within,” inviting players to explore new subterranean worlds beneath Azeroth.

390°

Former Blizzard President Suggests Players Should Have Option to Tip Developers

Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra recently suggested an interesting concept that has sparked a debate among gamers - the idea of being able to tip developers after completing a game.

LG_Fox_Brazil4d ago

If I had a 100% way to be sure that this money would go to a fund or a reserve dedicated only to the guys who develop the games, be them designers, artists, programmers and so on, I could think about it.

But we all know that this 'tip' would only end up in a publisher's CEO pocket to buy a new yacht, so, no, I ain't tipping anyone anytime soon on this industry

neutralgamer19923d ago

Exactly these companies were raising money for good causes and gamers were donation and come to find out they are keeping a good chunk of be pie

PapaBop3d ago

Yeah tip your developer, 5% proceeds go to developer, 95% to the publisher or whoever. Isn't tipping for staff not making minimum wage? How about they just pay their developers properly and like you know, give them fair bonuses? Too much to ask from Blizzard these days, Kotick saw to that and is now laughing all the way to the bank.

MrDead3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

It's the t**ts at the top looking at ways to cut devs wages and get the players to tip them like waiting staff, and I'll guarantee a percentage is skimmed and kept by Activision Blizzard. This is 100% for shareholder and CEO playouts.

Popsicle3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

I have to agree with this. On the surface tipping devs sounds like a great idea, but in the end it leads to pay cuts and subsidization of pay. Tips then become an expectation or the devs “can’t make a living.” Lastly, especially in the US, tip culture has gotten out of control, and it serves as an excuse not to properly pay employees. Sounds good but doesn’t end well.

drizzom2d ago

@ Popsicle

I think your right on the nose with how much tipping has become rampant. Instead of it being a relationship directly between the customer and the developer or employee, it now has a middle man ingrained in the system. DoorDash is one example. It ends up becoming a metric where the company can measure 'just how much more money you are willing to part with' before raising the price on the main product.

1Victor3d ago

Uh so they’re trying triple dip or more we buy the game that they’re already withholding/cutting content for dlc we was told that season pass would help the developers thrive we felt for it.
Now on top of all that plus their sales bonus they want tips enough is enough whatever happens to you create/built a good game get a bonus for sales milestones you care about your game and community we reward you with more sales not for doing 3/4 of a game then save the other 1/4 for dlc and passes after

raWfodog3d ago

The 'tip' is me buying your game in the first place.

S2Killinit3d ago

Very well said. If it was possible to send the money to either the developer or some organization for the betterment of gaming, sure. But we all know that will not be the case.

Rynxie3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

No, it would go to those on the top. They will still fire developers, have a bunch of microtransactions, raise prices of games and so on.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 2d ago
H94d ago

So they eventually don't pay their workers and depend on our tips to pay them like the case with waiters!

Deeeeznuuuts3d ago

That kind of practice is only normal in the states, as far as I know anyway, what a backwards system

H93d ago

No it's as well in a every country that wants to amercanize

bloop3d ago

Ireland is literally the first stop across the pond and we don't have a tipping culture. The only establishments here that would expect a tip are the tourist haunts that Americans visit. Other than that, you might tip in a restaurant as a sign of gratitude for great service and waiting staff would be paid a full wage anyway.

Rebel_Scum3d ago

Tipping is not customary iin most countries dude. Get a passport lol.

Jin_Sakai4d ago

Is this a joke? How about the big wigs giving up some of their pay for their hard working developers.

MrBaskerville3d ago

Maybe the CEO could earn his money based on tips.

mastershredder4d ago

good god. The devs are not baristas dude. Total 1% ideals. Fing Chadosaurus.

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