Blizzard: We're Still a PC Developer First, We've Just Communicated It Poorly

Blizzard president J. Allen Brack confirmed to fans that the studio is still a PC developer first and foremost, despite the poor communication that's been made on the topic.

[ccgr]

Glad that's been clarified

[Godmars290]

Thing is how long has it taken to clarify that since first creating the confusion.

[RpgSama]

It's not about what you "communicate", it"s about what you do, you say that you are a PC developer first, but your actions say otherwise.

[Alexious]

Let's not jump ahead of ourselves. They might very well announce Diablo 4 for PC at BlizzCon this year.

[Nerdmaster]

"They might very well announce Diablo 4 for PC at BlizzCon this year."
Seeing as Blizzard has gotten worse and worse since it merged with Activision, I almost wish there won't be a new Diablo game because I know they will botch it. I can already see myself sighing instead of being excited if they did announce it now.

[LKane]

"It's not who you are underneath. It's what you do that defines you."

*Flies off*

[xVOLTx]

What has Blizzard ctually done the past few years. They only have a hand full of games

[Fist4achin]

I'll take quality over quantity every time. Yearly iterations with minor improvements don't interest me anymore to part with my hard earned money.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

None of that explains why Blizzard has only released a handful of games

[Sirk7x]

Lots of live services. WoW, Hearthstone, Overwatch. All online games. They do update them constantly, but not everyone wants those types of experiences.

[frostypants]

Actions speak louder than words.

[xxShadow-Shockxx]

I dont see why this matters? Like im not hating, im genuinely curious on why it matters

[Cueil]

it's where their fan base is located

[xxShadow-Shockxx]

So what are people thinking, that they're console first? and all of their games come out on PC anyways right?

[Wolffenblitz]

@Shadow-Shock

Mobile

[xxShadow-Shockxx]

Thanks, I appreciate the answers

[Sirk7x]

Diablo Immortal was very, very poorly received, and their fan base does not want to see mobile games for Blizz franchises.

[Hungryalpaca]

Usually when a console is he lead platform the PC version ends up suffering for it. PC should always be the lead for multiplats as they can squeeze the most out of it then scale it back for the consoles.

[Cueil]

also have to scale for PC anyway

[KaiPow]

I think if they mentioned that there is a PC Diablo in the works in addition to Immortal, their fanbase would be more understanding.

[staticall]

Of course they'll say that, Blizzcon is soon, gotta sell them tickets. And let's be fair, mobile «gamers» do not care about Blizzard.

[Juusterey]

You mean changed because you fucked up and got people pissed off at you

[Relientk77]

Do you guys not have communication skills!!??

[bluefox755]

Or...you didn't anticipate the backlash, and now you're doing damage control.

[Asuka]

Communicated it poorly... You don't say...

can't speak for everyone else but for me Blizzard hasn't been relevant for quite some time

[GameBoyColor]

But... But i just got a phone... /s

[MWH]

You've said enough, got anything to show?

[tombfan]

I'm... actually kinda hopeful that diablo immortal will come out, it'll be amazing to play diablo on the go (and yes, i know there's diablo III at the switch, but even more portable would be awesome!)

[Blu3_Berry]

Less talking and more showing.

[zugdar]

Their output would say otherwise.

[Bibbz]

The problem with this is that the Blizzard's fan base has had to drag Blizzard to the table kicking and screaming for them to make what they want.

- Classic WoW only was made after Nostalrius begged the execs, and after YEARS of players asking for older versions of the game and blizzard devs constantly telling the player base that they actually don't want classic, we finally get it and it makes a 15 year old game relevant again. The fanbase has explicitly stated with their pocketbooks and time that Ion Hazzikostas' version of retail is not what they want.

- Diablo 4.../shrug? You have phones don't you?

Outside of Classic WoW, Blizzard has done very little for the PC gaming community of its fanbase (the VAST majority) to show that they are a PC developer still first and foremost and want to continue to develop for the PC. Their attitude of "We're Blizzard you guys should love to be here" attitude bleeds all over the place during Blizzcon and in every single update that they put out for each game that they do.

They are a case of an organization rising to a rockstar status in the game dev world that it's infected the culture to a point that even Axl Rose might tell these dudes to chill for a bit.

This year at Blizzcon, they will announce a new xpac for retail, that people will play for a small bit of time, but ultimately will abandon for Classic as it is holistically a better mmo that the community wants. Diablo may get an announcement. Nothing will happen with Starcraft. HOTS will get no big announce, maybe a new hero. Hearthstone will probably announce a new expansion. And a new hero will be announced for Overwatch and will tell us to be thankful for the scraps.

[SixEye]

Oh yeah what ever happen to diablo mobile game lol I read some where that the game was basically done did blizzard regret it lol

[AK91]

I sincerely doubt that.

[Rachel_Alucard]

I like how many answers he gives for questions that were never asked.

Q: "Is a Starcraft-FPS still an idea you want to pursue?"
A: "50% of the games we start, ship."

or

Q: "Can you work on something without Activision telling you what to do?"
A: "Our goals align with Activisions."

The only time he actually answered a question that was asked is the last one about WoW on console.

Also the part where he says "But, I think if you think about the world, and you think about games, it's hard to imagine how anyone who is a core PC Blizzard fan today also has not experimented with console platforms, or mobile platforms in their career, or in their life, rather."

It's not that people haven't experimented with consoles or Mobile, it's that they don't want Blizzard to experiment with mobile games or develop with console in mind. Mobile no matter how hard you try to spin it, it's entire culture is built around free to download and costly to consume style monetization. Even when Nintendo released Mario Run under a cost of $10 people complained they wanted it free with micro-transactions. There's just no way anyone who games on PC wants that kind of game instead of a Diablo 4 or other title with value on its presentation instead of grinding.

[william_cade]

I hope Diablo 4 isn't cartoony like 3.