Current Events > Do you think Activison/Blizzard franchises will get better or worse now?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Nothing will change, why would it? Microsoft will keep the same teams making the same games. Most studios are condemned to work in the Call of Duty mines where its profitable.

Daddy Microsoft is gonna whip them into shape

I don't see how it could get worse.

Rare taught us things

Bobby K is gone so even if nothing changes the games will have gotten better.

BLIZZARD stuff will get better.

If Microsoft lets any of their bigwigs or too many of their personel into their stuff though, well, Microsoft stuff may suffer.

Blizzard nose-dived harder than even Microsoft-Rare effectively did. Somehow.

Sephiroth_C_Ryu posted...

BLIZZARD stuff will get better.

If Microsoft lets any of their bigwigs or too many of their personel into their stuff though, well, Microsoft stuff may suffer.

Blizzard nose-dived harder than even Microsoft-Rare effectively did. Somehow.

Nintendo killed Rare and then sold the corpse to Microsoft.

If I get more Crash and Spyro platformers and kart racers I'll consider it an absolute win.

it will be interesting to see what happens with Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft

Worse. Look at what Microsoft did to Rare. Enough said.

About the same.

GameboyTroy posted...

Worse. Look at what Microsoft did to Rare. Enough said.

The difference is that Rare was good at that time.

Slightly better. Microsoft does value brand value some. Kotick never really cared so long as profits were maximized. Microsoft, from what I gathered, is also very hands-off when it comes to all the properties it purchases. Just make them money and they're good.

It's already at the bottom of the barrel, took a special talent to make it even worse.

Just read that Kottick is stepping down as CEO with January 1st 2024.

I dare to say that it gets better.

Has Microsoft actually done anything with all these exclusives they keep buying? Starfield is the only one I know of that's really been a huge thing.

pegusus123456 posted...

Has Microsoft actually done anything with all these exclusives they keep buying? Starfield is the only one I know of that's really been a huge thing.

Outer Worlds & Hi-Fi Rush were really well received.

I wouldnt mind seeing the back catalogue of Call of Duty being made accessible on Gamepass instead of being behind a $1000 price tag. Not really into MP these days but would like to give the SP campaigns a roll.

I don't think it will get better immediately. But next years Blizzcon will be incredibly vital to the future of that company. They need to show that there are big things in store for Blizzard games.

I'm making a bold prediction here: New expansion for WoW, Hearthstone and Diablo 4, an update to that MOBA game they announced a few years ago, a backtrack of WC3s policy towards owning custom maps, and 2 heroes for Overwatch 2, as well as the story mode revisited. It would be smart of them to hire a brand new team for the story mode, and maybe they can do that since they are part of the Microsoft Umbrella.

None of those will be announced at this years con, as Kotick is still running the company.

It cant be worse

But Microsoft has really came out with anything worth while since..Sea of Thieves?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Candy Crush Saga, aka the biggest game on the mobile market for a long time.

Probably better. The bar is so low to be better that you cant even trip over it, its underground.

GameboyTroy posted...

Worse. Look at what Microsoft did to Rare. Enough said.

Rare did what happend to Rare.

They could make the games people want, but don't want to.

Blizzard were already ruining their own games and I don't expect that to change.

Probably the most even poll Ive ever seen here:

30
28
32

There isn't a single company or IP that Microsoft has purchased that hasn't just gone downhill

Look at all of MS's previous acquisitions and see how they have gone

Worse.

I doubt it will be worse than the way they're currently going

FWIW, while most of Blizzard's games seem to be in a bad spot, Dragonflight has been extremely well received. I haven't played it much myself, but I still follow the subreddit and I've seen little to no bitching and the devs have actually been pretty proactive in responding to feedback.