Move Over, Electronic Arts!
December 2, 2007 11:01 AM Subscribe
What happens when Vivendi buys a $9.8 Billion dollar stake in Activision? You get the largest pure-play online and console game publisher in the world.
Tony Hawk's World of Skatecraft: Faceplant Adventures is going to be shit hot.
posted by cortex at 11:35 AM on December 2, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by cortex at 11:35 AM on December 2, 2007 [2 favorites]
Somebody get me a 9-year-old to show me how to stick the ollie move in the Molten Core run. I keep tripping over my sword.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:46 AM on December 2, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:46 AM on December 2, 2007 [1 favorite]
What is "pure-play"? -- that's a new one by me, at least in this context.
posted by undule at 11:48 AM on December 2, 2007
posted by undule at 11:48 AM on December 2, 2007
Hrrm, as an avid video gamer, I'm of two minds on this.
Blizzard has the best reputation in gaming, bar none, with a string of success going back to 1994 with the launch of Warcraft.
Activision is a publisher rather than a studio, but with a fairly good reputation.
I'm guessing the money people see synergy & vertical marketing opportunities a plenty.
My take is that gamers will decry this as Blizzard 'jumping the shark' and becoming a faceless producer of some great games with a plethora of crappy games based on crappy movies.
You can look at the history of Electronic Arts (EA), once a premiere game studio awash in innovation and creativity, turning into a publishing automaton with such classics as "Sims 2 Teen Style Stuff" and "Def Jam Fight for NY", to see what gamers might fear.
posted by Argyle at 11:53 AM on December 2, 2007 [1 favorite]
Blizzard has the best reputation in gaming, bar none, with a string of success going back to 1994 with the launch of Warcraft.
Activision is a publisher rather than a studio, but with a fairly good reputation.
I'm guessing the money people see synergy & vertical marketing opportunities a plenty.
My take is that gamers will decry this as Blizzard 'jumping the shark' and becoming a faceless producer of some great games with a plethora of crappy games based on crappy movies.
You can look at the history of Electronic Arts (EA), once a premiere game studio awash in innovation and creativity, turning into a publishing automaton with such classics as "Sims 2 Teen Style Stuff" and "Def Jam Fight for NY", to see what gamers might fear.
posted by Argyle at 11:53 AM on December 2, 2007 [1 favorite]
I think I trust Blizzard not to screw this up. There aren't many other companies I'd say that about -- maybe Bungie and Valve. I think this will end well.
posted by danb at 11:57 AM on December 2, 2007
posted by danb at 11:57 AM on December 2, 2007
What is "pure-play"? -- that's a new one by me, at least in this context.
In this context "pure-play" is an investment term meaning "a company devoted to one line of business."
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 12:03 PM on December 2, 2007
In this context "pure-play" is an investment term meaning "a company devoted to one line of business."
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 12:03 PM on December 2, 2007
Blizzard has the best reputation in gaming, bar none, with a string of success going back to 1994 with the launch of Warcraft.
Agreed, but note also that many of the folks responsible for that string of successes left to form Flagship Studios.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:18 PM on December 2, 2007
Agreed, but note also that many of the folks responsible for that string of successes left to form Flagship Studios.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:18 PM on December 2, 2007
Interesting stuff. Won't be too long now before gaming has a studio system on par with the film industry. It's a big business that is only getting bigger.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:23 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by slimepuppy at 12:23 PM on December 2, 2007
I've called Blizzard a fag, what more can I do?
(That line never gets old.)
posted by infinitewindow at 12:44 PM on December 2, 2007
(That line never gets old.)
posted by infinitewindow at 12:44 PM on December 2, 2007
Agreed, but note also that many of the folks responsible for that string of successes left to form Flagship Studios.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:18 PM on December 2 [+] [!]
Roper's team dropped a big smelly deuce with HG:L: that game will haunt them for years to come. It's not clear at all that Blizzard has lost any meaningful talent; given FSS' track record so far, I'm not impressed. They appear talented at releasing buggy unpolished crap. Since their Vivendi buyout, Blizzard has continued to crank out extremely impressive content. They are utterly untouchable in the game industry, in a completely unprecedented manner. The Burning Crusade was probably the greatest game expansion in history, and WotLK looks just as shiny so far. Vivendi is good at letting Blizzard do their thing.
I also have no doubt that behind their obvious activities (WoW, Starcraft 2) lurks a top secret project.
posted by mek at 12:48 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:18 PM on December 2 [+] [!]
Roper's team dropped a big smelly deuce with HG:L: that game will haunt them for years to come. It's not clear at all that Blizzard has lost any meaningful talent; given FSS' track record so far, I'm not impressed. They appear talented at releasing buggy unpolished crap. Since their Vivendi buyout, Blizzard has continued to crank out extremely impressive content. They are utterly untouchable in the game industry, in a completely unprecedented manner. The Burning Crusade was probably the greatest game expansion in history, and WotLK looks just as shiny so far. Vivendi is good at letting Blizzard do their thing.
I also have no doubt that behind their obvious activities (WoW, Starcraft 2) lurks a top secret project.
posted by mek at 12:48 PM on December 2, 2007
Blizzard has the best reputation in gaming, bar none, with a string of success going back to 1994 with the launch of Warcraft.
As a long-time hardcore gamer, I wouldn't go quite this far. Blizzard has a great reputation for regularly turning out consistent, polished, extremely high quality games... with little innovation or barrier breaking.
Compare to, say, Valve who has a reputation for inconsistent, long release schedules of semi-polished but brilliant, innovative games.
Is the former a "better" reputation? I dunno. I do know that a Valve game is much more likely to push the boundaries of gaming than a Blizzard game. It's also more likely to take twice as long to come to market and need more patching.
posted by Justinian at 1:02 PM on December 2, 2007
As a long-time hardcore gamer, I wouldn't go quite this far. Blizzard has a great reputation for regularly turning out consistent, polished, extremely high quality games... with little innovation or barrier breaking.
Compare to, say, Valve who has a reputation for inconsistent, long release schedules of semi-polished but brilliant, innovative games.
Is the former a "better" reputation? I dunno. I do know that a Valve game is much more likely to push the boundaries of gaming than a Blizzard game. It's also more likely to take twice as long to come to market and need more patching.
posted by Justinian at 1:02 PM on December 2, 2007
I'm not sure that that's correct; the new company will still be smaller than EA.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 1:29 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 1:29 PM on December 2, 2007
Blizzard has the best reputation in gaming, bar none
Bioware and Microprose (may it rest in peace) have produced comparably excellent games and comparably few duds. I think it's hard to rank reputations at the top and bottom ends.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 1:40 PM on December 2, 2007
Bioware and Microprose (may it rest in peace) have produced comparably excellent games and comparably few duds. I think it's hard to rank reputations at the top and bottom ends.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 1:40 PM on December 2, 2007
Justinian, Blizzard may not be tremendously innovative, but at least they know to copy from the right things as opposed to the wrong ones. Diablo came out at a time when most people in commercial game development saw roguelikes as a design dead-end, if they knew about them at all. Diablo may be far from the best roguelike, but for what it is, it's quite good.
posted by JHarris at 1:48 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by JHarris at 1:48 PM on December 2, 2007
Compare to, say, Valve who has a reputation for inconsistent, long release schedules of semi-polished but brilliant, innovative games.
hahahaha.
You're telling me that Valve has inconsistent release schedules and Blizzard doesn't? Blizzard and Valve both tend to operate on the "when it's done" release mentality. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I think the Diablo 2 expansion was delayed at least 6 months, and the WoW expansion. I could be mistaken, but Blizzard isn't exactly speedy on releasing games.
posted by graventy at 2:08 PM on December 2, 2007
I prefer the "when it's done" release schedule. Unless you think it's better to have a shitty game today instead of a good game tomorrow, I can't comprehend why anyone wouldn't.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:23 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:23 PM on December 2, 2007
I think the Diablo 2 expansion was delayed at least 6 months, and the WoW expansion. I could be mistaken, but Blizzard isn't exactly speedy on releasing games.
posted by graventy at 2:08 PM on December 2 [+] [!]
Blizzard regularly releases major content updates for World of Warcraft. Not sure what you mean, friendo.
posted by basicchannel at 2:23 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by graventy at 2:08 PM on December 2 [+] [!]
Blizzard regularly releases major content updates for World of Warcraft. Not sure what you mean, friendo.
posted by basicchannel at 2:23 PM on December 2, 2007
Hrrm, as an avid video gamer, I'm of two minds on this.
Blizzard has the best reputation in gaming, bar none, with a string of success going back to 1994 with the launch of Warcraft.
Activision is a publisher rather than a studio, but with a fairly good reputation.
Blizzard was already owned by Vivendi - a large publisher. It's not like this changes that much. Vivendi have been letting Blizzard just do their thing, as far as I know.
Where I work (a Vivendi-owned studio) has always had a bit of an underdog complex against EA, the biggest studio in town. Wonder how this will change things for us?
posted by Jon Mitchell at 4:23 PM on December 2, 2007
Blizzard has the best reputation in gaming, bar none, with a string of success going back to 1994 with the launch of Warcraft.
Activision is a publisher rather than a studio, but with a fairly good reputation.
Blizzard was already owned by Vivendi - a large publisher. It's not like this changes that much. Vivendi have been letting Blizzard just do their thing, as far as I know.
Where I work (a Vivendi-owned studio) has always had a bit of an underdog complex against EA, the biggest studio in town. Wonder how this will change things for us?
posted by Jon Mitchell at 4:23 PM on December 2, 2007
EA may be huge, but their reputation is terrible. Being acquired by EA is a virtual kiss of death.
posted by mek at 4:32 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by mek at 4:32 PM on December 2, 2007
The Burning Crusade was probably the greatest game expansion in history
Beg to differ here. Brood War was for me the only expansion that advanced the original story by far while also introducing successfully new gameplay elements. Let's hope that Activision-Blizzard doesn't get overrun by an EA mentality (poor Origin&Westwood).
posted by ersatz at 4:34 PM on December 2, 2007
Beg to differ here. Brood War was for me the only expansion that advanced the original story by far while also introducing successfully new gameplay elements. Let's hope that Activision-Blizzard doesn't get overrun by an EA mentality (poor Origin&Westwood).
posted by ersatz at 4:34 PM on December 2, 2007
True. I really hope Bioware can dodge the curse...
posted by Jon Mitchell at 4:34 PM on December 2, 2007
posted by Jon Mitchell at 4:34 PM on December 2, 2007
Blizzard regularly releases major content updates for World of Warcraft. Not sure what you mean, friendo.
Right. Those are patches, though. Actual products get delayed fairly regularly. Burning Crusade was delayed at least 6 months from the initial date, and Diablo 2 and its expansions also were delayed. Again, although this is annoying, it's much less of a problem when the games are so consistently great. Perhaps they have gotten better, but they're still not perfect.
posted by graventy at 5:19 PM on December 2, 2007
Right. Those are patches, though. Actual products get delayed fairly regularly. Burning Crusade was delayed at least 6 months from the initial date, and Diablo 2 and its expansions also were delayed. Again, although this is annoying, it's much less of a problem when the games are so consistently great. Perhaps they have gotten better, but they're still not perfect.
posted by graventy at 5:19 PM on December 2, 2007
Diablo may be far from the best roguelike, but for what it is, it's quite good.
But that's what I said; Blizzard makes great, polished versions of things already out there. Valve pushes the boundaries with less polish.
posted by Justinian at 7:22 PM on December 2, 2007
But that's what I said; Blizzard makes great, polished versions of things already out there. Valve pushes the boundaries with less polish.
posted by Justinian at 7:22 PM on December 2, 2007
TBC was indeed the best expansion ever released. The post and Q&A over here at World of Raids pretty much says that nothing is going to change with blizzard except for having better distribution, marketing, and money. This is a win win, imo.
Also, LF 5s team fulll merc/venge warr pst
posted by lazaruslong at 8:04 PM on December 2, 2007
Also, LF 5s team fulll merc/venge warr pst
posted by lazaruslong at 8:04 PM on December 2, 2007
Right. Those are patches, though
Not really. Patches in the since that you don't pay for them, but the instances and zones as well as the reworking of the game itself that is released in these updates are huge, require months of work, and are generally awesome. Pretty much like "unlocking" 3 more months of fresh content for free, or like several mini-expansions.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:07 PM on December 2, 2007
Not really. Patches in the since that you don't pay for them, but the instances and zones as well as the reworking of the game itself that is released in these updates are huge, require months of work, and are generally awesome. Pretty much like "unlocking" 3 more months of fresh content for free, or like several mini-expansions.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:07 PM on December 2, 2007
Brood War was for me the only expansion that advanced the original story by far while also introducing successfully new gameplay elements.
Isn't every single quest, dungeon, raid, and battleground in The Burning Crusade an advancement of the story? Granted, it's not a linear storyline like the RTS installments, but the extent to which they've flushed out (some of) the existing storylines while also introducing new conflicts and villains is truly impressive.
As for gameplay elements, they added new spells and talents to every class, which drastically changed people's playstyles. On a more technical level, they added new dimensions of stats, like resilience, and new conflict scenarios (like Arena).
They haven't yet introduced any new classes (which would be a direct parallel to the most defining changes of Brood War), but the next expansion will indeed have a new "hero class," the death knight.
I don't mean to sound like a brochure, but damn. Brood War was spectacular, but almost everything it did has been done by Burning Crusade as well, and on a grander scale.
posted by Riki tiki at 12:03 AM on December 3, 2007
Isn't every single quest, dungeon, raid, and battleground in The Burning Crusade an advancement of the story? Granted, it's not a linear storyline like the RTS installments, but the extent to which they've flushed out (some of) the existing storylines while also introducing new conflicts and villains is truly impressive.
As for gameplay elements, they added new spells and talents to every class, which drastically changed people's playstyles. On a more technical level, they added new dimensions of stats, like resilience, and new conflict scenarios (like Arena).
They haven't yet introduced any new classes (which would be a direct parallel to the most defining changes of Brood War), but the next expansion will indeed have a new "hero class," the death knight.
I don't mean to sound like a brochure, but damn. Brood War was spectacular, but almost everything it did has been done by Burning Crusade as well, and on a grander scale.
posted by Riki tiki at 12:03 AM on December 3, 2007
Riki tiki: "Brood War was for me the only expansion that advanced the original story by far while also introducing successfully new gameplay elements.
Isn't every single quest, dungeon, raid, and battleground in The Burning Crusade an advancement of the story? Granted, it's not a linear storyline like the RTS installments, but the extent to which they've flushed out (some of) the existing storylines while also introducing new conflicts and villains is truly impressive.
As for gameplay elements, they added new spells and talents to every class, which drastically changed people's playstyles. On a more technical level, they added new dimensions of stats, like resilience, and new conflict scenarios (like Arena).
They haven't yet introduced any new classes (which would be a direct parallel to the most defining changes of Brood War), but the next expansion will indeed have a new "hero class," the death knight.
I don't mean to sound like a brochure, but damn. Brood War was spectacular, but almost everything it did has been done by Burning Crusade as well, and on a grander scale."
QFT.
posted by lazaruslong at 6:38 AM on December 3, 2007
Isn't every single quest, dungeon, raid, and battleground in The Burning Crusade an advancement of the story? Granted, it's not a linear storyline like the RTS installments, but the extent to which they've flushed out (some of) the existing storylines while also introducing new conflicts and villains is truly impressive.
As for gameplay elements, they added new spells and talents to every class, which drastically changed people's playstyles. On a more technical level, they added new dimensions of stats, like resilience, and new conflict scenarios (like Arena).
They haven't yet introduced any new classes (which would be a direct parallel to the most defining changes of Brood War), but the next expansion will indeed have a new "hero class," the death knight.
I don't mean to sound like a brochure, but damn. Brood War was spectacular, but almost everything it did has been done by Burning Crusade as well, and on a grander scale."
QFT.
posted by lazaruslong at 6:38 AM on December 3, 2007
Activision Blizzard, Heh. Thanks for the link, Fuzzy.
posted by Phire at 10:00 AM on December 3, 2007
posted by Phire at 10:00 AM on December 3, 2007
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