Activision gunning for WoW next?

[J Arcane]

Remember all that talk in the other thread about the latest Infinity Ward/Activision fiasco about how Blizzard was their golden goose and they'd never fuck with it?

I'm not sure I'd count on that any longer. (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/activision-wow-could-become-obsolete)

In their recent 10-K report, Activision expresses concern that WoW may become "obsolete" in the face of mobile apps and social networking sites, and points out that 68 percent of their revenue comes from just three series: Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and World of Warcraft.

In a further irony, given recent events, they also state the importance of retaining key personnel from these studios, and their difficulty in acquiring quality new personnel.

Hit the article at Eurogamer for the full scoop. (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/activision-wow-could-become-obsolete)

[bstiff]

wonder if this has anything to do with the news that the wow subscriptions have pretty much stayed steady for the last 18 months. I think that 11.5 million number includes the china accounts which are banned so I guess their number would be closer to 6 million or so. Still more than everyone else but half what they're claiming. Why do I get the feeling Blizzard may regret joining activision?

[Karmakin]

The best thing they can do for those stagnating numbers is bring out a combo pack of WoW+Expansions, put the latest version on the DVD and sell it for a discounted price. Better yet, pack in a modern, up to date beginner's guide.

They've done/are doing some good things to improve the accessibility of WoW, but I think the packaging expense/confusion is still an issue.

[J Arcane]

The fact that the endgame is still a boring repetitive slog can't help with the retention either. They've had this problem since the original, and they still haven't really fixed it.

[Lekon]

This is one of the main problems with a lot of public traded companies. "Oh god, no! We aren't getting any more profits!! DO SOMETHING!"

Meanwhile they are still making more than any other game fucking *ever*. 11.5 million subscribers is a metric ton of tons. To even worry about such a high number is ludicrous. Its like worrying "Hey, we have a drug that is 98% addictive and combines cocaine and Viagra. How can we get that other 2%?

[Wraith]

Well, it's a legitimate concern. Even a giant like WoW won't last forever. It may still be far from dying, but they've got to consider what the next thing will be (whether it's WoW 2 or something else), and how to keep WoW laying those golden eggs while it can.

I, too, rolled my eyes at the fear of "mobile apps and social networking sites" as competition for WoW, but there probably are current/future social networking games that provide the same things that some of the less hardcore players are getting out of WoW: online community, huge time sink, easy to get into gameplay.

[Shjinta]

Guess this will prove how much say Activison has in Blizzard. Any changes are going to be for the worst. Activision never had the gamers interest. Oh well Continue to fuck up the gaming industry. It will one day come back to bite them in the ass.

[Ghostbear]

I think its unlikely they'll mess with Blizzard, but this does give me pause.

[bstiff]

This is one of the main problems with a lot of public traded companies. "Oh god, no! We aren't getting any more profits!! DO SOMETHING!"

Meanwhile they are still making more than any other game fucking *ever*. 11.5 million subscribers is a metric ton of tons. To even worry about such a high number is ludicrous. Its like worrying "Hey, we have a drug that is 98% addictive and combines cocaine and Viagra. How can we get that other 2%?

I wonder if they're pushing to get starcraft and diablo iii out the door faster as well? The "release it when it's done" philosophy was fine when blizzard was on it's own but Im sure activision is chafing quite a bit.

[bstiff]

I think its unlikely they'll mess with Blizzard, but this does give me pause.

How much they'll mess with blizzard depends on what the details of their agreement are, which no one else will ever know. The end of that statement makes it sound like they may be trying to light a fire under them though.

[Grifter]

I thought Blizzard and Activision where equals, didn't they merge?

Anyway, between Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 and whatever this new MMO is they are working on I wouldn't be too worried if I were an investor... of course I'm (arguably) not retarded like some of these guys seem to be either. If a WoW customer is being pulled away from WoW by a freakin' Facebook app they probably weren't a reliable or longstanding client to begin with. It's LotRO and the upcoming KoTOR MMO I would be worried about.

[Shjinta]

The Bioware MMo and FF14 are the ones I think WoW should worry about.

[Goronmon]

The Bioware MMo and FF14 are the ones I think WoW should worry about.As I've mentioned in other threads, WoW isn't an MMO anymore. It exists in some separate gaming dimension. Take for instance my mom. She plays WoW and has no clue what Bioware or Final Fantasy are. There are many, many people with this type of attitude.

Edit: Only two things can hurt WoW, itself and whatever MMO Blizzard releases afterwards.

[Grifter]

The Bioware MMo and FF14 are the ones I think WoW should worry about.

The Bioware MMO is the KoTOR MMO and you're probably right about the FF MMO... at least for multi-platform gamers.

I used LoTRO as an example because I know quite a few people (although not that such a small sample of people is indicative of anything in the grand scheme of things) that don't know eachother but have moved most of their playtime to LoTRO because they were looking for something new and it is at the moment the most high profile fantasy MMO outside of WoW for casual and MMO only gamers.

[Hawkzombie]

As I've mentioned in other threads, WoW isn't an MMO anymore. It exists in some separate gaming dimension. Take for instance my mom. She plays WoW and has no clue what Bioware or Final Fantasy are. There are many, many people with this type of attitude.

Edit: Only two things can hurt WoW, itself and whatever MMO Blizzard releases afterwards.

That's like saying Johnny Cash isn't country music, he's his own entity.

...I fully believe that, though, so that killed my argument. It's still an MMO, just an incredibly popular one. :p

[Goronmon]

My point is that there isn't going to be an MMO that "kills" WoW. People will leave WoW because they are sick of playing it and are looking for an alternative, or just will stop playing WoW and not bother looking for a replacement.

[mightbe]

WoW is farmville with murlocs.

True story.

[Narradisall]

I kinda agree they could do with more IP's.

Blizzard have SC2 and D3 coming up, which like them or not, will make shit tons of money. WoW has been stagnant for ages, but most MMO's are after a few years.

I still don't see the money trains drying up, but I understand the fiscal policy shift towards perhaps not having all their eggs in one basket.

[Kelegacy]

I hope Activision fucks up entirely. Greed is a pompous bitch. She will eat your soul and spit out your carcass, then fuck your girlfriend using your carcass as a mattress.

[cppcrusader]

I get that it's fun to bag on Activision right now, and I admit it is fun indeed, but that article pretty much amounts to "the sky is falling". There is nothing in that report to suggest that the Activision suits are going to start meddling in Blizzard's operations. I'm kind of surprised as Eurogamer usually has better quality articles than that.

Identifying potential risk factors is what companies do, and if they were to completely discount the rise in social and mobile gaming then they'd be fools. However, the report didn't say it was going to make WoW obsolete. It only identified the risk that new technologies could make WoW obsolete, which is pretty much "the sky is blue".


Competition within and to the interactive entertainment industry is intense, and competitors may succeed in reducing our sales.

We compete with other publishers of PC and video game console interactive entertainment software and peripherals. Those competitors vary in size from small companies with limited resources to very large corporations with significantly greater financial, marketing, and product development resources than we have. For example, integrated video game console hardware and software companies such as Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft compete directly with us in the development of software titles for their respective platforms. Further, certain major media companies, such as the Walt Disney Company and Time Warner, Inc., which have been investing in video game products, have increased competition within the industry. Our competitors may spend more money and time on developing and testing products, undertake more extensive marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies, pay higher fees to licensors for desirable motion picture, television, sports, music and character properties, pay more to third-party software developers, or otherwise develop more commercially successful products for the PC or video game platforms than we do. In addition, competitors with large product lines and popular titles typically have greater leverage with retailers, distributors, and other customers who may be willing to promote titles with less consumer appeal in return for access to those competitors' most popular titles.

We also compete with other forms of interactive entertainment, such as casual games like iPhone applications and other mobile phone games, and games developed for use by consumers on social networking sites. Future increased consumer acceptance and increases in the availability such games or other online games, or technological advances in online game software or the Internet, could result in a decline in platform-based software and negatively impact sales of our console and hand-held products. Newer technological advances in online game software may also render products such as World of Warcraft obsolete. Additionally, direct sales of software over the Internet by competitors could adversely affect our distribution business.


What I'm more surprised by is the fact that no one has picked up on the fact that Vivendi is still the one in charge as they have the controlling shares of 57%.

[hunterx280]

If Activision stops Diablo 3 I will swear off Activision games for life.

[J Arcane]

What I'm more surprised by is the fact that no one has picked up on the fact that Vivendi is still the one in charge as they have the controlling shares of 57%.

And yet the put all of Activision's guys in charge, and their business decisions of late have all been straight from the Activision playbook.

Not that it would've been better if Vivendi's guys were in charge. Then they'd just be bankrupt by now.

[CES]

If Activision stops Diablo 3 I will swear off Activision games for life.

A proven IP with great critical and sales history, there's no way in hell Acti will drop Diablo. If anything, they'll franchise it and run it into the ground.

You have to ask yourself, which outcome is better?

[Narradisall]

A proven IP with great critical and sales history, there's no way in hell Acti will drop Diablo. If anything, they'll franchise it and run it into the ground.

You have to ask yourself, which outcome is better?

It all makes sense now!

THE 5TH D3 CHARACTER WILL BE A LEAD GUITARIST!

[BigJonno]

It all makes sense now!

THE 5TH D3 CHARACTER WILL BE A LEAD GUITARIST!

Try and tell me that this (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/features/bard/bardclass.xml) isn't awesome.

[SilentScreams]

They won't stop Diablo 3, but I'm worried that they might "encourage" Blizzard to get it out of the door quickly, which would go against everything that has made Blizzard great.

[hunterx280]

OK fine, if Activision disturbs the natural development of Diablo 3, I will swear of Activision games for life. How's that? LOL!

[SilentScreams]

OK fine, if Activision disturbs the natural development of Diablo 3, I will swear of Activision games for life. How's that? LOL!

Much better. I'll join you in that hypothetical boycott. :)

[hunterx280]

Much better. I'll join you in that hypothetical boycott. :)

We should get in on this early, start a movement. Then we can be the dorks everyone...laughs...at... Hmmm maybe not.

[Narradisall]

Try and tell me that this (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/features/bard/bardclass.xml) isn't awesome.

I.... I just can't.

Faaaaaace meeeellltaaaaar!

[Hawkzombie]

Actually, if they introduced a bard class that awesome, I'd go right back in a heartbeat.

[Heretic Machine]

I wouldn't be surprised if Activision pulled a SoE and ended up killing the golden goose with a WoW sequel that doesn't need to happen.

[Hemalin]

I thought Blizzard and Activision where equals, didn't they merge?
No. Vivendi(who owned Blizzard) and Activision merged with Vivendi having the majority shares and Activision management in charge. They just slapped Blizzard onto their name, they have no power in the overall Activision. There's more to it but this is close enough.

[Shjinta]

The Bioware MMO is the KoTOR MMO and you're probably right about the FF MMO... at least for multi-platform gamers.

I used LoTRO as an example because I know quite a few people (although not that such a small sample of people is indicative of anything in the grand scheme of things) that don't know eachother but have moved most of their playtime to LoTRO because they were looking for something new and it is at the moment the most high profile fantasy MMO outside of WoW for casual and MMO only gamers.

Yeah I just didn't feel like writing Star Wars lol. As for FF 14 I remember reading an article with them stating that they were going to make WoW it's bitch. So I'm interested to see how. I know Square...Possibly could do it.

[J Arcane]

Yeah I just didn't feel like writing Star Wars lol. As for FF 14 I remember reading an article with them stating that they were going to make WoW it's bitch. So I'm interested to see how. I know Square...Possibly could do it.
Depends entirely on how much like FFXI FFIV is.

[Shjinta]

Depends entirely on how much like FFXI FFIV is.

From what I've read, and seen.. it's nothing at all like 13... They went for the "Casual" as the core for this game.

[Hawkzombie]

From what I've read, and seen.. it's nothing at all like 13... They went for the "Casual" as the core for this game.

XI is eleven, not thirteen.

[Deadend]

"Activision would never fuck with their golden goose of Blizzard."
Just like how no one thought they would fuck with their Golden Goose - Infinity Ward.
So I am going to say WRONG! As if IW isn't safe from corporate dicking, not even Blizz is safe.

The reason WoW has stayed on top for 5 years is that Blizzard keeps working on ways to make it better. Quite often better MMOs come along, within a year, WoW steals what works.

SOE wants to take down WoW, but it requires a more casual friendly game to do it, oh and it has to help transition players into hardcore, oh and it has to have close to balanced group PVP, aaaandd it needs to have a good endgame, and it needs large group content.

Those are quite a few different things that a game needs to do to be able to top WoW.
I think if WoW declines heavily, it will be due to Activision-Blizzard.

I also don't accept that FB games are a threat to WoW, as within 4 years or so, WoW will probably be playable in a browser window on Facebook.

[RandoM51]

I don't know how you read that as Activision gunning for WoW.

I read it as Activision pointing on how much they rely upon WoW and how WoW may be vulnerable in the face of new gaming options/platforms.

If anything I expect they'll do even more to keep WoW competitive.

[J Arcane]

I don't know how you read that as Activision gunning for WoW.

I read it as Activision pointing on how much they rely upon WoW and how WoW may be vulnerable in the face of new gaming options/platforms.

If anything I expect they'll do even more to keep WoW competitive.

And that's exactly what I mean, and exactly what I'm worried about.

Activision's ideas of what makes a game "competitive" tend towards the remarkably stupid.

[Wraith]

As much as I want to see FFXIV succeed, I don't really think it's going to affect WoW in a major way. Even if it surpasses XI's level of success. Though there's only so much we know about the game so far, it still seems like a totally different beast than WoW.

[Kelegacy]

Activision's ideas of what makes a game "competitive" tend towards the remarkably stupid.

Yet they still rake in the money.

For a short time anyway. They've come forward and stated the music game genre has had its bubble burst, which is only because of Activision's own greed.

Short term gains vs. longevity is their creed.

[kyrieee]

Just thinking about Activision pisses me off. They're a truly massive company yet they depend on a small number of brilliant people for all their profits. Those people don't even get their dues while the management run their good franchises into the ground. Activision doesn't deserve WoW, Call of Duty or Guitar Hero, and that's not personal bitterness because I don't care about any of them

If I were Blizzard I would go independent. I think their fans have enough awareness to support a new Blizzard, and their products are good enough to find the other fans just through word of mouth.

[Exodus]

I'm curious to see what will happen when the upcoming mmos lay siege to the WoW accumulated user base. I haven't seen any combat of FFXIV. Old Republic might be okay but...doesn't really look all that fun to play when it comes to combat. Makes me think of Kotor and to be honest with you...I am really...really tired of how boring it looks since NWN and before.

[KillerMcDead]

I swore off WoW the day I heard they'd included a playable version of Peggle in game.

Not that I don't like Peggle.

[Ten19]

I swore off WoW the day I heard they'd included a playable version of Peggle in game.

Not that I don't like Peggle.

Just to get our facts straight, "they" in this scenario is PopCap, the developers of Peggle. Yes, they developed a version that would operate as an interface add-on for the game. I believe Blizzard may have helped them a bit with a few elements of programming/licensing, but it certainly wasn't their initiative. And it doesn't come with the game, you have to actively seek it out and install it (if you want).

Swear off games all you like, but swear them off for accurate reasons :p

[Hawkzombie]

They're including it? I thought it was just another in-game addon like the Bejeweled one.

Nevermind, Ten answered it for me :p

[Exodus]

I wonder if they'll start charging for wowApps some day...

[Hawkzombie]

I wonder if they'll start charging for wowApps some day...

Carbonite used to charge, but Blizzard put a really fast stop to that. Addons are free to use.

[roboninja]

I wonder if they'll start charging for wowApps some day...

No, that comes if Apple buys Blizzard. Keep your corporate dickery straight. :p

[Exodus]

I recollect that and carbonite was pretty nice as it was, I'm glad they put a stop to that. If activision was in charge I'd believe they would start charging for addons and that would be outrageous considering how the TOS works..