Blizzard General News

**Krandor** · 2021-02-06 21:37

Originally Posted by Lucavi

Oh shit, you're right! My fucking bad. Yeah, I don't know WHAT Actiblizz is fucking doing then. CoD money is nice, but not THAT nice. WoW money is fat, but without a Fortnite/Fifa-esque money pit that requires barely any resources poured back into it...

Activision owns Candy Crush. I think that franchise pulls in nearly 1 mil a day.

**Qalbert** · 2021-02-06 22:08

Originally Posted by Lucavi

The biggest complaints I heard about it was that it superheats your phone (due to looking and running well, which is common) and that playing it for long periods of time can be a bit taxing on the hand.

If those are your two biggest issues... that bodes very well for you.

Yeah, the biggest issue by far was just the where/when/how it was announced. People (perhaps unfairly) were expecting D4 to be announced because it's fkn Blizzcon and they announce a phone game which isn't something people usually get hyped for, and then double down with the whole "DON'T YOU HAVE PHONES?!"

**Lucavi** · 2021-02-07 12:51

I laughed at it then and still laugh at it today. The hubris of Blizzard to expect anything different. They actually expected praise! Too many years spent on their exclusive campus, away from the unwashed masses and their common opinions.

**6souls** · 2021-02-20 07:23

Thirty years ago, a newly formed game studio made up of a handful of software developers set out to create the types of games they themselves loved to play. Among their first creations were The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne—each garnering critical acclaim and reflecting the early design principles of the company that would soon become Blizzard Entertainment. Today, Blizzard is proud to announce the Blizzard Arcade Collection, a digital set of its original hits, updated and available now for Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One (also PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S via backwards compatibility).

On Windows PC, the Blizzard Arcade Collection is included as part of The Celebration Collection, a commemorative bundle of in-game items for Blizzard games that was released earlier this month to mark the company’s 30-year anniversary. (Players who have already made this purchase will automatically receive the Blizzard Arcade Collection.) A version of this bundle is also coming to consoles today as The Blizzard 30-Year Celebration Collection.

“The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne ultimately made it possible for us to go on to create Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft, so we thought the Blizzard Arcade Collection would be a fun and fitting way to look back at our roots as a company,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “Many Blizzard gamers around the world fondly remember their time with these games and have often asked us to bring them back for modern platforms, so we’re thrilled to not only do so with this release, but to amp up the experience with new features and functionality available for the first time in each game.”

The games in the Blizzard Arcade Collection come in their Original Editions and also upgraded Definitive Editions (details below), with each version featuring custom key mapping and the ability to rewind up to 10 seconds. The Original Editions of The Lost Vikings and Blackthorne also include “watch mode,” which lets players watch a playthrough of the game and jump in to take control at any point. The ability to save progress anywhere is also included in all versions of each game, with the exception of the Definitive Edition of Rock N Roll Racing. An array of bonus materials rounds out the Blizzard Arcade Collection, including game art, development assets, unused content, lore, interviews, and more.

Nostalgia, Refined

Each entry in the Blizzard Arcade Collection showcases the focus on fun, personality, and detail at the heart of all Blizzard games. The games are all compellingly challenging, offering an early look at what would evolve into Blizzard’s signature approach to satisfying gameplay, colorful design, and tongue-in-cheek humor.

In The Lost Vikings, players assume the roles of Erik the Swift, Olaf the Stout, and Baelog the Fierce, three intrepid Vikings who must use their abilities cooperatively to solve hundreds of puzzles, defeat their enemies, and navigate a treacherous voyage back home. The Definitive Edition of The Lost Vikings brings together the best aspects of the different original console versions of the game, combining the superior audio and visual experience of the first release with the extra stages and cutscenes, and support for up to three players in local co-op, that were added in a subsequent version.

Featuring a series of booby-trapped racetracks and an epic rock-and-metal soundtrack, Rock N Roll Racing puts players behind the wheel in an over-the-top demolition-racing experience. Players choose from a selection of drivers with different talents and take their pick from a set of customizable cars—each equipped with an upgradeable arsenal designed to help them outmaneuver, and literally destroy, the competition. The Definitive Edition adds environmental effects, such as snow and rain, and lets up to four players, compared to two in the Original Edition, compete in local multiplayer. It also ups the racetrack count to 384 variations, supports 16:9 resolution, and adds actual recordings of songs from the game’s classic soundtrack—as well as new songs and new “Loudmouth Larry” voiceover clips for players to tear up the tracks to.

Blackthorne centers on the story of Kyle “Blackthorne” Vlaros, a lethal commando equipped with brute strength, animal cunning, a mysterious past—and an increasingly powerful shotgun. As the eponymous lead character, players must fight to claim their destiny, dodging and blasting their way through a futuristic 2D alien world overrun by mutant monsters and goblin hordes, in a fierce effort to liberate its people. The Definitive Edition of the game includes a “fog of war” map that uncovers as players explore each level.

The Definitive Editions also bring The Lost Vikings, Rock N Roll Racing, and Blackthorne to a broader global audience than ever before, providing the first-ever opportunity for players around the world to play through these foundational Blizzard experiences in Italian, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, and simplified and traditional Chinese, in addition to the French, German, Japanese, and European Spanish versions that were previously available.

Now Available on Battle.net and Console Digital Shops

The Windows PC version of the Blizzard Arcade Collection is currently available exclusively on Battle.net as part of The Celebration Collection (standalone purchase not available). On consoles, the Blizzard Arcade Collection can be found on Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox Store as part of The Blizzard 30-Year Celebration Collection, or as a standalone purchase (SRP $19.99).

https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/pro...ction?p=142347

**6souls** · 2021-03-03 12:36

**6souls** · 2021-03-30 09:08

https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-b...ative-officer/

Former Trump Admin official Brian Bulatao has joined Activision Blizzard as their chief administrative officer. ActiBliz also hired former Bush Admin counterterrorism advisor Frances F. Townsend as their its chief compliance officer.

Earlier this week, the publisher announced the promotion of Armin Zerza as chief financial officer (via BusinessWire). But Bulatao, who joins Activision following a previous role under US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, comes aboard with notably less fanfare—his hiring revealed via company-wide internal emails acquired by Kotaku.

"Brian is a rare talent, and the perfect fit for Activision Blizzard; his unparalleled combination of business, military, and government experience makes him ideally suited to accelerate our organizational transformation and deliver on great opportunities for future growth," Activision CEO Bobby Kotick wrote in the email.

Bulatao's hiring comes mere weeks after Activision appointed Frances F. Townsend, a Bush-era counterterrorism advisor who notoriously defended the CIA's use of torture, as its chief compliance officer. Bulatao himself has been described as a "bully" and "Mike Pompeo's attack dog" by a Business Insider report into his management of the State Department.

Kotick's email reportedly makes note of Bulatao's role in "leading the State Department’s talent, diversity, and inclusion efforts," despite the Trump administration freezing said efforts with an executive order last September.

**synistar** · 2021-04-20 13:31

Jeff Kaplan to leave Blizzard

https://twitter.com/realJeffkaplan1/...66138789666823

**Corrderio** · 2021-04-20 13:41

No sure if that's an L or W for Blizzard

**Salodin** · 2021-04-20 13:42

L

Overwatch 2 must be in quite the hell right now

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**Corrderio** · 2021-04-20 13:48

I always thought that was in development hell given the time between the announcement and lack of news. Even with COVID it felt like news wasn't even at a trickle.

Then again I quit OW awhile back under his leadership. Content came out too slow and usually wasn't worth the wait.

**Melena** · 2021-04-20 15:19

Lack of content really wasn't the killer for OW for me. The player base was. QP was a damn cess pool, and ranked was hell for solo queue.

**Salodin** · 2021-04-20 15:38

OW is dead cause of balancing. They just can't get it right, especially for healer classes. They also took the lazy way out when people weren't using assault characters, and started forcing 2/2/2 which honestly really fucking blows. They just had a good idea and design, and over time players min/maxed and they couldn't adjust with the community properly.

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**synistar** · 2021-04-20 15:57

TBF GOATs is/was terrible in the competitive scene. And I have no idea how to balance Overwatch so I'm not going to bother saying much more.

Also stopped playing anything Blizzard after the HK debacle.

**Corrderio** · 2021-04-20 16:36

Originally Posted by Salodin

OW is dead cause of balancing. They just can't get it right, especially for healer classes. They also took the lazy way out when people weren't using assault characters, and started forcing 2/2/2 which honestly really fucking blows. They just had a good idea and design, and over time players min/maxed and they couldn't adjust with the community properly.

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NGL 2/2/2 would have kept me going longer maybe. As a support main nothing pissed me off more than a team going 4-5 DPS and an offtank like D.Va/Wrecking Ball. Besides that though balancing took forever, maps came out extremely slow, and other QOL features like map selector/etc. also would have been a big help.

And then yeah the whole HK thing too, which to Jeff's credit he did speak out against.

**Deejay** · 2021-04-20 17:27

I feel like balancing has always been Blizzard's achilles heel

**Tomiko** · 2021-04-20 18:56

Originally Posted by Melena

Lack of content really wasn't the killer for OW for me. The player base was. QP was a damn cess pool, and ranked was hell for solo queue.

Definitely this. I love the game itself, I just hate my teammates. I'm looking forward to OW2 because PvE has been a better experience for my in OW aside from being very repetitive.

**Salodin** · 2021-04-20 19:46

Originally Posted by Corrderio

NGL 2/2/2 would have kept me going longer maybe. As a support main nothing pissed me off more than a team going 4-5 DPS and an offtank like D.Va/Wrecking Ball. Besides that though balancing took forever, maps came out extremely slow, and other QOL features like map selector/etc. also would have been a big help.

And then yeah the whole HK thing too, which to Jeff's credit he did speak out against.

In the groups I saw, the problem was more dealing with 3/3 or 3/1/2 which gave the team such durability while still not really losing out on the damage. It is/was hard to counter without an equally competent team, or some lucky ults.

Forcing us into locked roles hurt me hard cause I'd swap roles mid match frequently to make up for whatever we were lacking at that moment.

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