Submission 23,923

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ME PAYING $70 FOR A GAME BLIZZARD $30 "MICROTRANACTION"

BOI @Bolverk15 Like a week ago people told me it's a conspiracy that Blizzard would ever think of using LGBT issues to deflect from criticism Imao Get bent IGN @IGN.11h Blizzard has officially scrapped Overwatch 2's long-awaited PvE mo but the game's creative leads are assuring fans that PvE is still a focus the game moving forward. bit.ly/458 ... BIZZARD Blizzard Entertainment @Blizzard Ent. May 16 2023 Blizzard Pride Collection in support of @transequality

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Blizzard destroyed their reputation to sell games in China and now China won't let them sell their games bau businesswire HOME SERVICES NEWS EDUCATION ABOUT US A BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY COMPANY Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase Suspending Game Services in China Certain games will no longer be available at end of license with NetEase on January 23, 2023 November 16, 2022 09:00 PM Eastern Standard Time Search IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it will be suspending most Blizzard game services in mainland China due to the expiration of the current licensing agreements with NetEase, Inc. on January 23, 2023. This includes World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch®, the StarCraft® series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the StormⓇ. Diablo Immortal co-development and publishing is covered under a separate agreement between the two companies. "We're immensely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown throughout the nearly 20 years we've been bringing our games to China through NetEase and other partners" Tweet this About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Blizzard Entertainment has had licensing agreements with NetEase since 2008, covering the publication of these Blizzard titles in China. The two parties have not reached a deal to renew the agreements that is consistent with Blizzard's operating principles and commitments to players and employees, and the agreements are set to expire in January 2023. We will suspend new sales in the coming days and Chinese players will be receiving details of how this will work soon. Upcoming releases for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Hearthstone: March of the Lich King, and season 2 of Overwatch 2 will proceed later this year. "We're immensely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown throughout the nearly 20 years we've been bringing our games to China through NetEase and other partners," said Mike Ybarra, president, Blizzard Entertainment. "Their enthusiasm and creativity inspire us, and we are looking for alternatives to bring our games back to players in the future." Best known for iconic video game universes including WarcraftⓇ, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry's most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: The statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward- looking statements including, but not limited to statements of our plans and objectives, including those related to releases of products or services. Activision Blizzard, Inc. generally uses words such as "outlook," "forecast," "will," "could," "should," "would," "to be," "plan," "aims," "believes," "may," "might," "expects," "intends," "seeks," "anticipates," "estimate," "future," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming," and the negative version of these words and other similar words and expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks, reflect management's current expectations, estimates, and projections about our business, and are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict.

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About

Blizzard Entertainment is a video game development and publishing company based in Irvine, California. The company is known for creating several notable game franchises, including Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo.

History

In February 1991, the company Silicon & Synapse was created by founders Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce, which initially focused on producing ports of existing games for other systems. In 1994, the company changed its name to Blizzard Entertainment after being acquired by the software distributor Davidson & Associates for $6.75 million.

2019 Layoffs

On February 12th, 2019, Variety^[2] reported that Activision Blizzard was laying off "approximately 775 people -- 8% of its 9,600 person staff." That day, CNET^[3] published an article noting that the company cut the jobs shortly after posting the "best financial results in the company's history." Meanwhile, Kotaku editor Jason Schrier tweeted^[5] that "Blizzard employees are crying and hugging in the parking lot" (shown below).

Jason Schreier @jasonschreier As they brace for today's layoffs, Blizzard employees are crying and hugging in the parking lot, according to a person there. Still no official word from the company, but people in publishing and esports are expecting big cuts. Earnings is at 5pm ET news should be around then.

The following day, Redditor StaurtGT submitted a post titled "Activision-Blizzard's Management = SCUM" to /r/gaming,^[4] along with an image of the CEO Bobby Kotick captioned with a note about the record financial results (shown below). Within 24 hours, the post gained over 96,600 points (69% upvoted) and 4,700 comments.

Our financial re$ult$ for 2018 were the bešt in our history So we're firing 800 people CEO Bobby Kotick

Meanwhile, YouTubers TheQuartering and Boogie2988 uploaded videos reacting to the layoff reports (shown below).

Highlights

Warcraft

In 1994, Blizzard developed the real-time strategy game Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. The game was followed by Warcraft II in 1995, Warcraft III in 2002 and the MMORPG World of Warcraft in 2004.

Hearthstone

In 2014, Blizzard released the free to play digital collectible card game (CCG) Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, that is loosely set in the Warcraft universe.

Diablo

In 1997, Blizzard released the fantasy action role-playing game Diablo. Set in the fictional Kingdom of Khanduras, the player assumes the role of a lone warrior on a mission to battle and eliminate a demon named Diablo. Two sequels for the game have since been released, including Diablo II in 2000 and Diablo III in 2012.

Starcraft

In 1998, Blizzard released the real-time strategy game StarCraft is a real-time strategy (RTS) game that revolves around three warring races: Terrans, the political castoffs and malcontents of humanity; Zerg, beast-like and savage creatures hailing from the planet Char; and the Protoss, the highly advanced bipedal aliens from the planet Aiur.^[1] The game’s canonical settings take place in the distant future in a sector of the Galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector, where each player must build offensive and defensive units to fight for the control of natural resources.

Blizzcon

In 2005, Blizzard held the first BlizzCon video game convention to promote the company's various franchises. The convention is held each year at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.

2010: Red Shirt Guy

On October 23rd, 2010, a video was uploaded to YouTube showing footage from a Q&A session from that week’s BlizzCon. During the session a red-shirted teenage boy managed to stump Blizzard designer Alex Afrasiabi and loremaster Chris Metzen with a rather obscure question concerning a seemingly minor character in the WoW universe. The teenager was subsequently nicknamed "Red Shirt Guy" by fans online.

2015 Event

On November 6th, 2015, Blizzard released the official trailer for the upcoming film Warcraft at Blizzcon (shown below, left). Additionally, a cinematic for the upcoming World of Warcraft: Legion expansion was revealed (shown below, right). Additionally, the new Hearthstone adventure League of Explorers was announced and the upcoming first person shooter Overwatch was set for released in Q2 2016.

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Wikipedia – Blizzard Entertainment

^[2] Variety – Activision Blizzard Lays Off Nearly 800 Amid Major Restructuring

^[3] CNET – Activision Blizzard began employee layoff after

^[4] Reddit – /r/gaming

^[5] Twitter – @jasonschreier

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