For now. It's a fickle market and who knows when they will draw the ire of the chinese government and get banned. Also, the vast majority of chinese gaming takes place on mobile and that's not a stable demographic by any means. That's why i wrote that this smells like an investor driven decision that will ultimately backfire. Keep in mind their money printing machine, WoW, is starting to break down and OW can't compete with the likes of Fortnite and PUBG. They're in dire need of a great game, not more bad publicity"Customer outrage" applies only to anyone that was already buying Blizzard products and now won't, specifically because of this. As this forum (rightly so) spends most days pointing out, this kind of outrage usually comes from people that don't actually buy the products. I'd wager that group of people is less than every Blizzard product owner living in China.
All it will take is a few popular streamers/YouTubers bringing it up. It's possible in the near future these companies are going to have to choose China or the west."Customer outrage" applies only to anyone that was already buying Blizzard products and now won't, specifically because of this. As this forum (rightly so) spends most days pointing out, this kind of outrage usually comes from people that don't actually buy the products. I'd wager that group of people is less than every Blizzard product owner living in China.
For now. It's a fickle market and who nows when they will draw the ire of the chinese government and being banned. Also, the vast majority of chinese gaming takes place on mobile and that's not a stable demographic by any means. That's why i wrote that this smells like an investor driven decision that will ultimately backfire. Keep in mind their money printing machine, WoW, is starting to break down and OW can't compete with the likes of Fortnite and PUBG. They're in dire need of a great game, not more bad publicity
All it will take is a few popular streamers/YouTubers bringing it up. It's possible in the near future these companies are going to have to choose China or the west.
Younger people don't seem to have unbreakable allegiance to corporations.
They should have simply ignored it and adopted a wait and see attitude, at the very least. I also disagree this would be actively pissing off China since it's not Blizz making the offensive statement
Right and customer outrage is also something that would obviously happen and rightfully so. Time will tell if Blizz desperate moves to compete in China will make up for all the lost goodwill in the west. Personally i think it's a very short sighted, investor driven, strategy that will ultimately lead to their downfall
>the digital code is weary, the letters are falling off, the textures are disintegrating, the game is just starting to break downFor now. It's a fickle market and who knows when they will draw the ire of the chinese government and get banned. Also, the vast majority of chinese gaming takes place on mobile and that's not a stable demographic by any means. That's why i wrote that this smells like an investor driven decision that will ultimately backfire. Keep in mind their money printing machine, WoW, is starting to break down and OW can't compete with the likes of Fortnite and PUBG. They're in dire need of a great game, not more bad publicity
Somehow I doubt things would have been any different if he had voiced his support outside the event, say using his own personal Twitter account or something. The China defense brigade would have found the tweet and they would have pestered Blizzard until they banned the guy.A grandmaster interview, while you represent a game and a company, is not the place to spout your personal political viewpoints.
This is the wrong place and the wrong time.
Somehow I doubt things would have been any different if he had voiced his support outside the event, say using his own personal Twitter account or something. The China defense brigade would have found the tweet and they would have pestered Blizzard until they banned the guy.
I wouldn't really say it's speculation. The rule Blizzard claims was violated isn't worded in a way that suggests it only covers what players say or do during an event. Offend the wrong "portion or group of the public" (i.e. China in this case) and you're fucked, no matter how or where you do it.Possibly. That idea is built on speculation though. And, at worst his twitter would have been banned, at best he would still have a job.
You're kidding right? It's been going downhill since the Wrath days and the chinese players do not pay a monthly sub like we do in the west. It's nowhere near the infinite source of money that it once was. Also, 6 weeks does not prove it's a sustainable rise. Every new expansion also saw a rise in subs but yet the overall numbers have been steadily decliningWoW has been "starting to break down" for 9 years at this point, and Classic just gave it the biggest subscriber boost it's ever seen. And no, it's not a fad, it's been out for 6 weeks and the servers are still rammed beyond expectation. They've also got Diablo mobile on the way, which, while we may all laugh, will print money, alongside Call of Duty as usual.
Generic streamers can, sure, but the people making their living playing Blizzard games (which is who Blizzard game fans will presumably mostly be watching) aren't about to cut off their livelihood for the sake of looking moral.
Once again, while I do not morally condone what they've done here, people are going to forget about it in a week like they forget about everything else (remember Mulan? lol) and Blizzard are going to be absolutely fine.
2edgy4uYou talk like you have experience at this level of decision making, while I'm sure you had regrets buying that $100 vibrating anal massager last week.
Tell the world, scream from the rooftops, gather a Twitter mob, make a placard. The downfall is coming, the West moral adjudicators will rise once more and the investor driven short term strategy will fall under immense pressure of the customer outrage.
>the digital code is weary, the letters are falling off, the textures are disintegrating, the game is just starting to break down
>avoiding bad publicity is directly correlated with helping them make a great game, the more good publicity there is, the more optimised our code, the better our art
You sure you know what you're talking about, or just have a flair for the drama?
You're kidding right? It's been going downhill since the Wrath days and the chinese players do not pay a monthly sub like we do in the west. It's nowhere near the infinite source of money that it once was. Also, 6 weeks does not prove it's a sustainable rise. Every new expansion also saw a rise in subs but yet the overall numbers have been steadily declining
You mean Diablo Immortal 2? Cause Diablo 4 is the new Deep Down.blizzard making it easier and easier for me to ignore diablo 4
I'd say the time that it would normally take them to release the next expansion. At any rate, 6 weeks is nothing in terms of an mmo. It took most people a lot longer to realise Cata and MoP were shit. At any rate, time will tell if catering to China at the expense of long time fans is a good long term strategy. I doubt itIt's actually been going downhill since Cata, that's what I said, about 9 years. Of course it's not as popular as it was 9 years ago. But I'd wager Classic's made it more popular than it was during some of the previous expansions.
And at what point does Classic become a sustainable rise in your eyes? 12 weeks? A year? 2 years? You must have a figure in mind. Classic is a massive success even after all the tourists have left, and all Blizzard need to do now is roll out the phases and then release TBC Classic.
fuck nazisChina has infiltrated all aspects of the western world. That's why so many game companies are censoring and banning so many things. Because the Chinese want them to. I bet Sony's whole censorship bullshit is all because they want to sell more games in China and want to please the cunt communists. You see the influence of China on campuses etc. corporations etc. in the west. China has been at it for a long long time. Fuck China and fuck all communists
fuck nazis
And you guys are still worried about Russia.China has infiltrated all aspects of the western world.
I'm not American so I've never drank the Russia cool aidAnd you guys are still worried about Russia.
But not communist, right?fuck nazis
fuck nazis
Blizzard has also fired both of the Hearthstone casters working the event, both of whom literally ducked underneath the desk during the interview and neither of which to my knowledge had any idea what was going to be said
fuck nazis
The NBA just had the broadcast of all its preseason games in China cancelled because they defended one of their GM's right to criticize China. Which he did on Twitter.Possibly. That idea is built on speculation though. And, at worst his twitter would have been banned, at best he would still have a job.
Conform or be cast outGrowing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Read more: Rush - Subdivisions Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Stop pretending you won't buy diablo 4 xDblizzard making it easier and easier for me to ignore diablo 4