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[Captain Toad]

It doesn't seem as much as Bethesda when looking at the franchises, despite being nearly 10x as much, but there are some, such as Diablo.

 

[ManaByte]

Bring WOW or better yet announce WOW2 for Xbox and watch the world go mad

A modern console/PC WoW2 would be amazing.

 

[DaGwaphics]

What is a hardcore gamer?

What games do they play to be considered hardcore?

That's my question too. In my mind I think of "hardcore" players as being heavily invested, competitive players that put a lot of time and energy into the hobby, I don't really think of any specific genre or game. To me casual players just play to have fun and are less serious and maybe a little less skilled as a result.

Threads like this make me want to see MS swoop in and buy From Software just for the reaction that would get.

I do wonder about what angle those threads would take.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

You can be hardcore in every game, so calling a certain category "hardcore" games isn't really clear. Also you can be extremely hardcore in COD, Fortnite, PUBG, etc.

 

[Haggard]

Nobody that´s not somehow fanatic about HIS/HERS special little plastic box and hates all other boxes for no reason will lose anything at all.
On the contrary, normal people will gain options and probably see their hobby get even cheaper when they can simply rent releases they`re not going to play longer than a dozen hours or so anyways via gamepass instead of purchasing at full price.

 

[darrylgorn]

The hardcore community aren't limited to one platform.

 

[MrTentakel]

It doesn't seem as much as Bethesda when looking at the franchises, despite being nearly 10x as much, but there are some, such as Diablo.

Wolfstein, Doom, Fallout, Elder Scrolls - those IPs do something for me... (or did before Fallout 76 and Wolfenstein Youngblood, eat a bag of dicks, Todd H.!)

COD does not.
But there are first class studios at Activision/ Blizzard. I hope MS starts properly managing them. I mean, Activision and Bethesda sold out because they had issues, it doesn`t make sense to continue doing the same and expecting different results.

And here starts the fantasy for me (let an old man dream):
Raven and Machine Games do Wolfenstein 3.
Obsidian gets Fallout 5
...

 

[balls of snow]

Played 800 hours overwatch on ps4. Looks like im buying lots of gamepass ultimate subs to play on xbox.

 

[nemiroff]

Definition of the term "hardcore: To condescendingly dress up in authority speak when you don't have a convincing core argument. You don't have veto rights just because you feel that you're so special.

 

[Swift_Star]

Time will tell but I think many will forgo buying a PS just because of CoD. I know plenty of casuals who only play those big games like Skyrim, Fallout, Assassin's Creed, and CoD. Why would they get a PS now? You all can downplay this all you want but this is what killed the Dreamcast. Sony has a great first-party and a lot more money than Sega, so they will be fine, but this will still hurt them, especially if MS isn't done buying studios.

Well some of those also are big on Genshin Impact and Fortnite and their friends are on PS. I don’t think this will impact PS the way people think it will.

 

[GHG]

The idea that hardcore gamers don't play COD, Starcraft or WOW is a deeply flawed one.

 

[Goalus]

Based on the direction Activision Blizzard has been taking the past decade, is the buyout really that much of a concern beyond the super casual audience who only buys Madden/FIFA and Call of Duty every single year, and potentially for Sony as a company?

Activision Blizzard is just as bad as EA (if not worse) these days and is the epitome of creative stagnation in the industry. Bobby Kotick has been consolidating every development team Activision has into Call of Duty support studios, and I suspect that Blizzard would have increasingly seen a similar fate in the following years. Activision Blizzard would have continued to devalue itself in the eyes of the more hardcore audience by focusing solely on Call of Duty with no other IPs being used, so outside of the concern of monolithic megacorp expansionism (which is a valid concern), I fail to see how the Microsoft acquisition is a terrifying proposition.

Time will tell how this all turns out, but I’m more optimistic about the future of Activision Blizzard simply because Phil Spencer has an incentive to release a greater variety of games on Game Pass rather than solely developing Call of Duty year after year. This also might lead to Blizzard games potentially coming to Steam in the future.

The hardcore audience seems to be mainly on Xbox.
Therefore I would agree that nothing is lost at all to them.

 

[HTK]

You're clearly delusional if you think Activision Blizzard IPs aren't valuable. Clearly they are at 70 Billion fucking dollars.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Threads like this make me want to see MS swoop in and buy From Software just for the reaction that would get.

There would be death threats if MS brought From Software or Square Enix.

 

[adamsapple]

The idea that hardcore gamers don't play COD, Starcraft or WOW is a deeply flawed one.

The idea of a 'hardcore gamer' in itself is deeply flawed.

People who spend hours and hours and hours on Candy Crush are no less 'hardcore' in their gaming hobby as the people who spend the same hours on CoD or FIFA or NHL/NBA.

 

[faraany3k]

Is this a joke thread. Cod is the biggest selling franchise on PS5. Diablo sold like 30 million copies. Overwatch is great too.

 

[elliot5]

Cod being mainstream doesn’t make it casual or not a “hardcore” audience. Back in the 360 days when Microsoft starting pumping out actual casual games people sure didn’t lump cod into the casual bucket. They were considered hardcore. Nothing has changed

 

[Goalus]

Threads like this make me want to see MS swoop in and buy From Software just for the reaction that would get.

They should also buy Valve.
I'd like to know in advance though, so that I can stock up on popcorn in time.

 

[GHG]

The idea of a 'hardcore gamer' in itself is deeply flawed.

People who spend hours and hours and hours on Candy Crush are no less 'hardcore' in their gaming hobby as the people who spend the same hours on CoD or FIFA or NHL/NBA.

It's because those games also happen to be popular with casual players. But the reality is that for all of those games the skill ceiling is very high despite the floor being low (which is what gives them the wide appeal they have).

 

[Beechos]

Hell yeah blizzard i.p. is legendary to the pc community. Ive been saying this for awhile but this deal can be bargain if ms can revive blizzards legendary i.p. of starcraft, warcraft and diablo. Starcraft for koreans is the equavilent to dragon quest to the japanese. The most recent diablo 3 doing a quick google search sold 30 mill.

 

[MrTentakel]

They should also buy Valve.
I'd like to know in advance though, so that I can stock up on popcorn in time.

If they make Halflife 3 I´m all in!

 

[Beechos]

Threads like this make me want to see MS swoop in and buy From Software just for the reaction that would get.

Its crazy how people think purchasing From software, kojima prodctions and silent hill is this magical winning formula. The only way i can explain it, is people think these are the last remaining things associated with sony.

 

[lastmessiah]

I love how on GAF, CoD and FIFA - both games with hyper competitive multiplayer, are “casual”. I guess Uncharted is “hardcore”.

 

[killatopak]

Honestly, aside from Diablo and Warcraft, I have no interest in Activision personally. It wasn’t any different before the purchase.

You could get a different answer from every person as not everyone who is a hardcore gamer plays Activision games.

The recent change could make my opinions change though.

 

[kyussman]

I don't play COD but it being exclusive to one ecosystem is a big deal for hardcore/casual alike I think.The Activision aquisition is a big deal in gaming,there is no point in trying to pretend otherwise....does it mean the end of PlayStation,no that's silly....but it's still an earthquake sized play from Microsoft.

 

[Beechos]

…because Blizzard makes games for casual gamers, right?

….

CoD will cater to the Madden crowd sure.. but Blizzard is pretty much the definition of hardcore

For real you can really tell the casuals, and those who are new to gaming if they dont know/respect blizzards ip to the pc community. Starcrat 2 came out in 2010 and prob still has more active players than alot of recently released games.

 

[intbal]

I'm pretty sure hardcore types love them some Tony Hawk's.

Does anyone know the current status of this license?
Hawk's deal with Activision expired in 2015. Since then, they have only done remakes of titles they previously had the rights to. It might be that any new game in the franchise is completely up for grabs.
Although I've never actually played any Tony Hawk game, and I don't know this particular community of gamers. Maybe nobody wants a new one and the old ones are all anyone cares about.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

LET IT GO

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

Does anyone know the current status of this license?
Hawk's deal with Activision expired in 2015. Since then, they have only done remakes of titles they previously had the rights to. It might be that any new game in the franchise is completely up for grabs.
Although I've never actually played any Tony Hawk game, and I don't know this particular community of gamers. Maybe nobody wants a new one and the old ones are all anyone cares about.

I won't speak for the community of Tony Hawk gamers, but for me personally as somebody who's played every one except 5 and loves the series, I definitely want both, but I'd be way more excited with a 3+4 or Underground 1+2 remake than I would be for a Pro Skater 6 or other new entry

 

[phil_t98]

I personally think that MS are trying to build a bigger game pass presence on PC. It’s much more difficult to convince console communities to move from PS to Xbox consoles because you need to convince their friends as well. I understand this better than most, because having recently bought a Series X, I only have a handful of friends on the console, so if I was a multiplayer gamer, I’d just play whatever was good on PS5 because that is where all my friends are.

you convince them by having a huge library of games that people want to play and you create a place to play therm. Gamepass on xbox is huge at there moment and only getting better. when you consider buying a console in the future Gamepass most defiantly will come into peoples minds

 

[drganon]

What about the softcore community?

 

[Markio128]

you convince them by having a huge library of games that people want to play and you create a place to play therm. Gamepass on xbox is huge at there moment and only getting better. when you consider buying a console in the future Gamepass most defiantly will come into peoples minds

I think only time will tell on that one.

 

[Sosokrates]

People will just have to buy an xbox or PC.

 

[remember_spinal]

Im not a hardcore gamer but i don’t play activision games at all. They could disappear tomorrow and my gaming life wouldn’t be affected at all.

I felt more of a sting losing Arkane and BGS in the zenimax purchase

 

[Excess]

is the buyout really that much of a concern beyond the super casual audience who only buys Madden/FIFA and Call of Duty every single year

Look man, I don't like this consolidation, either, but what in hell does Madden and FIFA have to do with the acquisition of Activision?

Enough with these cope threads, please.

 

[MrA]

Cod being mainstream doesn’t make it casual or not a “hardcore” audience. Back in the 360 days when Microsoft starting pumping out actual casual games people sure didn’t lump cod into the casual bucket. They were considered hardcore. Nothing has changed

There is definitely a huge chunk of casual cod/madden/fifa/nba players that only buy 1 or 2 games a year, they then play casually, and otherwise wouldn't play video games
But at the same time there isn't a very hard-core base as well. That only really play cod and it is what they do
Cod exclusivity really gets these 2 groups in ms court
Losing cod will probably cost Sony something like 10-15 million users coupled with losing Bethesda games I wouldn't be surprised if the ps5 doesn't exceed 100 million units ( I went with xsx first due to Bethesda and there currently aren't any ps5 exclusives that would make me want one. Maybe a ghost of tsushima and a few price drops but right now nothing Sony has coming up isn't on ps4 or appealing enough for me to buy in)

 

[Shits_McGiggles]

This is what i dont get... We just watched this whole forum talk shit about COD for the last few months especially Vanguard and how much it blows. Now all if a sudden COD is relevant again . I hope M$ can change some things up with Activisions lineup. Especially COD.

Yeah… That’s what I noticed with a lot of these forum threads. I see this Microsoft acquisition as a good thing for the teams at Activision Blizzard and for the future of the IPs available.

 

[Javthusiast]

What is a hardcore gamer?

What games do they play to be considered hardcore?

A hardcore gamer is multitasking.

 

[Kagey K]

Nothing is being lost to the hardcore, a hardcore gamer will buy the systems to play the games they want, because they love games not manufacturers.

 

[Shits_McGiggles]

People are really up in arms over me using “hardcore” lol. Not sure what else would be a categorization of people who go on forums about gaming and follow gaming news everyday. I’m open to alternative labels.

People have been shitting on Activision Blizzard for months, but now that the buyout potentially threatens their precious Sony, Activision Blizzard are suddenly an important part of gaming to them.

 

[Aguero9320]

Nothing is being lost to the hardcore, a hardcore gamer will buy the systems to play the games they want, because they love games not manufacturers.

I mean, this…

I hope I’m not a ‘hardcore’ gamer but I do love the things, and I never miss something I want to play, regardless of what system it’s on.

It is bewildering to me that people would let brand loyalty deprive them of something they would enjoy.

Also bewildering to me is how many people who call themselves gamers profess not to care about Halo, Forza, Gears, Starfield, Elder Scrolls, Call of Duty, Diablo, Fable, Perfect Dark, Sea of Thieves and a hundred others, just because they aren’t on a Sony console. That’s either straight up delusion or plain BS.

My dream scenario is that we can all play everything wherever we want. There are no console wars or sales figure splits or timed exclusives. And until that’s possible, that we all buy multiple consoles so everyone can just shut the fuck up and talk about games and experiences again

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

For one, games like Tony Hawk, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Starcraft, WoW, and basically everything outside of COD, are not some super casual games that only "dudebro" Cod casuals play.

Second, "casual" gamers are not the only gamers that play or enjoy COD every year

Lastly, calling people less "hardcore" because they only/mainly play games that you consider "casual" is kind of elitist and annoying, and makes everybody who plays video games look bad.

And this is coming from somebody who mostly stopped playing COD multiplayer in any meaningful capacity since Black Ops 2, outside of a brief window when Modern Warfare came out, and I've only played a couple campaigns since then.

Honestly you sounds like somebody who is trying to convince themselves that they don't need those games rather than somebody who's fine without them. There are plenty of people who couldn't give a single care in the world about Activision-Blizzard, and that's absolutely fine, I have a similar feeling about Square Enix that plenty of people would strongly disagree with me about, but to make a post talking about how the "hardcore" community doesn't play any Activision-Blizzard games just comes across as either arrogant, fanboyish, or somebody in denial

 

[Dr. Claus]

Diablo 4 is huge for me. They're bringing back the dark art and gore. The latest update showed off some awesome animation systems for dismemberment as well. I hope the Vicarious Visions team is working on a Diablo 1 remake. Otherwise, there isn't too much for me that I can think of right now.


If I were PS only, yes I'd be concerned. This means A LOT less money for Sony overall. Less money for Sony equals less money to moneyhat exclusives or to fund their own projects. This is a very bad thing any way you look at it. You don't have to like any of thiese franchises to know that.

I just hope they don’t have slacktivist BS with it Like we saw with the Diablo II remastered release. A number of the new female models looked hideous compared to the originals. Not to mention the always online or “online check-in” system Which has always been a cancer.

Blizzard hasn’t produced a good game since Mists of Pandaria/StarCraft II void expansion, and even then that was only “good” compared to the previous “amazing”.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

Embarrassing.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

People are really up in arms over me using “hardcore” lol. Not sure what else would be a categorization of people who go on forums about gaming and follow gaming news everyday. I’m open to alternative labels.

People have been shitting on Activision Blizzard for months, but now that the buyout potentially threatens their precious Sony, Activision Blizzard are suddenly an important part of gaming to them.

Regardless of people's opinions about Activision-Blizzard, they make a lot of games, and have a ton of valuable IP, and them going exclusive would be a seismic shift in the video game landscape. You don't have to like COD or Activision-Blizzard to understand what a massive impact exclusivity would have. Same with EA or Ubisoft, everybody hates on them, but if Sony or Microsoft were to get them exclusively that would be a massive shift

 

[Dr. Claus]

A modern console/PC WoW2 would be amazing.

Depends on how they do it. If they retcon everything after MoP, then I would be excited. Hell, I would even take a complete reboot. But a continuation at this point with how much they butchered the lore and systems? Fuck that.

 

[Beechos]

I mean, this…

I hope I’m not a ‘hardcore’ gamer but I do love the things, and I never miss something I want to play, regardless of what system it’s on.

It is bewildering to me that people would let brand loyalty deprive them of something they would enjoy.

Also bewildering to me is how many people who call themselves gamers profess not to care about Halo, Forza, Gears, Starfield, Elder Scrolls, Call of Duty, Diablo, Fable, Perfect Dark, Sea of Thieves and a hundred others, just because they aren’t on a Sony console. That’s either straight up delusion or plain BS.

My dream scenario is that we can all play everything wherever we want. There are no console wars or sales figure splits or timed exclusives. And until that’s possible, that we all buy multiple consoles so everyone can just shut the fuck up and talk about games and experiences again

That is kinda ms vision right now. But it wont end we'll be arguing on whos "service" is better at that time.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

It was a massive shock, particularly with COD in mind, but if I was a PS only gamer, I wouldn’t really feel any effect from losing Activision/Blizzard games; I can live without any of their IPs. The Zenimax acquisition, well, that’s a different story. Bear in mind that I am almost 100% single player gamer.

Even if MS shuts th door on PS games down the road, their key console games are:

- COD
- Diablo
- Tony Hawk
- Crash

If you love these games and are a PS gamer, you'll probably be pissed down the road. If you don't care about these games, then it's status quo. And even if you wanted to play one of them, you can always play on PC.

 

[MadPanda]

The biggest loss is what Microsoft could have done with 70 billion for the creation of new studios and games. They could make some 150 AAA titles.

No, they couldn't as games are not croissants so you can make hundreds of them. Besides, it's not like Microsoft is broke now so they can't produce more games.

 

[TGO]

I only buy IW & SH Call of Duty's and that's on a rare occasion like MW2019
Never had the original COD games in the PS3 era.
I played them but never own them.
more interested in Tony Hawk's but that hasn't really been a thing until the Remaster.
And I don't expect that to sudden be like it was.
So I think Ubi would have made a bigger impact, which says it all