Irony is something that affects all of us in our lives. However, when it comes to certain companies, irony is known to hit a bit harder due to the implications those people had or could have had. Let’s take Activision Blizzard, for example. While they and their parent company, Microsoft, would love to tell you that they’re “doing fine” and that they’re “working hard on the future,” the truth is far more grim. While both sides have had successes recently, such as with Diablo IV, it’s come at the cost of gamers’ respect and love. The irony here is that it almost didn’t turn out that way for the dungeon crawler.
You might recall that when the 4th entry in the fan-favorite franchise debuted, it had a massive launch, which is true. That’s what got many people excited about what could be next. However, after they got the game, it was clear that Microsoft, through Activision Blizzard, stacked the deck in their favor to try and milk gamers of their money via the massive amounts of microtransactions. For context, some cosmetics were $25! That’s basically half the game’s cost, just for one cosmetic, and fans have made sure Blizzard and Microsoft know about their fury.
In a recent book by Jason Schreier, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, as noted by PC Gamer, the author revealed that ex-Blizzard President Mike Ybarra was going to make a “controversial” decision within the company…before Microsoft and Xbox bought Activision Blizzard. That decision was to cut down on microtransactions in Diablo IV and reboot Overwatch.“
Apparently, those who knew of the decision felt that this made Ybarra rather “unpopular” within the company itself. The twist is that this would’ve likely gotten some praise from fans, especially given how the team shooters sequel has gone since its launch, and the backlash over the dungeon crawlers microtransactions.
The fact that he wanted to do this, and Microsoft didn’t, also speaks to the different ideologies of the companies, which has also been stated within the book via some of Blizzard’s ex-leaders. It highlights how Microsoft is more than happy to have microtransactions, as that means they’re making money from it, even if it ticks off gamers as a whole.
Ybarra might have felt this way about microtransactions due to the massive backlash the dungeon crawler had when it released an incredibly unpopular mobile title that also had massive amounts of in-game purchases. Yet, the irony is that this “lesson” went unnoticed or was simply ignored by those who took over his role…
