Blizzard has long been focusing on the development of large games-as-a-services, which is why the company’s representatives are fully aware of the advantages and disadvantages of creating productions in the face of community expectations. In one of the recent interviews, the head of the team responsible for Diablo was somewhat critical of the players.
Since Blizzard joined Microsoft a few weeks ago, there has been much talk about the enormous opportunity to have more creative control over anticipated games. Given that the studio has been releasing games based on well-known intellectual properties to the public for years, we may even expect bigger surprises from Blizzard.
Mike Ybarra, who is well-aware of the demands placed on the Blizzard community, made an unexpected observation about the players’ approach during a conversation with journalists from The Verge. His remarks seem strange, especially in light of the company’s excellent relationship with the community—last week’s BlizzCon was held there.
Players have no patience. They want new things every day, every hour. We strive to respond in this way while maintaining Blizzard’s high quality bar.
In an interview with The Verge, the head of Blizzard raised a problem that all teams developing games-as-a-services face. Audiences constantly want new content, which significantly affects the size of the teams responsible for production and is associated with large expenses.
Gamers, as we all know, demand fresh content practically daily. However, delivering them requires big teams. Thus, you must properly monetize it.
However, during the interview, Ybarra signaled that he constantly tells developers that the most important thing is high product quality.
At the same time, I tell teams every time: “I want people to feel good about spending a dollar or a penny at Blizzard.” How do we arrive to a state of affairs where we are certain that [feeling] will always be central to our actions?”
A representative of the company responsible for IPs such as Diablo, Warcraft and Overwatch confirmed that Blizzard is still “fine-tuning” the balance in the content offering.
Source: VGC