Activision Blizzard now independent.

[JTsyo]

They bought out shares from Vivendi for $8.2 billion. Not sure what this means since I haven't heard much on Vivendi holding them back. But overall I think it's a good things for game developers to be independent from mega-corps.

 

[crownjules]

I thought this meant that Activision and Blizzard had somehow split up. I don't think Vivendi has had much of an impact on them, but you never know. Only time and their forthcoming product releases will tell.

 

[mizzou]

not much. Activision was quite successful while Vivendi was in the picture. At least their mega-hits were still getting mega reviews, albeit they still can't shake the evil empire look.

 

[Red Storm]

Looks like at least one good thing came from the WoW cash cow.

 

[Juddog]

Too bad this wasn't a Blizzard / Activision split. Screw Bobby Kotick and his money grubbing ass.

 

[smackababy]

From what I read about this, Vivendi was shopping Activision Blizzard around to sell for awhile.

All this really means is they are just reporting to different board members now, so nothing will change.

 

[Craig234]

From what I read about this, Vivendi was shopping Activision Blizzard around to sell for awhile.

All this really means is they are just reporting to different board members now, so nothing will change.

Any time $8.2 billion is spent, something changes.

 

[ibex333]

Time will tell, but right now, Activision Blizzard is pretty much just like EA. If I didn't know any better, I'd say OG Diablo and Starcraft was made by a completely different company.

I sure hope the reason why they gone over to the dark side is because of Vivendi and not because of their own ideas.

 

[PowerYoga]

meh. Activision is as bad as EA. In contrast ubisoft has been doing a lot of catching up with their customer relations.

 

[darkxshade]

I don't think this is actually good news. Consider for a moment that Blizzard was under the umbrella of Vivendi while they were in their prime. Vivendi isn't a game publisher so they largely left Blizzard alone to do their thing. Whether or not Activision had any part of it is unclear but it wasn't until Activision came into the picture where the quality of games on Blizzards part started falling off. I don't even have to get started on the DRM changes since.

So I'm not too thrilled that Blizzard is now wholly owned/controlled by Activision.

 

[Juddog]

Time will tell, but right now, Activision Blizzard is pretty much just like EA. If I didn't know any better, I'd say OG Diablo and Starcraft was made by a completely different company.

I sure hope the reason why they gone over to the dark side is because of Vivendi and not because of their own ideas.

This is mostly due to Activision.

 

[smackababy]

I don't think this is actually good news. Consider for a moment that Blizzard was under the umbrella of Vivendi while they were in their prime. Vivendi isn't a game publisher so they largely left Blizzard alone to do their thing. Whether or not Activision had any part of it is unclear but it wasn't until Activision came into the picture where the quality of games on Blizzards part started falling off. I don't even have to get started on the DRM changes since.

So I'm not too thrilled that Blizzard is now wholly owned/controlled by Activision.

Um what? Vivendi shut down Blizzard North because the development of D3 didn't meet their expectations. I hardly call that leaving Blizzard to do their own thing. An exodus of employees happened long before Activision merged with Blizzard.

 

[smackababy]

This is mostly due to Activision.

Nope, they were made by a completely different company. Blizzard North was shut down long before Activision came into the picture.

 

[darkxshade]

Um what? Vivendi shut down Blizzard North because the development of D3 didn't meet their expectations. I hardly call that leaving Blizzard to do their own thing. An exodus of employees happened long before Activision merged with Blizzard.

When was this? Then I don't know, I don't exactly follow the happenings of the company entirely. From what I can tell, Activision and Vivendi merged first before D3 went into production so I'm going by that timeline... basically all the releases that came out since the merger was crap. All the Blizzard classics were before Activision were in the picture in any capacity.

 

[Maximilian]

I don't think this is actually good news. Consider for a moment that Blizzard was under the umbrella of Vivendi while they were in their prime. Vivendi isn't a game publisher so they largely left Blizzard alone to do their thing. Whether or not Activision had any part of it is unclear but it wasn't until Activision came into the picture where the quality of games on Blizzards part started falling off. I don't even have to get started on the DRM changes since.

So I'm not too thrilled that Blizzard is now wholly owned/controlled by Activision.

Indeed, vivendi never seemed to impact anything blizzard did. Seems like it will be business as usual for Actilizzard.

 

[smackababy]

When was this? Then I don't know, I don't exactly follow the happenings of the company entirely. From what I can tell, Activision and Vivendi merged first before D3 went into production so I'm going by that timeline... basically all the releases that came out since the merger was crap. All the Blizzard classics were before Activision were in the picture in any capacity.

Blizzard North was closed in 2005, Activision merged in 2008. The team was working on what came to be D3, but I don't know how much was scrapped or redone. They were working on a Diablo sequel and Vivendi was not impressed.

 

[videogames101]

Blizzard North was closed in 2005, Activision merged in 2008. The team was working on what came to be D3, but I don't know how much was scrapped or redone. They were working on a Diablo sequel and Vivendi was not impressed.

Nobody was =D

 

[darkxshade]

Blizzard North was closed in 2005, Activision merged in 2008. The team was working on what came to be D3, but I don't know how much was scrapped or redone. They were working on a Diablo sequel and Vivendi was not impressed.

In any case, the game was released under Activisions management so ultimately it's only fair to suggest the shortfalls of D3 fall on them. As you said the merger was in 2008. Since the game was released in 2012, that means Vivendi had a hand in it for 3 years and the first 3 years I might add where its in the conceptualization stages. It's at the backend of game development I would assume is where the meat and bones of the core gameplay are put together. Furthermore, the major gripes of D3 was the RMAH/monetization of the game through microtransactions. This reeks more of Activisions doing than Vivendi. Who's influence do you think brought on the always online requirement? It's hard not to ignore the fact that microtransactions didn't come into play until after the merger. Even WoW now is unlike the WoW I knew when I first played(quit after a year).

 

[Grooveriding]

The core of Blizzard North, namely the upper echelon; the Schaeffer brothers, Bill Roper etc. left Blizzard in 2003. There was an internal disagreement between North and the main Blizzard over Diablo 3's development. Blizzard North wanted Diablo 3 to be an MMOARPG, the same core Diablo 2 style but with an open world. There was disagreement between the two parties over this approach and the core of Blizzard North quit leaving Blizzard with their valuable Diablo IP. My guess is that with WoW soon to release and well into development there was some static over perceived competition between the two IPs.

What remained of Blizzard North continued to work on a different approach with Diablo 3 until 2005, at which point that project was scrapped and what was left of Blizzard North either left the company or was assimilated into the main Blizzard. Those screenshots you see circulating of the previous Diablo 3 that are in line with the real Diablo art style are from the work that was done between 2003-2005.

There is nothing of the actual Diablo team in Diablo 3 apart from one or two employees that were hired on after the 2005 dissolution of what was left of North. I don't think Vivendi really had much of anything to do with it and it was all internal politics within Blizzard.

Then in 2012 we wound up getting the pile of shit that was Diablo 3. Basically Diablo as interpreted by World of Warcraft designers. We ended up with a console game; Call of Diablo : Deckard Ops.

lol, disaster of a game.

 

[Craig234]

Well before the earlier Diablo team gets credit it would have done far better, remember Hellgate: London.