Blizzard is Dead and It’s Time to Let Go

Nostalgia is a dangerous drug. It lures you in with the promise of innocence and pleasure from times long past. Simpler times. Maybe even better times. Times you can never truly get back.

But oh, that won’t stop people from trying to recapture that magic. They’ll chase that dragon no matter where it might lead them. It’s a dangerous high to pursue.

Mainly because corporations love to exploit it.

Once upon a time, Blizzard Entertainment was one of the gaming industry’s most renowned names. Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, any game with their logo attached to it was bound to be incredible. Passionate developers were met with equally passionate players. Times were good.

Then Activision came along. The passionate devs were gradually bled away, forced to quit or forced out the old fashioned way. All the passion and integrity that made Blizzard a respected name gradually vanished.

Yet the players were still passionate. Even when the new Blizzard continued to spit in their faces. Over. And over. And over again.

I’ve legitimately lost track of all the controversies this company has gotten themselves mired in. Real name user IDs for the forums back when Starcraft 2 came out. Diablo III’s auction house. The Hong Kong protest controversy during the Hearthstone league. Literally everything to do with Diablo Immortal. The disastrous launch of Warcraft III: Reforged and the death of classic Warcraft III. Don’t even get me started on that lawsuit and everything that came about from that!

Somehow, despite all odds, they STILL manage to end up in the news for all the wrong reasons! Every single decision they’ve made has been anti-consumer to an almost cartoonish degree! Literally everything they do goes against what their players want.

Overwatch 2 is the most obvious example. Were you excited for the PVE content? Too bad. Executives decided it wouldn’t be profitable enough, so they scrapped it. Years of work, thrown in the trash.

Now, to be clear, I don’t think any of the developers are to blame. The people down in the trenches who actually make the games are still trying their best to do good work. Diablo IV’s success at launch is proof to that.

But then post-launch support happened. Good God, why can’t Diablo fans catch a break? I don’t even have the time to go into how disastrous that’s been. If you want to dive down that rabbit hole, check out this video by the Act Man.

Speaking as a Starcraft fan, I’m actually grateful to be forgotten. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve had actual nightmares about Starcraft III being announced.

Yet in spite of all this, people are still loyal to Blizzard. They still defend World of Warcraft and it’s numerous in-game shops. They still defend Diablo IV even as it continues to get worse. There are still people holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, Blizzard will turn it around.

Nostalgia at work. Name a more dangerous drug.

It’s time to face the facts. Blizzard is never going to be what it was again. The passion, the integrity, it’s all gone. Everyone who made it amazing to begin with are long gone. Now, we’re stuck with a corporate machine with one objective: to make money by any means necessary.

Once upon a time, Blizzard was a company that would cancel a game if it wasn’t meeting their standards. If it wasn’t good enough for their audience, it didn’t deserve to be released. The Blizzard of now wouldn’t even think twice.

Well, at least they’re not quite as scummy as Unity.