Diablo Immortal was announced to an audience that ranged from apathetic to furious, as a mobile Diablo game turned out to be exactly what Blizzcon attendees didn’t want.
Activision Blizzard couldn’t have read its audience worse if it tried, and now we’re in a perpetual backlash machine as angry fans and exasperated pundits go back and forth, tearing each other apart.
In this breakdown of the situation, The Jimquisition gets to the very heart of the matter, and why the initial backlash is just fine n’ dandy.
So dumb of them, but I guess they just care about the money, and not the fans I’ll probably give it a try on PC with an emulator, but I will probably quit the second the microtransactions get in my face…
People think you’re *right* wing for not defending multibillionaires? Political illiteracy on that level is weird.
Ok, I need the source on that bikini babes on beatemups video…. 16:16
EA’s shares Down almost 40%. Please do that next.
Jim is alt-right, just like HBomberguy and ContraPoints.
I think the worst response was when some asshat blamed toxic masculinity for the backlash
According to them, people are only mad because a lot of women play mobile games
The level of straw grasping these journos are doing to try and stay on Activision-Blizzard’s good side is astounding
“Do you developers not understand your own audience?”
No Jim! You don’t understand.
Attacking a multi-billion dollar company known for its exploitative money schemes and horribly anti-consumer practices is a sign of toxic masculinity and … It is obviously sexist and childish. Give poor Activision a chance!
(BTW, thanks for another excellent episode.)
Jim you should take a look at the release of Old School Runescape (OSRS) on mobile and the general relationship between OSRS devs and the community. I believe OSRS is the only truly successful mobile release of a desktop game, and its free! OSRS has a super dedicated and intense fanbase, and with the release of mobile there was no controversy because it stayed true to the desktop version. The game even had a beta period to get feedback from hardcore fans. Even more amazing was the fact that there are no micro-transactions, except for being able to buy a subscription to become a member like on desktop. And get this, the subscription actually gives you months worth of content for an otherwise free to play game. Its crazy that just listening to your community, staying honest to the original game, and not being greedy can make a game successful. With the release of OSRS mobile the amount of total concurrent players has basically doubled and the fanbase is praising Jagex for giving them a great mobile port.
Also the relationship between the devs and the community is quite interesting because the devs do a weekly Q&A on twitch, and all future updates have to be polled to the community and pass with over 75% approval.
I think it would be cool to see you do a Jimquisition about a a game that is actually doingthings right. Although you could also look at how JamFlex completely ruined RuneScape 3 and how the OSRS devs learned from that. Thank God for you, Jim Fucking Sterling.
Jim Sterling as right wing Activist is based on this logic:
1. Jim Sterling thinks Activision/Blizzard sucks and uses Diablo Immortal Mobile as an example.
2. Activision/Blizzard flacks hide behind Social Justice like a Republican under the American flag by saying PC gamers are a bunch of manbabies who hate mobile games ’cause women like them.
3. Many of the stereotypical manbabies are right wing or alt-right wing like that dude from The Quartering.
4. Therefore Jim Sterling is a right wing activist.
Sometimes you gotta lose money to lose money
I feel sorry for the audience at Blizzcon. Spending all this money to sit there, being presented with a PoS mobile game and then be asked: “Do you guys not have phones”?
They might as well have shown them a board game: “Do you guys not have tables”?
Coming to think of it, that would have been awesome.
A right wing conspiracy theorist?
I guess it’s a change up from being called an SJW
XD
This is only a betrayal if you thought Blizzard was a moral company. But if you look past the games, they have a long history of greed over customers. Personally, I never get hyped until something has been released and reviewed.
Not only was the initial release of Diablo 3 a disaster and failed to live up to promises, or their notorious tax evasion strategies, but they are the first company to succesfully use addiction for huge monetary gain in gaming.
While WOW was a revolutionary mmorpg, and many played without obsession, it also heavily preyed on the obsession of many gamers, it was built to cause steady releases of Dopamine in addictive personalities and push for continuous play.
This went on until backlash forced Blizzard to create roadblocks to help prevent the issue. Prior to WOW, addiction in gaming was uncommon, and Blizzard took advantage of it before the public really understood it.
I’m really not surprised they screwed with expectations and made a big deal out of a mobile game that’ll be a cash cow, especially these days being partnered with Activision, it now has 2 devils on its shoulders
Stunned that the ‘dont you guys have phones’ quip didn’t lighten the mood! ???
Jim (Politics Aside) Proves he’s still one of the best and understanding and representing gamers.