'Gamers are Impatient; They Want New Things Every Day,' Claims Blizzard Head Mike Ybarra
According to Blizzard's CEO, gamers have no patience. In a recent interview, Mike Ybarra said that they want new content practically every hour.
BlizzCon 2023 was a great opportunity to speak with Blizzard CEO Mike Ybarra. This opportunity was taken advantage of by, among others, the editors of The Verge. Thanks to this, we learned what the head of the studio responsible for, among other things, Diablo IV thinks about the eventual acquisition by Microsoft, as well as the expectations of players who love live-service games.
Ybarra: "Gamers are impatient."
There's no denying that the game industry has been betting heavily on so-called "live-service games" for some time now. One of the more committed studios in this area is Blizzard, which has in its catalog such titles as Overwatch. The company needs to provide fresh content to the game on a regular basis so that players don't get bored.
- The issue of player boredom was one of the topics of the interview with Ybarra. The CEO of Blizzard directly said that the gamers have no patience. He also added that "they demand new things every day, practically every hour."
- The Blizzard chief also assured that the studio is trying to meet these expectations, while ensuring a high level of new content being introduced into the game.
- Mike Ybarra also revealed what he reiterates to the teams creating new content. According to the CEO, everyone who spent a dollar or the proverbial "penny" on Blizzard products is to be satisfied with what they received.
Ybarra knows what he's talking about. Many devotees of a particular game often look forward to a new update or DLC, and if they do not get it, they get bored rather quickly and move on to another production.
Blizzard's story divided into three phases
The interview also touched on another theme - the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Recall that the high-profile deal was finalized in October after a long battle.
According to Blizzard's CEO, this event opens a new chapter in the studio's history, which he divided into three major phases:
- Phase one (pre-2004) - the so-called pre-WoW, when brands such as WarCraft, Diablo or StarCraft were created.
- Phase two (after 2004) - the so-called post-WoW, the time when one of Blizzard's most famous titles debuted.
- Phase three - the just-started operation of the company under the wing of Microsoft.
The merger of the two companies has become a reality, and this has led fans to speculate on the reactivation of older Blizzard titles (e.g. StarCraft), which was hinted at by Ybarra himself.
It should also be noted that some Activision Blizzard games will certainly make their way to Xbox's flagship service, Game Pass. It will not happen however, until 2024.
