Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard is good news for gamers

It’s been a long time since Blizzard lost its way. Some will say 7, others 10 or even more. A lot of the company’s projects failed miserably. They may have been financially successful, but they certainly failed in the eyes of gamers around the world.

Diablo 4, after years and years of development, proved to be a flash in the pan. People bought it, spent money on it for a short period of time and then abandoned it completely. Nobody wanted to touch this game, not even a small community of at least 50.000 fans.

Overwatch 2, as soon as it was released on Steam, received the worst reviews in the history of the platform. Nearly 200.000 reviews were posted and only 10% of them were positive. That’s how badly Blizzard angered its fan base.

Back in the good old days of Warcraft 3, StarCraft, and Diablo 2, Blizzard was one of the best gaming companies in the world. To this day, the cinematics, storylines, and mechanics of those games are admired by millions of people from around the globe. And lots of other great games, such as Dota 2, were built on some of their mods.

To see what Blizzard has turned into is absolutely devastating. And that’s why Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion is great news for the gaming community. Otherwise, it would have been terrible news because Microsoft isn’t exactly loved by people. But under the current circumstances, the acquisition is to be celebrated.

It’s a big day for us. Today, we join Team @Xbox. All of our history and success leading to this moment is because of you – our incredible gaming community. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.https://t.co/OjQgIed2nN

— Activision Blizzard (@ATVI_AB) October 13, 2023

What will change

For the moment, not much will change. But in January 2024, Bobby Kotick will step down as CEO of Activision Blizzard.

Hopefully, whoever takes his place is a genuine gamer with knowledge of the industry. Otherwise, this company will crash and burn very quickly. It has already squandered all of the goodwill gained in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Most of Blizzard’s communities are unsatisfied and their esports scenes are rapidly shrinking. People are jumping ship, joining the likes of Valve Corporation and others, who can at least deliver decent products. They may not be perfect from the start, but at least they’re trying and not aiming to simply sell a game for its microtransactions.

The entire industry is plagued by bad games that were clearly designed to make money and not to be played for a long time. Microsoft has the chance to do something good here. But many, myself included, are skeptical that they will.

Header: Activision Blizzard