Nothing lasts forever, unless Blizzard Entertainment CEO Bobby Kotick gets his way.
A recent interview with the CEO offered a look at what lies ahead for the long-term development of Blizzard properties. Becky Quick from CNBC interviewed Kotick on a range of matters relating to the ever-changing challenges of the video game industry.
What stood out most deals with the question of new content and deciding how new projects are created compared to building upon existing material. Kotick was clear in stating that, “you can’t even consider a game a franchise unless it’s durable in perpetuity.”
The overall formula for enticing players lies in simple archetypes. "Unleash your inner rock star, or unleash your inner soldier, or unleash your inner wizard,” Kotick goes on to describe, “and then we have to create new content that keeps people engaged. So we perpetuate our franchises, then we selectively introduce new ones.”
The statement should not come as a surprise for anyone familiar with the Blizzard Entertainment line of game titles. Whether it is Orcs, Protoss, or Demons, players have essentially played the same games with updated mechanics and features for decades. World of Warcraft has been the most successful MMORPG for well over a decade now, and although the player base may have shifted to other MMOs, much is owed to this one game that is in some ways identical to what it was ten years ago, and also completely different.
We have also seen new properties become icons for the organization in Hearthstone and Overwatch, while Heroes of the Storm was an ambitious entry into the MOBA market that must have failed to produce the required interest and return on investment needed by investors, and has since been all but abandoned. There is still content being created, but at a fraction of the rate from before, and its esports scene has been gutted.
Yet one must wonder how long the plan can work. There are only so many stories one can tell before content feels recycled, and eventually we may hit a point where players are simply not interested in another World of Warcraft expansion or one more Overwatch character.
This becomes apparent with each new release of content and has most recently been observed in Hearthstone where streamers are moving to newer games for the simple reason that the online card game feels stale. Now we have a resurgence of interest with the new Battlegrounds mode, but that is not likely to be a viable long-term solution.
Will Blizzard’s strategy of keeping their franchises alive forever be successful? Time will tell, but in a market saturated with truly excellent and original ideas, it seems unlikely to remain an option for too much longer.
Source: cnbc.com