Yes yes we’ve read at least a thousand threads about how the game is dying but right now we’re the closest to a potential doomsday scenario for the game due to the recent events at Blizzard…
So I’m not asking if the game is dying or is already dead but rather what do you personally think is the likely future of the game right now throughout 2019 and maybe even 2020?
I’d say the likely future is that as development will go into decline there will be fewer updates, and more hardcore players will likely leave the game due to lack of development alongside the long-standing other problems that were never addressed.
There might be a comparative handful of newcoming casual players, if they’re very lucky a small portion of growth overall but it won’t last because the game is not designed to retain more casual players as they want to go more hardcore, and if they only ever stay investing in the game at a casual level it’s likely that the playerbase will be chipped away with each major update of other MOBA’s, and if a new one comes out that’s also likely to hit HotS hard due to how punishing it is to more hardcore gaming behaviour.
But the biggest concern is the future of Actiblizz. Actiblizz got hit hard at the end of 2018 and while that should set the stage for a large amount of growth this year Actiblizz (as far as I know) doesn’t have anything new or groundbreaking coming out this year to capitalise on it, which may lead to little growth this year which is likely to lead to them doubling down on this “cutting costs” strategy they have, and HotS is likely first in the firing line for having cut backs.
Of course, if we were to extend it into 2020 then that may be the most important year for actiblizz. Hopefully they’ll have more than a new WoW expansion and a yearly Call of duty to lean on as it seems that the current wow design philosophy is so fundamentally flawed it’s threatening the end of WoW itself. Unless the 2019 Call of duty flops hard the 2020 call of duty is going to have massive expectations to severely limit how much it can actually benefit the company even if it is successful.
By this time we’ll also be seeing the consequences of Activisions pollicies of cutting back on costs and largely replacing managers and dev teams for a much more business orientation than a game development one. Personally I expect this to be a disaster and severely impact the success of any new projects they develop but we’ll have to wait and see. If blizzard is anything to go by then even if it fails they won’t admit it, and if that’s the case frankly I wouldn’t expect actiblizz as a whole to be a significant company in the gaming industry after 2022 due to continued failure, and that’s if they’re still trading by that time.
There is also the issue of Bungie having left Activision, particularly with Destiny. If Destiny and Bungie are successful without Actiblizz, there’s a good chance other studios will follow suit and abandon them at the first available opportunity. It might also impact Activisions licensing opportunities, after all, if you have an IP to license why would you pick activision to do it if there’s clear, recent evidence that even individual indie studios are more successful than them?
Now as to whether Blizzard can ever seperate themselves from Activision I don’t know. I hope they can, and do but I suspect that even if they did the damage has been done with all the staff that have already left.
As far as I know a lot of the core Blizzard staff have either left or are about to leave, I don’t know what that means to the company as whole but it’s not very good…
There are various signs.
Obviously Blizzard itself is not interested in organizing big tournaments, partially maybe because how it unfurls year after year (NA reaching Round of 8, KR-EU finals with KR winning, rest of the world failing early).
There are some organizations involved in tournaments currently. Khaldor is one of those casting them, there was a European tournament this past two weeks, with plenty of excitement (and poor teams as well).
Professionals generally say that it’s not worth playing the game, makes sense if there are not enough viewers to support their living. At the same time, if they just go for another game, they have to fight the prize pool there as well.
As for Blizzard, my news feed has popped plenty of job offerings regarding projects that the community is asking for.
As for the game, I don’t think it needs a whole lot of new stuff. Of course, heroes and maps are welcome, as well as balance changes, but we already have plenty. At 90 heroes and 3 matches a day, you’d play a hero once a month.
I’m not a big fan of big reworks, unless the hero was objectively bad and disliked. Therefore I’m not shedding many tears for the teams doing them (Malfurion, Garden of Terror). I like the weird maps, they give the game character, versatility and replayability - just leave them alone. There is always someone complaining, right now Blackheart’s. Someone made a joke in response, they should change the map so that you need to capture the coin box and whenever you capture it 3 times, it fires some missiles.
As for the forums, I think the EU and US forums should be merged. There is plenty of life over there.
I want say one thing…almost all.mine list
old friend still play and even they are so active…that clearly explain everything…just our human race is sh*t and often exaggerate with everything in our world!..
Dont worry,this not happen!
Game has smaller team now and rate of its development is slowed down. Thats it.
“What is true furure?!”…
Read my topic, full of tons new improved ideas,mechanics,rules,new modes…
That is future!
Im sure they will work on my suggestions:)