The Death of Blizzard and the Games that caused it.

[@Mugthief]

I redid this like 4 times because I didn't want to blab on for 2 hours about all the history lessons of Blizzard. So instead, here's a video about the great games that I think are the successors of the Blizzard we knew and loved! I'm (mostly) happy with the result, and I think this is the best edited video I've made, so hopefully it only gets better from here! Thank you for your support, and see you soon! (Also subscribe!)

[@forsaken650]

Well done sir. It's a hard pill to swallow but all our favorite AAA studios are shells of their former glory. 😅

[@BlahBohogun]

Blizzard never made Dota it was user made content because back then they gave you the literal tools to make levels or "Custom" games. The only thing I think that can genuinely made is that their design choice of Hero Units in their RTS and the Map Editor that came with it was instrumental to facilitating such concept and expanding it's genre usage.

[@arostwocents]

After your shilling for Veil guard why not just make videos about intergalactic looking good? Wonder how many people got ripped off because of you?

[@Mugthief]

@@arostwocents Hi Aros, I was severely harrassed for telling people to not buy it until all reviews were out. If you want to attack me for some reason, at least base it in reality. Thanks!

[@KopperRook]

Blizzard isn't "dead." Idiot.

[@velky_reeds]

1:28 the funny thing is, nobody was really dedicatedly competing with Blizzard but they somehow still managed to screw themselves up on their own

[@DelRae]

Blizzard hacks off its limbs and claims it’s removing “dead weight”

[@Reilly13445]

Uhmm no. Activision and EA where their main competitors. Both realized they can't beat EA alone and decided to merge. It's not a a dumb idea if you don't know what happened next lol.

[@AlanakaBlackCat]

greed.

[@Rastasmoke1999]

What happend is Activision took over and now they control the idea's so they can make bad games so blizzard die's and Activision makes even more money thats how it is

[@meganfraser5358]

There have been a lot of games that came out, where the dedicated player base of Blizzard games (players, not fans), have called the competing games "____killers" (WoW Killer, Overwatch Killer etc). And none of them had been, to the players' dismay. Some of the devs that made these games have also advertised their games this way, but most failed until more recently. There were always grumblings from sections of Blizzard players that there were things in Bliz games they didn't like, but nothing else was good enough to compete, and they always ended up back in the Blizzard space. It's nice that there are other games they can play now.

[@darkguardian1314]

"Do you not have phones..." at BlizzCon was the moment Blizzard died. The protest walkouts, banning of player for Hong Kong as well as games hosts because of China , the lying to consumers to buy Overwatch 2 and Bill Cosby suite scandals... We're just warming up...😯 Is BlizzCon even a thing now...IDK

[@whatevr99]

After hearing those five words, I knew the Blizzard I once loved was dead to me… 😔

[@qu1253]

And then Diablo Immortal went on to become one of the highest grossing mobile games of all time. You can't really get mad at the company when they're just doing what sells.

[@lightspaceman5064]

Do you not have phones really was a moment we should have payed more attention to as mission statement for what AAA become. “We don’t care what you want or might want. You should want what we want you to want.”

[@darkguardian1314]

@@qu1253 But it's not the core base... Blizzard abandon their long time customers for whales in mobile gaming. Blizzard isn't known for mobile gaming, and if they wanted to do that, they should have set up a subsidiary company and not made it the main event at BlizzCon.

[@Spongemonkey26]

Before that. They died when they merged with Activision. Just been a slow rot ever since.

[@crampusmaximus8849]

Remember everyone.. Blizzard did not make Diablo 1 and 2. They bought the studio Condor, which actually developed those games. Warcraft was intended to be a warhammer fantasy rts that got reworked into it's own IP. WoW was a EQ2 clone made more accessible.

[@Desperado070]

And it is not like Warcraft was a good story to begin with... The only people who think that never knew the stories that they got stolen from. It is just like any hollywood movie.

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

Warcraft stole a lot from Warhammer, etc.. it is what it is, "inspirations". Rarely you see examples of borderline plagiarism (like Joel having virtually the same exact character development of The Nameless Father alongside many "inspirations" from Children of Men, etc.. yet, Last of Us is lauded as one of the greatest games), I don't think Blizzard goes as far as plagiarize stuff, they created iterations and evolved formulas, which is ironic because their competitors nowadays are doing the same thing. It's hilarious (in a good way, not even being ironic) how Marvel Rivals at season 0 (basically they are still testing the game, this time open and globally) is vastly superior than any version of Overwatch

[@Spongemonkey26]

Starcraft also took huge "inspiration" from 40k.

[@magusjiro]

tbf, most things are taking ideas that exist mixed with new ideas. The first MUD online games were based on old dungeons and dragons. Dragon Quest V and Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei had creature capturing and training before pokemon. [yet they sue others for using their mechanics]

[@lordlizard2195]

starcraft accualy started development as w40k but needed to spun in to its own ip after GW got cold feet... and on thath topic ALL what is warhammer/w40k is stolen from even older properties so i wont stress it much

[@aquapendulum]

The only thing Blizzard didn't ruin yet is StarCraft. Don't worry, I'm sure StarCraft is next.

[@바보Queen]

well the franchise is dead without another game

[@Desperado070]

Yea they even no longer fixes multiplayer imbalances... Starcraft died already in 2018 if you don't call the coop heroes the dead already which was 2014/2016.

[@boertje]

the purpose of sc2 and ow2 have many parallels. primarily: sc2 to steal away the esport ownership like lol. ow2 to go to skins like lol.

[@TheSirAnthony]

Aren't they making a new StarCraft fps?

[@BigPenstroker]

The game is trash anyways, no one knew about it until they learned d.va played it canonically

[@Marbeary]

I still find it funny that a whole genre of game MOBA was just a custom map in warcraft 3 and blizzard ignored it and valve just scooping that out and they tried to copy it, and it failed to get traction.

[@Pandaxtor]

Blizzard is still very salty over it with examples like trying to screw with dota 2 early development and the new EULA on warcraft remake that Blizzard owns the rights to mods.

[@justinboggin9086]

Valve hired Icefrog, the guy who made DotA who is also the head of the team making Deadlock right now.

[@AndragonLea]

Don't forget that they changed the EULA and T&Cs specifically to make sure nobody can ever make a popular custom game successful again. Blizzard claims the rights to any custom game mode you make now, up to and including the right to not have to name you as creator. They're so butt-blasted about it that they reserved the right to delete the actual creative talent from the history books so they can't even use the claim to fame to get something started.

[@TG-ge1oh]

I actually played that custom map (and the mario kart one, and the one that had sheep exploding, etc) and when my friends started playing Dota, I was like wait, it's that thing, isn't it? Took me a while to actually find out what happened there though.

[@TG-ge1oh]

Not to mention, HotS was on its way to be quite a success, but Blizzard just had to go and kill it. I know many players (myself included) who can't forgive for not letting a good game be.

[@thelaughingrouge]

"How does it feel to have lived longer enough to see all your favorite franchises go down in flames?" "feels great" "🤣😂🤣" The videogames industry in a nutshell.

[@bert949]

God I love Red Letter Media

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

At least the videogame industry provides "substitutes" that are arguably even better. Now talking about Hollywood, oh boy...

[@qu1253]

@@RRRRRRRRR33 I haven't really found a substitute for Battlefield, though. Delta Force, maybe, but I've heard very mixed things about that game.

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

@@qu1253 I guess The Finals can provide environment destruction + "mundane" weapons. But yes, Delta Force is supposed to be the "substitute", but there's a lot of skepticism because China is involved, kernel anti-cheat, etc.. For BF fans, BF4 and BF1 servers remains active, you can always jump back and relive the experience. For a hero shooter fan like myself, I literally had no option besides Overwatch "2". I've seen people mentioning how the market had an excess of hero shooters, that can't be more far from the truth, same goes for "battlefieldlike" shooters, there's pretty much no competition. Ancient Team Fortress 2 and little Paladins hidden in a corner... That's it, only two "competitors" that never truly challenged Overwatch. As for Battlefield, CoD is not really a direct competitor, the playstyle is drastically different. Just because a shooter features colorful characters with Team Fortress "abilities", that don't make them hero shooters, same goes for "military shooters", CoD is limited in scope, more like a arena shooter, BF is gigantic, vehicles everywhere, etc..

[@jimbeaux89]

And movie industry. I’ve seen so many of my beloved IP’s go down in flames

[@Teldarin]

There's this twisted mix of feelings inside me, while I watch titans of the industry fall. Sadness about what we've lost, but also a petty satisfaction, when they get what they deserve.

[@arricarry3832]

ur profile shows ur both sides as well

[@beantomii]

it’s good to recognize that both feelings can exist within us at once. i’m in a similar boat myself!

[@ghoulbuster1]

Don't feel bad, the people that made these games left a long time ago.

[@JayMonet1337]

I've said it once and I'll say it again: balancing a game for an EXTREMELY SMALL amount of competitive players will destroy a game!

[@Shadyyus]

I agree plus Blizzard is terrible at executing balance. WOW has been ruined in my opinion by them kissing up to esports types.

[@FaolanHart]

For as god-awful as companies like Blizzard Bioware & Bethesda are now. They cannot take away the amazing experiences I have repeatedly had with their older games. Those three in particular made me the gamer I am today. But all empires eventually fall. These newer ones rising to overtake them will also fall in the years to come. It's a cycle. Never be loyal to a brand. Be loyal to quality.

[@GlueEater-ix9gl]

Well said :)

[@cosmicspacething3474]

Based.

[@SirTopHat_III]

I was actually just going to make a comment on how it used to be the "Three B's of Gaming" and how over time those three companies have effectively become shells inhabited by different people altogether. It's a shame to see the names we used to associate with quality now resting on their laurels, and an even greater shame to realize that the individuals responsible for said quality have time and again been scattered to the winds.

[@seb1520]

I like how all it took was people that wanted to make games blizzard used to make

[@r1g0r_m0rt1s]

I still have no idea how Blizzard is still in business after the Cosby Suite allegations

[@Bardock059]

Because the consumers still kept the business going and hush money that was going around

[@anaalvensleben789]

...they are still in business because they were bought? That lawsuit and all the surrounding press is what drove down the stock price enough that Kotick was willing to sell in the first place. No one goes from billions of profit to immediate shut down.

[@megaaan523]

you'd be surprised how many companies, even those you know, have similar stories

[@devinlewinski5610]

As a 1700 hour mercy main I can honestly say, I'm a cloak and dagger main now with all of 20 hours. One tricks for lyfe!!

[@arricarry3832]

that's crazy i hope u r enjoying marvel rivals

[@UwU-catgirl-OwO]

One tricks yikes…

[@BurritooMafia]

You should try Mantis. Shes basically like Mercy and Ana combined

[@VerivusE7]

@@BurritooMafia Mantis attacks are projectiles and her healing is akin to Zenyatta but harder cause you have to properly manage them (and need to hit headshots to reduce the cooldown), not the best recommendation for either an Ana player or Mercy player. Closest thing to Ana would technically be Luna Snow. Cloak and Dagger has auto aim on both their dmg and healing, a lot simpler to play and would technically be Moira.

[@cv3471]

Blizzard’s been pushing players away with bad decisions for years, and it sucks to see. I remember playing Overwatch back in high school and being so annoyed because it took them almost a year to drop a balance update. Honestly, Overwatch took a big hit from Valorant, but no one really talks about it. Now, with stuff like Marvel Rivals coming out, it feels like this could be the final nail in the coffin. The only thing they have left is WoW, and hopefully they don't screw up that too.

[@Desperado070]

WoW is already dead, it has even less player than old school runescape. WoW, Daily Players: 345,999 OSRS, Daily Players: 528,144 Remember that OSRS is a single player game in a multiplayer world and WoW is suppose to be played with others.

[@Padon84]

Also doesnt help they let the bots run rough shot​ @@Desperado070

[@HiArashi13]

Overwatch took a big hit from Overwatch 0.2 tbh.

[@Nichtwissen]

@@Desperado070I wonder where you got the numbers from... you fool.

[@Desperado070]

@@Nichtwissen they open for everyone to see... 😂 You donkey believe everything you hear from KZbinrs. LoL 😂

[@jrs3012]

when you managed to ruin legendary franchises like diablo and warcraft it's probably time to shutdown, they might join ubisoft very quickly, i wish them an awful 2025

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

I know this video is trying to be "positive", but really, hard to not be sour towards Blizzard and Activision. I hope both implodes eventually, maybe Activision is too big to fail, CoD remains relevant somehow (it's like people will never let it go, similar to sport games), but Blizzard has a serious risk of imploding, Ubisoft style. Ubi exhausted their own formulas, then here it comes competitors such as Horizon, Spiderman, BOTW, etc.. they made Ubi looks pathetic and antiquated, I don't think Blizzard exhausted the mmo, digital card games and hero shooters... but goddamn, the competition looks scary. WoW is already sharing the market with FF14, Marvel Rivals stole at least half of Overwatch's playerbase and counting, Path of Exiles is extremely popular (even more players on Steam than Marvel Rivals), the chances of Blizzard imploding, they increased by 150% lol Microsoft paid a lot for dying products, it serves them right

[@Titus873]

Its not gonna happen because of wow. Dont think i have any interest in defending them, i dont give a shit.

[@heistingcrusader_ad3223]

​@@RRRRRRRRR33well the CoD style gameplay is very addicting, thankfully I found an alternative with similar enough gameplay and a sizable community to play in so I don't have to get stuck with COD

[@metallicafan416]

2 billion doesn't imply time to shutdown for a business. Understand me and you think it could be better but it's business and it sells, won't change. You mention ubisoft all I heard was after far cry 3 it's reskins. Look at sale numbers, would you redesign a product that's selling 🤔 if you say yes business is risky for you 😉

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

@@metallicafan416 The point is how Ubisoft failed to iterate and evolve their formulas, they got stagnant. Of course you shouldn't change things on a whim, but if the product is stagnant, sometimes you have to pull the plug. Assassins Creed is an example, instead of continuing with the old formula, they copied Witcher 3 (in a very sloppy way) to renew the formula and somehow that worked, bloated open world "rpg". Blizzard literally "freezes" all their games, they started the whole game as a service nonsense, Overwatch is stagnant for 8+ freaking years, Hearthstone moving in circles, etc.. if the product is strong enough to sustain it's position at the top, let's say Coke for example, then you should milk that product nonstop.. but really, can you point at any Blizzard or Ubisoft IP that can be considered their Coke?

[@ralphengland8559]

Diablo 4 didn't literally put me to sleep twice because I was comparing it to other games... it was just boring to play.

[@Spongemonkey26]

Bro I couldn't even be bothered to level my character to 25 in the beta. It was so booooorrrrrinnnnng.

[@Warrior_Meta]

lol I’m the exact opposite, I’ve grinded every season fully, 3 characters each

[@ralphengland8559]

​@Warrior_Meta I'm glad you're enjoying the game. I couldnt connect with 4

[@Morfe02]

POE 2 nows the ENDGAME sucks and they choose to end the ENDGAME runs before ending the acts 4 5 6 Power move

[@Warrior_Meta]

@@ralphengland8559 yeah I get that lol. The game is different from d2 and d2r or even d1

[@jaredwalton3135]

After playing WoW for 20 years and Overwatch since release, I find it awful that avoiding anything modern Acti-Blizzard related is the best solution for a non-toxic, predatory playing solution for my favorite hobby. PoE2 feels like the launch of WoW back in 2004, I played the STB back then and knew this was my new game. Marvel Rivals feels like Overwatch 2016, it’s chill, fun and absurdly polished.

[@HiArashi13]

Marvel Rivals feels like a chinese ripoff of Overwatch. With exactly the same HUD, icon stylistics, fonts, and announcements. I'm not saying it's a bad thing though.

[@alejandromendez488]

Polished is a stretch, many performance issues but yeah it’s still a good game

[@jaredwalton3135]

@ For a launch live-service game it is in extremely good shape, but no it’s not perfect.

[@VerivusE7]

Idk about polished, having higher FPS makes some movement skills have more range, do more dmg, hitbox is super trash due to it being 3rd person, and so on.

[@sloppnbiscuiitz]

@@HiArashi13*You not sayin it’s a bad thing but said it feels like a Chinese ripoff 🗿*

[@Ninakoru]

This is simple: Blizzard doesn't make games, it's the developers. Those with the genius and the process behind the genre-defining games are all long gone. 100% Blizzard will never ever take the crown again. They're just milking the IPs with great technicians, lots of legacy to work with, but we are all seeing the results of it.

[@madness1206]

Honestly I think even the devs are washed because basically every game that promotes itself as having being made by ex-blizzard devs sucks.

[@Kaleido876]

@@madness1206 what are some games made by the ex-blizzard devs?

[@Peacht4n]

@@Kaleido876overwatch…?

[@Kaleido876]

@@Peacht4n am I missing something 😭 overwatch is under Blizzard

[@arcvajal]

Part 2: Basically an ad for The Bazar

[@greg12030]

Yeah what was up with that? I had to look over to see if I was on the same video.

[@MikaMikaMika89]

Well, if he's enjoying it enough to say go support it, then I'm here for it. A lot of us have picked games up from watching Mug recommend them. Spreading positive news about games is a welcome break from all the negativity lately.

[@Over-torture]

​@MikaMikaMika89 sure but the video is called the death of blizzard and the games that causes it. The bazaar has nothing to do with that

[@schroecat1]

@@Over-torture the comparison of the game to hearthstone seems clear. Sure, he could have been more explicit, but it was fine as is.

[@Rastasmoke1999]

I don't think real gamers are interested in the bazar or heartstone😅

[@SetariM]

I literally "Sailed the 7 seas" to nab the old WCIII and WCII games and, just like Diablo and Diablo 2, sucked me in for multiple hour play sessions despite having beaten them over and over in the past. Zero of any Blizzard releases after the D2R release have done that for me since. Watching all of these studios become money-grubbing pieces of crap have really burnt me out on games. I've just been "acquiring" old games just to get sucked into playing them again and having the time of my life, unlike any other games in recent memory besides Elden Ring and RE4R, and maybe a couple more. WoW isn't really applicable since yes, I had been playing since release but Shadowlands, if not BfA was the nail in the coffin for that game for me personally, and I swapped to OSRS, because I do not believe Blizzard deserves anybody's money anymore. Also the WCI and II remakes are laughably bad, just like the WCIII remake. Edit: Remember if buying isn't owning, pirating isn't stealing

[@qu1253]

I thought Warcraft 2 was on GOG?

[@MrBCWalker01]

@@qu1253 Recently yanked.

[@samuelfraser8922]

@@MrBCWalker01wow, they really don’t want people buying their games.

[@teamryan69]

Marvel Rivals is doing so many things that Overwatch players had been asking for for so long: - Hero bans in high ranks and large tournaments - 3rd person view (what's the point of skins if you can barely see it?) - All heroes available all the time (we'll see how long this holds up) - Clans - Built in tournament mode It also has some really cool tools like a great replay viewer. Having the baked in Marvel roster is also doing wonders, as there is probably a favourite character or playstyle that appeals to most players.

[@Zolrain]

10 skins in the battle pass unlike the 6 in Ow2 as well. I'm not fully positive on the pass just yet though since it's technically their 1 full BP. Im waiting to see their next one because I hope they don't go the blizzard route where they put the same 10 heroes in the BP and fill the shop with cloak and dagger and invis woman skins. Not sigma getting 3 skins the past 3 BPs...

[@MikaMikaMika89]

I played WoW from the NA beta, got seriously hooked as a teenager, my first 2 years I averaged 14 hours a day /played time. Had tonnes of server firsts, was a top frost mage in pvp, and for 15 years I logged in daily, they lost me about 5 years back, but I thought I was going to be playing WoW til either it died, or I did. I once played it 35 hours straight trying to rush first to level... 80 or 90. I can't remember now. Hearing how they treated their staff was the final nail in the coffin for me, I will never again support a Blizzard game.

[@junechevalier]

Good times, man. The good thing is there are tons of games now we can all play. Maybe not as intensely as we used to, but great games nonetheless

[@MikaMikaMika89]

@@junechevalier every now and then one will come along and absolutely absorb me. Friggin' love gaming.

[@Otazihs]

Blizzard has a tendency of NOT listening to their player base until it's too late. They like to dig their heels and refuse to budge while everyone is shouting from the top of their lungs. You can see again and again and again on ALL of their IPs. So if Blizzard is struggling its because people just got fed up.

[@jakubpelikan2393]

Doubth. Majority of players feesback isnpire garbage coming out of entiltement rather then actual game issue. Look at WoW. People wanted LFR. Blizzard have them LFR and it ruined raiding. People wanted faster and easy leveling. Now you have utter boring faceroll leveling whats not fun in any shape of form. People wanted more free rewards for no effort. Now every epic Is worthless with no value. So no. Being good dev isnt about listening to your players and do w/e they ask for. Its about understanding your game.

[@Otazihs]

@jakubpelikan2393 you are out of your mind. Have you forgotten the BFA and Shadowlands fiasco? Does "pull the ripcord" mean anything to you? Literally everyone letting blizzard the flaws of the system during beta and they assured us that they had a plan of the current system didn't work. And what did they do? Dug their heels and doubled down. Shadowlands nearly killed WoW, one of the biggest player exodus to date and you are telling me it's because they listened to the player base? You're a freaking idiot. Dragonflight was considered a great expansion BECAUSE they listened to player feedback.

[@Bardock059]

​@@jakubpelikan2393Lfr didn't ruin the raiding, if anything the people who relied on carries ruin it especially when you got people who dipped in the middle of m+ making harder for those to progress with their keys and making pub raids can usually be a headache because no bother understanding the simple mechanics then leaves after a wipe.

[@Akursedtime]

Hearthstone was literally a lifeline for me. My dad was hospitalized during Christmas and it was such a stressful period. When I played the game, I made so many good connections there and it helped distract me while my family waited for the day of the surgery. Also got into HOTS and a bit of Overwatch. But the burn out of Hearthstone and the decline of HOTS had made turning my back. Especially after the Blitzchung thing.

[@anonymousrhinoceros1211]

Honest question I’ve been meaning to ask to someone who genuinely cared about the blitzchung incident. I am interested in rivals as a game but it has multiple censors in game, some funny like “Winnie the Pooh” but one of the many being “Free Hong Kong” being banned. It might be out of control of the devs but it still rubs me the wrong way to support such a game. Thoughts?

[@chrisbennett1358]

Greed has gotten completely out of control in the games industy. Its our own faults for letting them get away with this shit for so long

[@Peacht4n]

The future is indie games bro

[@roslolian11]

The people who made the games we loved are gone. The Blizzard of today has nothing to do with the Blizzard that made the OG games and their sequels, if the "Do you not have phones?" comment didnt make it clear.

[@NeverAnotherNephilim]

$2 billion in Net Revenue in 2022 if all there employees made $100k a year, the 13k of them would eat like $1.3 billion of that, but the low end its like 40k, high end employee made about a 250k. Top 3 paid people cfo cao coo all took about 30 mil between them. Not sure what the operating costs are, but it would be interesting to see who specifically out of those people earned the money they got :T whoever redlighted the PVE / single player of overwatch and made diablo pay to win probably my suspects for who fucked this company most

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

It's the classic excuse, "Blizzard killed itself". I do think the market took such a long time to match Blizzard's standards, that lead to complacency. Blizzard was challenged in the early 00s, Company of Heroes 1 is right up there with Starcraft 1 and 2, the rts genre was very competitive. But regarding mmo, the "arpg" (Diablolike, the name itself is an example of a pseudo monopoly), digital card games, hero shooter... Blizzard never really had competition, maybe a couple of Diablo clones here and there, I honestly don't know if WoW ever had fierce competition before FF14 surged into the scenes... but here we are. For Marvel Rivals to be vastly superior if compared to Overwatch, that was not a surprise, but then you look at Marvel Snap and Path of Exile taking over, that was surprising tbh

[@JerraticYT]

I would rather go back to having to pay for expansions or DLC for games that have zero macro transactions than what we have now. I get that paid DLC was a problem that separated the player base, but damnit the modern gaming landscape is so much worse than what it used to be. I'm just thankful there are still game devs out there defying the norm by creating just-good-games in spite of the landscape.

[@xelusshnider1607]

I played Heroes of the Storm professionally. When ownership changed over the balance immensely shifted. We went from Murky winning worlds because of a innovative well devised strategy from Cloud 9, to well.. Removing all the fun aspects of every hero in the name of balance. The only strategy I was not a fan of in professional play was Lost Vikings + Sylvannas. Which it atleast had the professional counterplay of banning the big maps where they overperformed. But once they removed tower ammo to nerf specialists, nerfed ultimate abilities by a magnitude of 50% and removing some of the most build defining choices of several characters like- you can't use spells while dead as Uther anymore. Then coupled with the release of Greymane and Li Ming which were so overtuned they were always the best choice and centralized the meta. Heroes of the Storm was probably the most influential game of my life, and yeah, it still is fun. i still talk about how much I love the design philosphy behind ability augmentations earned through teamplay to my friends who practically only know the genre from overly harsh single player performance- item builds and gold generation from last hits. I love specialists to death- Asmodan takes a moment every 20 seconds to throw a 3 pointer from mid lane to top lane because it kills the minion wave. He gets stronger- but the team gets XP. Over enough half court shots we end up a level ahead because his win is our win and playing to our win makes everyone have fun.

[@ScotRotum]

The first time one of my mates convinced me to try Dota 2, a Russian child trolled him so hard he literally disconnected and uninstalled while I was still in the game. It's crazy how toxic the genre is. HoTS was a complete breath of fresh air and saved mobas for me. And you rarely felt like you're completely edged out of the game and it is pointless. Smite is also very fun, but I had a lot of games where the adc is fully geared before 10 minutes and we're just waiting for the concede button to become active. Comeback xp in HoTS did perhaps feel overturned, but that is better than the alternative. The best part where each HoTS map having an objective to strongly encourage team fights every 5 mins so you don't have to spend half the game just bored in a lane mostly interacting with creeps. I wish the game had made other mobas obsolete.

[@leopika7280]

i really miss HoTS

[@jishani1]

Hots was dead on arrival, man. You can't just get rid of half of the moba experience (economy, last hitting, item builds, carry potential) and expect it to still appeal to fans of the moba genre. Because guess what? Had it appealed to moba players, it would be successful. All the league and Dota players were excited when hots was announced because surely it was going to be amazing with that "blizzard level of polish" they used to be famous for. Instead, they gave us a turd and doubled down on it being to "combat toxicity" and it died. As soon as the blizzcon video came out, where more time was spent talking about toxicity in mobas than it was showing off their cool new moba, the writing was on the wall. You chose to ignore it.

[@muzamilnabinadroo]

I remember when Overwatch 1 launched in 2016 and it was a revolutionary game but to be honest it was evident from Day 1 that they didn't know how to support the game.

[@caronaidel2129]

Completely unrelated to the video, but I'm currently playing Romacing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven after watching your video about it. I'm having a lot of fun and I wanted to thank you!

[@Mugthief]

It's all about spreading amazing games and enjoying them! It's such an awesome game, and it makes me super happy to know my silly videos help people find cool stuff!!

[@baddragonite]

"Overwatch populrized the hero shooter" TF2: Am I a joke to you?

[@PaddaPlays]

Looking forward to watching this one later. Commenting for engagement

[@tobacc0tabak0]

Excited for your next vid Padda!

[@olejniczak12]

Overwatch was just TF2 with moba heros. Just a TF2 and LoL merge.

[@junechevalier]

TF2 and *Dota 2, the exact game that spawned out of Warcraft 3, being ignored by Blizzard, and Blizzard continued to be salty about its success

[@Morfe02]

Man dont remember to me how first they try to made a WOW 2 with all thouse cool designs from Ow 1 trailer 1 then a shooter And then they release "new original characters" and is just a black person with a gun 😂

[@Papada00]

​@@junechevalier combining TF2 and Dota 2 because they are salty with Valve. 😂

[@Dajudge06]

Jauwn is the man, great content over there. Happy to see he is getting alot of recognition and shoutouts from people I follow.

[@tahzib1451]

video games are dying - said by ppl who stream one game and always shudder the viewership drop when they play something new...we on the other hand say AAA games are dying and indies are thriving...

[@Sunshinus]

What games tho? Their last 2 actual games were d4 that had like 2-years-in-development amount of content on release and overwatch that was released 8 years ago, other than that there is a bunch of re-releases, addons or outsourced garbage

[@cin2110]

You say valorant is cs + overwatch I say overwatch is tf2 + league or moba characters in general. That's the innovation it's tf2 with moba characters instead of classes even game modes are all the same but worse you know the promised pve mode tf2 had that for like the last 10 years lol.

[@statick160]

"I hope the positivity that I want to inspire in the video game community (...) comes across in my videos" Mug, that's exactly why I subbed. You're one of the few creators I've come across that actually manages to address the issues and sensitive topics without coming across like you're trying to grift or just stoke the fires. You actually offer your perspective and aren't afraid to point out even the smallest crumbs of good in the gaming community while still addressing the bad, and sounding genuine all throughout. I'm excited to see what you'll be cooking for us next year c:

[@EaglesReality]

I feel like this was an ad for the Bazaar

[@SponsoredbyPfizer]

14:22 I agree POE 2 is better in every way EXCEPT the trial of Sekhemas and the honor bound system. They decided to lock class power and ascendancy behind the worst game mode in an arpg I have ever played. The trials of sekhemas actually makes me hate POE 2. It needs not be tied to your first ascendancy points or it needs to leave the game altogether.

[@junechevalier]

POE 2 caters to hardcore fans that these hardcore fans can’t stop yapping about, that new players feel attracted enough to try. Catering to new players ends up being shallow, catering to hardcore players adds longevity to a game, and catering to both is… I wouldn’t say impossible but very tricky

[@ScotRotum]

The thing about hardcore fans is that when they die, they are dead.

[@Ricepad]

Just to see Warcraft II, Diablo, and Starcraft being relegated franchises to sequels, a cash shop, and dead esports hits me so hard in the gut. I played so much Warcraft II and StarCraft in college and still have the original boxes and CDs. I will always respect Max & Erich Schaeffer, David Brevik, Bill Roper, and Mike Morhaime as some of the most beloved game developers in Blizzard's history. Thanks for this video.

[@UndeadPandaLegion]

"I LIKE TO KEEP MY VIDEOS POSITIVE " as the tittle says the death of blizzard lol

[@androsh9039]

To be fair, he said "video", not "thumbnail/title".

[@thetagrey2921]

“Try a game that makes them happy and have a great time.” So many people need to remember this is the basis of gaming.

[@tenorenstrom]

I listened to Reynad go on and on about Bazaar for more than a year. Can’t believe I completely missed it was finally out…

[@Benlords]

Awesome to see Super Auto Pets featured! Loved the video ❤ -Art Director of Team Wood Games

[@digivagrant]

Dont spike that ball for Marvel Rivals just yet. We havent seen how bad they can mess up nerfs.

[@Tacti_Kal]

What they're doing right for nerfs are the Season/team up buffs that changes with each season. So instead of nerfing a Hero to the ground. They just simply take away the season buffs of each Heroes. So in a sense you don't need that core aspect of the Heroes and make them bad completely. With how much Heroes, Rivals can add, those season buffs will keep coming. Only time will tell but so far that mechanic is going in the right direction vs OW just nerfing a Hero out of play completely

[@digivagrant]

@Tacti_Kal the price of listening to owl hasbeens.

[@Hydrodictyon]

The Bizarrw in part 2 sounds like the literal definition of greed. “You can play 1 ranked each ten wins in normal, or just never lose, or just, dunno, buy gems for dollars?”

[@Chemsgosi]

commenting for engagement, will come back after 40 minutes

[@Chemsgosi]

video is good btw

[@simbadg13]

While I never got into other blizz games my addiction was OW. And as people have been saying marvels is a breath of fresh air. Overwatch had so much potential yet they fumbled it too many times in not just the game but outside as well. For instance all the esports controversys. I say that as someone who stayed with OW, Stockholm syndrome style, for its entire life with over 2500+ hours. Unless they change marvel is just better in almost every way and they so far actually respect their fans/customers

[@SylvesterAshcroft88]

I thought FFXIV had higher player growth than WoW at this point, the main problem being the server infrastructure means there just isn't space for everyone wanting to play the game.

[@woo22-q8l]

Not really wow is way bigger

[@Chihead]

Ffxiv is ass again, so no

[@woo22-q8l]

@@Chiheadeven if it wasn’t , wow is way bigger now that they returned to China

[@JO_______]

yes and no. 14 overtook wow for a while, but it's on a decline at the moment. Lot of entrenched cement structures and some technical debt are weighing down 14. Wow also did some innovations to get lapsed people to resub and is creatively strong. Their new player system sucks though and there's no real satisfaction as you're whisked from one story to the next without really ever completing any of them. Right now they're kind of at a stalemate. Wow can't onboard newbies or retain them, but has a large pool of lapsed players to advertise to. 14 can onboard newbies like no one else but has gotten stale at the end with some of it's worst storytelling in a while. Other contenders are fundamentally different games and are on their own waning arcs (Destiny 2, New World). Guild Wars 2 couldn't ever capitalize and now exists in a sort of limbo state. There's a graveyard of mmos that couldn't be wow or are in perpetual maintenance mode buffeted by some whales. No studio is willing to shell out the cash to make a new MMO anymore. Live service games are pseudo-mmos and are also on the downswing. GTA 6 online will probably be the next big hurrah but it's not really an MMO, just plays one on tv.

[@woo22-q8l]

@@JO_______I agree with most points however ff had only a growth because it was something new for wow players and it didn’t last long. I actually think one of ff14 bigger problems is new players, you have to complete insane amounts of quests just so you can play with your friends at the endgame and plus the combat feels pretty shit. I really though don’t care which game is better, I’m just saying that looking at different metrics, wow is still the biggest mmo by far.

[@Martial-Mat]

I don't always agree with you, but you have a great presentational style and a really thoughtful take on matters. Good job.

[@Ivanselectsongs]

Happy new year, everybody!

[@arricarry3832]

happy new year u tooo i hope u have wonderful 2025 stranger

[@qu1253]

I actually had originally planned to get into ARPGs with Diablo 4, but after seeing the mixed reception, I held off. Very glad I did, because now I'm playing PoE2 instead.

[@Spongemonkey26]

The only thing Blizzard I still play is WoW Classic, because it was made at a time by people who loved games for people who loved games.

[@jishani1]

Yet it's being rehashed over and over by the idiots ruining the live version of the game constantly trying to sell you things. And you're paying them to continue to ruin it. And lying to yourself about it. "I hate blizzard! So I'm only gonna give them money a little bit. Because they keep ruining the game i love. So I'm gonna continue to keep paying them to do it!" I walked away from a 20-year friendship with someone as deluded as you because he couldn't stop throwing money at blizzard. When you have to do mental gymnastics with yourself to justify giving money to people you hate because its not "as bad" because you only play one thing and not the new stuff, then guess what? You're an addict justifying your continued substance abuse. "I only use coke, Its not as bad as meth. I hate all the new meth." Delusional.

[@Bothrops_Asper_89]

@@jishani1 Jesus, man. You projected superhard onto that guy's comment. I get WoW is a hard drug, but c'mon.

[@Author_Gamer]

Saying doesn’t have a competitor when Final Fantasy 14 exists is laughable. Especially when many WOW players ended leaving and going during the Shadowlands expansion.

[@222Hed]

I used to play Overwatch and Diablo up until recently. Good riddance

[@sp00kyd4ddy6]

I genuinely dont understand how people say Rivals is an Overwatch copy. Especially when games like Paladins exists that pretty much copied and pasted characters and gameplay designs. Overwatch did not invent having characters with abilities and different personalities theyre just one of the first to gain popularity from it. Pretty much every game takes bits of inspiration from others even masterpieces.

[@Nightstalker314]

Why is number research always so bad with these "take-down" videos. Blizzard never had 13000 employees. Activision-Blizzard-King, the whole corporation, had 13.000 eployees. With Activision and Blizzard being about 9.000 with a somewhat 50/50 split on that amount. DO BETTER RESEARCH!

[@isaiah5833]

Another factor, the new characters in Overwatch are basically never getting new skins, just look at venture, and even if they do it’s only like 1 now. Then there is marvel rivals, releasing not only 2 characters at once, but RELEASING A SKIN FOR EACH ONE, WITH HIGHLIGHTS AND EVERYTHING.

[@RedRabbit-ZA]

I never cared about anything Blizzard made. I was looking forward to StarCraft Ghost back in the day, but that got cancelled.

[@Desperado070]

Actually it got released under starcraft 2... But that game is even more dead.

[@Thetravelerencore]

Anyone else surprised at how QUICKLY the whole situation in the Blizzard Entertainment was swept under the rug? Employees drinking breast milk, nudes being shared around and blackmailing. A employee committing suicide like how was this just talked about one week and forgotten

[@YaaSalty...0_o]

Can we go back to a time where we get free demos and paid games, not paid Demos and free games? There's no such thing as free. If a game is free, that means you are the product.

[@latincristo]

Path of exile is free. Don't have to spend anything on it.

[@qu1253]

@@latincristo "If a game is free, that means you are the product."

[@latincristo]

@@qu1253 parrot symptoms... shame. independent thought is in short supply...

[@ScotRotum]

The player isn't the product, they're not selling your data or anything. It is the spendy player aka "whale" who is the target for any f2p business model. PoE2 having ~$60 single skins (e.g. crab armour) means that even though only 5% of players are paying any money, they're paying 20x what a regular player would. Hopefully those players can all afford it and whales subsidising free to players is a benevolent wealth redistribution. But it's something to keep an eye on.

[@jamsalad]

this is a meaningless statement you're the product for any game that involves online multiplier. so long as there's enough whales & heavily invested people the studios will make their monetisation back & they can only push it as far as the player will take. COD costs like 60 quid every year and still often has heavy monetisation

[@5150Blitz]

What's crazy is looking at OW1's meteoric launch it took Marvel Rivals 8 years later to match it. OW1 had an 8 year lead and did nothing. If OW1 had made a tv series or a show that they cared to put effort in they would have cemented their legacy but then again the fails in balancing and gameplay would have caught up quickly too.

[@PikaPower131313]

0:31 FF14 is done better than WoW

[@Malidictus]

The MOBA genre is not a Blizzard invention. They just happened to be present when it happened. Defence of the Ancients was a WarCraft 3 MOD. Blizzard only realised how valuable it was until long after that got out of their hands. That's why DotA2 is a Valve property, not a Blizzard property. Furthermore, the concept of "characters with identities and abilities" is far from new - and far older than Overwatch. It's generally rooted in the MOBA genre, but predates even that. WarCraft 3 already worked like that, and Kingdom Under Fire worked like that before that. Then there's stuff like SMITE, and Tribes: Ascend before that. Overwatch didn't "invent" anything. Overwtach did an old thing well.

[@travisgeorge1553]

There's one dour note, to this video. Bobby Kotick, still draws breath. Proof, that there's no justice in this, broken world...

[@arricarry3832]

he's the one that sucks the SOUL out of Blizzard that Fricking GOBLIN

[@ianvanwyk3707]

The downfall of these monolithic game studios like Blizzard is largely because the innovative, passionate devs that originally made these great games were pushed out by corporate suits whose focus was monetization, leaving behind shells that lack their former greatness.

[@tenorenstrom]

To be fair. People like PoE2 because it does NOT innovate. It does NOT take risks and does NOT try anything new. It iterates (successfully) on d2.

[@latincristo]

Trust me it might seem like it's not trying anything new yet. Just wait for leagues to start. In poe1 we've had tower defense auto battlers and city builders so far. Ngl I wouldn't be surprised if we get a rogue like soon

[@Silversmith70]

I remember playing online Neverwinter Nights in 2003 era and my friends were leaving to play the brand new game World of Warcraft. Those were great times, I will never forget how fun NWN was.

[@MikaMikaMika89]

Can you imagine if BG3 had NWN tools? To let people create custom games, online lobbies, chat, etc.

[@Silversmith70]

@@MikaMikaMika89 That was an amazing tool set. One of the servers I played on. The DM's let me create custom weapons and armor and brought them into the game and into loot drops.

[@luxsignifer6996]

Somehow I ended on a "The Bazar" sponsor segment while watching a Blizzard downfall video essay...

[@arricarry3832]

i don't think so it was sponsored but he seems passionate about that game

[@pyorre2441]

​​@@arricarry3832Luckily the video is timecoded, so you can move on the next segment, I know I did when the Bazar shilling started to get on my nerves.

[@MikaMikaMika89]

@@arricarry3832 yep, I don't know about anyone else but I'm here not just for the negative stuff, but also the good, the stuff that makes people passionate.

[@pleesrewind]

The title is misleading. The only thing that caused Blizzard's downfall is Blizzard themselves.

[@bathhatingcat8626]

This guy doesn’t understand China or why companies must partner with a Chinese company to do business in China.

[@simonshura9144]

He might know but doesn't wanna admit it in the video lol

[@LG1ikLx]

"Any overwatch competitor, people will try out" **Concord has left the chat**

[@tofu_golem]

Blizzard got to where they were by consistently making decisions based on what gamers would want. The fans were willing to put up with a lot because of that. They got away with endless delays that would have bankrupted any other game developer because every fan knew that they would not release a game until it was polished and genuinely good. They didn't do microtransactions, they didn't release unfinished, unpolished crap, and that was why fans loved them so much. Bobby Kotick decided to destroy that for temporary profit increases. That toothpaste is never going back in the tube. Fans are never going to trust that they are going to release a great game. They are now holding the same expectations as every other major game developer, which is to say that most game players hate them and ask when the next Larian game is coming out. ====== 4:36 Sorry, I have to correct you. World of Warcraft was not lightyears ahead of its time. It was not. It was mostly a rehash of things other MMORPGs did. Heck, the graphics tech was already pretty dated when that game came out, and people joked about that. What World of Warcraft did was steal all the right design elements from the MMORPGs that came before, and applied a high sheen of polish to it before releasing it. Although the game has changed a lot since being released and while there were bugs at release, it just didn't feel like they were using the first two years of subscription-payers to be an extra set of beta testers.

[@AlasKenn1]

I got an ad earlier, begging players to come back to Diablo 4 with some guy basically saying "Guys I promise its good now, theres so much more content and skins!" and thats at the point where I usually get to skip the ad. It would have to include Diablo 1, 2, and the complete 3 for me to even bother redownloading it, more so playing again. So until then, I'll just look at the 70 dollar hole in my wallet and imagine I'm playing a better D4, or just play PoE 2 like a normal person.

[@aoihitori]

Nah, Blizzard was Ended by Activision. Why nobody blames Activision?

[@grundged]

PoE2 is what I wanted Diablo 4 to be.

[@sfp2290]

The people who made the old games in Blizzard (the developers) are all gone. Some of the ones who made Diablo 2 went to create... You guessed it, Path of Exile. If you have a company with developers who are able to create great games, and you switch out all the developers, you end up with a company with the same reputation, but not the same abilities. Bioware is also Bioware-in-name-only, and it shows.

[@TwoHandedChargedBonk]

Nailed it, mate. Great video as always!

[@tak8850]

Poe2 just saved me from spending 70$ on Blizzard's thrash

[@thedevilde4208]

My brother and i used to stay up late talking about WoW since the game has been in our house since the burning crusade, he was 9 and i 6, he past away back in the shadowlands and i now just look at the game as a sibling that lost it way

[@raphlin7]

The three reasons off the top of my head that I will NEVER play the Bazaar. 1. I'm not downloading another bullshit launcher. No chance in hell. 2. It looks like a goofy ass cartoon game. I am an adult man; not an 8 year old. 3. The monetization is bullshit. 25 dollar characters? Free currency gated behind ranked play? No thank you. Have fun with that. I'm done with predatory monetization. I don't understand how it gets so much praise when it does all this stupid shit that every gamer always complains about. All 3 of these things by themselves are bullshit, but this game hits the trifecta. Who is it for? A bunch of 40 year adult men telling me it's a great game, but I don't have time for a kids game that is trying to violate my wallet and get my to download a 12th fucking game launcher. Hell no. I am not only going to not ever play it, I will continue to actively discourage people from playing it and calling bullshit to the clowns that are able to excuse these bullshit game designs practices. I don't even care if anyone disagrees with me. If you find anything I have listed to be acceptable, then we are not peers and your opinion means nothing to me. Go play your little kid cartoon bullshit and save your breath. I am an adult that doesn't play childrens games, why would i care what an adult that DOES play childrens games thinks? You have already lost any counter argument. I certainly cannot subscribe to or take seriously anyone telling me it is a good game or that I should play it.

[@Brokeninc]

People keep saying Overwatch was first, but Team Fortress and Hi Rez game Global Agenda was before it and Hi Rez noticed similarities to their property in Overwatch, so at one point Hi Rez started doing the same back with Paladins. Overwatch was the result of a project named Titan that was canceled and Blizzard is known for taking ideas refining them and making them as additive as legally possible.

[@ItsVxctor]

I kept watching, but the COD shilling was a bad bit. 80 dollars for what you JUST BEFORE said about overwatch 2 for example. Incomplete, The exact same game only this time you actually PAY for it. And yet every year you play 10 dollars more, then battlepasses. Then skins. Just terrible practice. And NO the content offered does not = the price. The bit right after about diablo and it being incomplete for 40 dollars. Cod continues to release year after year with MANY bugs, server issues etc. i agree with your video for the most part, but using cod in this ironically helped the point of the video but not the point you were trying to make for COD lol

[@unspi554]

Early access this day are no longer "pre-release" game, the release of your early access is the release of your game where you sell the most copy etc...

[@brylle5695]

Alec Dawson just out here releasing "balance changes" so they can then revert the changes. Job security glitch.

[@dulcetwho5770]

"not having the best onboarding process" is an interesting understatement all things considered

[@jailinderozen9522]

There is something captivating in a way Mugthief says the word "money" and from now on I will try to count how many times he says the word "money" in every video. In this video he said "money" 8 times

[@infantryplankton]

What AAA companies need to understand is that the money just comes when the game is fun. You don’t need to squeeze every penny out of me. Make a fun game, give me freedom to play what I want to play, and I will gladly spend money on skins. Blizzard and all the companies like it are what happens when your leads are just solely about monetary gains. Just like NFT, just like AI, just like randomized generation, just like woke movements- when your goal isn’t heart and passion then it loses its soul.

[@mynameswouldntwork]

Blizzard didn't stumble upon good games accidentally. They had very talented teams capable of making them AND weren't shoving as much corporate crap into them while those teams made them.

[@Arcademan09]

I personally still dont believe "games are more expensive now" because we have so much more resources, even free, than ever before and they seriously need to STOP pushing for 4k realism when the return isn't worth it at all, we have last gen and even the PS3 era with visuals that still hold up yet they tell me repeatedly that "capturing the human face is really hard" meanwhile Metal Gear Solid 4 over 10 years ago did that pretty well

[@jishani1]

Everyone seems to forget in 2012 when games were trying out microtransactions. There were articles written about purchasable horse armor for the first time and developers were taking to stages at every game convention to sing their praises. Micro transactions were to be the future, they promised us. It's a way to increase the revenue stream to the developers of games so that way they didn't have to charge more for games, and even as a way to give you cheaper or even free games! Yeah now they want $70 for the box price and it's going to launch day one with a cash shop full of items as expensive or even more expensive than the cost of the game itself. Because it was a good thing, that was going to save us money. 😂

[@Peacht4n]

Anyone who says that realism in games and realistic graphics are better than stylization is evil. The lack of whimsy that comes with that is a good example as to how men in suits who’s only thoughts r money are ruining the gaming industry. But thankfully we have the indie game industry. AAA gaming lost its whimsy. It’s all about making your stocks go up or down

[@tomaac]

I prefer Last Epoch for now, until devs properly balance and finish PoE2. It's funny how everyone already forgot LE also came out in 2024 and did pretty much everything better than D4.

[@paris5831]

I used to have so much respect for this company now I will never play their games again

[@julia.bentley]

All of these bad decisions basically boil down to Bobby Kotick. He wanted the Blizzard section of Activision Blizzard (pre Microsoft acquisition ofc) to milk as MUCH money as humanly possible with every single one of their games. It's going to be hard to undo that damage when its been the business mindset since mid 2008.

[@haroldtaylor6830]

I'll echo PirateSoftware "Blizzard didn't make those games, people made those games. And those people worked at Blizzard. When those people left those games started to die."

[@johnaldjensen4617]

wow is literally a titan in the genre (a genre that isnt as big as back in the day) but still far surpasses any mmo on the market in terms of playercount and gameplay wise. nothing comes close to its raiding scene and casual content

[@skellumfh]

I think there is one more facet to the boundles greed theme. It cuts not only against their customers but also against their employees. I do think the kind of toxic internal enviroment described in the numerous complaints, investigations and exposees contributed to the games lacking the innovation they once might have had (in addition to being unacceptable in its own right, of course).