Controversial comments from Blizzard President sparks huge debate among Diablo players
Robert Paul, Blizzard EntertainmentBlizzcon was undoubtedly a successful show for Blizzard as a developer, but recent comments from the company’s President have sparked significant discourse among the Diablo community.
The biggest headlines from the show were all World of Warcraft-related, with three expansions announced for the retail version of the game, as well as Cataclysm Classic and the long-awaited Classic+.
Additionally, Diablo fans finally had confirmation of the first expansion for the fourth game in the series, entitled Vessel of Hatred. Releasing sometime in late 2024, it will feature the return of the great daemon Mephisto for the first time since Diablo 2.
Blizzard company President Mike Ybarra was also a big part of the show but one particular statement of his is causing huge debate.
Blizzard President Mike Ybarra says players have “no patience”
In an interview with The Verge, Ybarra discussed the difficulty of developing games to a high-quality in increasingly short windows, saying “Players have no patience. They want new stuff every day, every hour. We’re trying to react that way while holding the Blizzard quality bar high.”
Picking up on those comments in a post on the Diablo sub-Reddit, one user shared Ybarra’s statements under the heading “He’s not wrong,” sparking a considerable debate among the community.
Many were quick to disagree, citing the game’s difficulties at launch as evidence, with one saying: “Well, I mean, if you didn’t take out things that should have been there from the start, a lot of the new stuff wouldn’t be necessary.”
Another quickly echoed those thoughts, adding: “This is why you need a satisfying game loop, with a strong sense of progression feeding the cycle of “this is tough” to “Superman” transitions for the dopamine hits. They designed a AAA game without those things and then complained about players”
Others pointed out that it may well be the need for constant revenue on an Executive level that causes these pressures, with one stating: “If a game is delayed, it doesn’t bother me at all. I want them to take as much time as they need to make a great game. Do you know who is really impatient? Game company executives. They want constant revenue, microtransactions every hour, cosmetics over content.”
After such a positive showing at Blizzcon, it’s surprising that the developer has managed to wade into controversy so quickly after its end. That said, it’s likely these comments will be quickly forgotten if Blizzard games continue to improve.
For our coverage on everything we know about the upcoming Diablo expansion, try our article on Vessel of Hatred.
