| Azzanation said: Blizzard, are they the greatest gaming company to exist today? I’ve been a huge fan of Blizzard games for many years. What makes a good company in my eyes are those that can create newer experiences by changing their comfort zones like genres. Blizzard make many top quality games and what makes them great is that there all in difference categories. There’s something about a Blizzard game that makes it unique, there’s a polish of brilliance that occurs on their games. It’s like a Blizzard touch to it. And there aren’t many companies out there that can do what Blizzard do and be successful at it. Nintendo in its prime could release titles that managed to be top of the line games in different categories and Rare back in the 90s which not only made some of the greatest games of all time, they managed to conquer other genres, like Racing, Platforming, Fighters, and FPS. Blizzard seems to be the only company I can think of today that lives up to those heavy expectations. Its one thing making a game in another catagory, and its another being the best in it, Blizzard seem to do both very well or close to. FYI - They also host their own major event yearly known as BlizzCon which average 20,666 attendees from the past 9 years. They are huge. Blizzard isnt just a game company, its a community. I have listed below Blizzard’s current library of modern games that’s available on Battle.net World of Warcraft (93 Meta) – WoW has remained the best MMO for the past decade and it’s no surprise this is Blizzard’s pride of joy. It’s the game that has changed the company forever. Still 10+ years later WoW averages a Meta score of 88.6 with all 5 of its major expansions up to Warlords of Dreanor. With still 5.5 million subscribers, the game is by far the best MMO-RPG ever created and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon with its new expansion, Legion due this year. With peak of 12 million subscriptions in October 2010 and the final report of 5.5 million subscriptions in October 2015, World of Warcraft remains the world's most-subscribed MMORPG, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG by subscribers. In January 2014, it was announced that more than 100 million accounts had been created over the game's lifetime. Starcraft 2 (93 Meta) – On release this game was a major hit straight off the bat. Not only has it sold incredibly well on launch, it is the fastest selling RTS game of all time with 3million sold in its first month. The Series averages an 89 Meta with all 3 Expansions and to this day, Starcraft offers the best RTS mechanics and gameplay claiming the RTS crown by many. Diablo 3 (88 Meta) - Diablo III set a new record for fastest-selling PC game selling over 3.5 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release, and was the best-selling PC game of 2012, selling over 12 million copies during the year. It has sold 30 million copies across all platforms. Diablo III received acclaim from critics. If you don’t know what Diablo is or played it then I suggest you do. It’s one if not the best Action/Hack and Slash games on the market which delivers not only on amazing polish and gameplay but offers an incredible dark and violent story. Hearthstone (88 Meta) – The game has been favorably reviewed by critics and proven successful for Blizzard. By April 2016, Blizzard has reported more than 50 million Hearthstone players. The game has become popular as an eSport with cash-prize tournaments hosted by Blizzard and other parties. Though I haven’t spent many hours playing Hearthstone, I must say it’s an amazing card game which again shines with Blizzard’s polish and remains to be one of the best card games available that iv played. Heroes of the Storm (86 Meta) – This is a hard genre to compete in with the juggernauts of League of Legends and Dota 2, however this is more a form of taste then it is on which games are better. Heroes outshines both in terms of quality with its better visuals from Blizzards touch of polish. I am however unable to find out its sales projections. I must say for a Free to Play game, you can’t ask for much. I couldn’t enjoy Dota 2 or LoL however with Heroes having a more casual approach I was able to play games and enjoy them from the start without a hefty learning curve like the others. In my own opinion Heroes delivers. Is it the best in the genre? That’s debatable. Heroes is probably Blizzards weakest link, however if it is then it surely proves my point on the company, because it’s another great game especially if your into MOBA. Overwatch (92 Meta) – What else is there to say about this game apart from its fantastic Pixar cinematics and fun factor exceeding my own expectations, this game is a blast and is regarded as one of the best games going around in 2016. Blizzard’s new and immensely popular team based shooter tops UK sales charts for the week ending May 28, 2016. Overwatch is also Blizzard’s fastest selling console game to date, and continues a long-standing trend of Blizzard games dominating their respective niches in the games market. I stated in a thread before that cracking a 90 Meta in the FPS market is extremely hard to do and not one FPS game this gen has achieved that, except for Overwatch, a game made by Blizzard. I might be a Blizzard fanboy, but let’s look past that. Blizzard is incredibly successful for a reason, they always deliever no matter what game they decide to make. They have amazing fan service and one of the biggest followings going around. I am happy to hear gamer’s thoughts about Blizzard and there success of a company and what would be there next genre they will enter? I wouldn’t mind seeing a Blizzard Racing/Kart Game for example. EDITED - Metacritic doesnt tell the full story either. Theres more to a game then a review. Blizzard games may not hold the greatest scores of all time like Mario Galaxies (97), Halo CE (97) Zelda OoT (99) GTA5 (97) however there games and player base tells a completely different story. Please dont turn this thread into a Meta-War. |
I've been a huge Blizzard fan since the earliest days of the original Warcraft and Diablo, so I'm not exactly unbiased. That said, the reason I've continued to love them is that their releases are so consistently great.
Heck, this standard they hold themselves to are why a virtually complete point-and-click game (Lord of the Clans) was cancelled (still breaks my heart), and why the follow up MMO they'd been working on for over a decade was cancelled and reshaped into what became another 90+ game (Overwatch).
Outside of that one original Diablo expansion that they outsourced which was pretty much a train wreck, they've been consistently excellent. I think at this point you can add Rockstar to the list ever since GTA III and maybe Naughty Dog or Bethesda, but Blizzard certainly has the widest range of games while still remaining great.
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