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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 06:11   #1
Makain
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Microsoft takeover leads to destruction of Blizzard Entertainment

Amid takeover plans of Vivendi Universal's crown jewel Blizzard Entertainment by Microsoft, the world's 2nd largest game company came to its knees as employees begin to resign, falling the lead of the three Blizzard co-founders and a fourth employee credited with the creation of the WarCraft.

The walkout of intellectual knowledge from Blizzard Entertainment has resulted in a net loss of $1.1 billion in company worth. StarCraft Ghost and World of WarCraft have been put on indefinite hold and Diablo III was completely scrapped as Blizzard North (the division that makes the Diablo Franchise) has completely broken away.

The move mirrors Bungie several years ago after Microsoft's hostile takeover of the Mac-only development company. The result was all intellectual property Microsoft was planning to purchase had been scrapped following massive resignations, except for Final beta version of Halo RTS and FPS which was an intricate part of the deal. Rumours of Microsoft's buy out is said to have started with their wish to make StarCraft Ghost an Xbox exclusive, against the wishes of Blizzard management, who were overruled by the French parent company Vivendi Universal.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 06:20   #2
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I hope for all our sakes that you're kidding.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 06:23   #3
Makain
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Jesus Christ man it made headlines on the Money side of CNN. The largest French Company in the world just went down in flames as their last moneymaker collapsed. Yahoo Biz has it, even Blizzard game fansite has it.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 06:54   #4
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And I have been living in a cave for the past week
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 07:23   #5
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then these people will probaby set up a new company, without any influence by M$?
better this way than microsoft taking over yet another market, isnt it?
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 08:03   #6
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I've read nothing but rumors so far and haven't seen a thing other than that.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 08:10   #7
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Quote:
Originally posted by Makain
Jesus Christ man it made headlines on the Money side of CNN. The largest French Company in the world just went down in flames as their last moneymaker collapsed. Yahoo Biz has it, even Blizzard game fansite has it.
links? I couldn't find any mention on either website.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 08:24   #8
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Following the many rumors about possible asset disposals, Vivendi Universal would like to again emphasize that no statement or comments will be made on disposals before their completion.
that's from the front page of Vivendi Universal's webby
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 10:27   #9
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Bit of a shame, really. Say what you want, but the games brought out under Microsoft's flag are usually rather excellent.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 10:35   #10
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Quote:
Originally posted by Leshy
Bit of a shame, really. Say what you want, but the games brought out under Microsoft's flag are usually rather excellent.
But those by blizzard are usually better.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 10:40   #11
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I new the top 4 people had walked out, didnt know why or that it had gotten this bad
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 10:41   #12
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Quote:
Originally posted by ParraCida
But those by blizzard are usually better.
indeed
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 10:47   #13
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According to the CNN article they have no idea if anybody was gonna buy them let alone who. You are spreading unsubstantiated rumours!
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 10:52   #14
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Quote:
Originally posted by Leshy
Bit of a shame, really. Say what you want, but the games brought out under Microsoft's flag are usually rather excellent.
but only as long as they have competition.
the whole age of whatever-series clearly rocked and was, in my opinion, far better than that annoying star craft. but if you take away the competition, why should they care about producing a good game?
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:06   #15
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Well you can put an anti microsoft spin on everything I suppose.
This suggests they are leaving to screw Vivendi by ruining the value of their potential sale of Blizzard.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:08   #16
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Quote:
Originally posted by ParraCida
But those by blizzard are usually better.
Hence a combination of the two might produce some amazing results.
Quote:
Originally posted by wu_trax
but only as long as they have competition.
the whole age of whatever-series clearly rocked and was, in my opinion, far better than that annoying star craft. but if you take away the competition, why should they care about producing a good game?
Because they're still the same people who produced good games at Blizzard? Just because their company is now owned by Microsoft rather than Vivendi wouldn't really mean that they suddenly made crap games rather than good ones.

Microsoft's game department has proven as well that they are not prone to releasing crap, bug-ridden games just to make deadlines.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:22   #17
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Quote:
Originally posted by Leshy

Because they're still the same people who produced good games at Blizzard? Just because their company is now owned by Microsoft rather than Vivendi wouldn't really mean that they suddenly made crap games rather than good ones.

tell that to Bullfrog
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:26   #18
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kumnaa
tell that to Bullfrog
EA is **** though.

Do they even release games anymore? I thought all they did was take last year's sportsgame, redo the graphics a bit, and release it with a new number.

P.S. Whomever does buy Vivendi's gaming department (I wish I had the money), I hope they'll pay some attention to Sierra as well.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:29   #19
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Quote:
Originally posted by Leshy
EA is **** though.

Do they even release games anymore? I thought all they did was take last year's sportsgame, redo the graphics a bit, and release it with a new number.

P.S. Whomever does buy Vivendi's gaming department (I wish I had the money), I hope they'll pay some attention to Sierra as well.
They release loads of games, Medal of Honour, SIm City 4, The Sims, Battlefield 1942, The LOTR games. They are probably the most succesful games company at the present time.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:32   #20
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kumnaa
They release loads of games, Medal of Honour, SIm City 4, The Sims, Battlefield 1942, The LOTR games. They are probably the most succesful games company at the present time.
The Sims being an equal thing to their sports game - Let's release yet another expansion pack so that your people can now keep pets in their house! And maybe after that, we can release another one, so that your sims can go and buy different sets of clothing!

Granted, I didn't know that Medal of Honour and Battlefield 1942 were released under the EA flag.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:33   #21
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Quote:
Originally posted by Leshy
The Sims being an equal thing to their sports game - Let's release yet another expansion pack so that your people can now keep pets in their house! And maybe after that, we can release another one, so that your sims can go and buy different sets of clothing!

Granted, I didn't know that Medal of Honour and Battlefield 1942 were released under the EA flag.
I didnt realise about bf1942 till i went to their webby :/

Ultima Online, Black & White, C&C, Harry Potter, James Bond, Need for Speed (i didnt realise they still made that series), The Simpsons \o/

They seem to make everything
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 11:55   #22
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kumnaa
I didnt realise about bf1942 till i went to their webby :/

Ultima Online, Black & White, C&C, Harry Potter, James Bond, Need for Speed (i didnt realise they still made that series), The Simpsons \o/

They seem to make everything
they make very little, they just publish most of it. (they do have *some* internal games dev, but its generally poo)
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 12:31   #23
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Quote:
Originally posted by NEWSBOT3
they make very little, they just publish most of it. (they do have *some* internal games dev, but its generally poo)
yes, i probably should have mentioned that somewhere
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 12:34   #24
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kumnaa
I didnt realise about bf1942 till i went to their webby :/

Ultima Online, Black & White, C&C, Harry Potter, James Bond, Need for Speed (i didnt realise they still made that series), The Simpsons \o/

They seem to make everything

black & white rocked
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 13:26   #25
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*sigh*

If Microsoft don't own something, EA do.
They don't make good games, the companies they've consumed do. The problem is that smaller companies don't get a look in, but if they do, they're eaten up by one of the big ones. Microsoft are accreditted with Freelancer (Digital Anvil) where EA are accreditted with the C&C franchise (Westwood studios, which they disbanded and turned into EA Pacific...)
Well, even though they are gaming companies, you can draw parallels with any other industry. When it started, there were hundreds of the things. Now it's been whittled down to about 2 huge ones...
I have more respect for EA than Microsoft, because EA actually did make quite good games when they were a small company and owned barely anything, while Microsoft just got rich and bought anyone they fancied to make more money because they could.
And as for the guys leaving Blizzard, well, they can only put off working for one of these companies for so long, it would seem. If they're good, they'll be wanted by them, and no matter what their 'moral' perspective, they'll either have to go with it or leave the industry eventually.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 13:41   #26
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black & white rocked
Black & White was the greatest waste of money I have ever committed in my entire life.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 14:04   #27
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Black & White was the last PC game I ever bought.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 14:12   #28
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black & white 2

looks more promising though...
we'll have to wait and spend.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 14:59   #29
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The articles seem to intimate that the 4 who left are not bound by any clauses which would prevent them working for any major rivals, thus ,However it also intimates they left on good terms, and that the possibility of them working with the company again is not impossible. So heres one for the conspiracy theorists.

All 4 recieved a nice fat backhander from a potential buyer of the company. The buyers then snap up the entertainment arm for around $800 million , and go back to these guys with an "Improved contract offer" , maybe running into $10 million apiece. They re-sign , the company value returns, the stock value returns , the game developments continue (albeit slightly altered as per Microsofts design wishes) , the gamers get what they want (New Starcraft, Diablo & Warcraft Games), the programmers get what they want (made for life) and Microsoft , or whoever the buyers are get what they want.

Note none of the 4 resignees have made any public statement about WHY they left. I havent heard the words "Resigned on Principle" bandied about as of yet. Theres a whiff of "Resigned to get a better deal elsewhere , or form a new company" flying around.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 15:32   #30
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When we do insider trading we try not to make it that obvious.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 15:34   #31
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When we do insider trading we try not to make it that obvious.
How in the living hell do you prove that?
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 15:43   #32
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kurashima
How in the living hell do you prove that?
"All 4 recieved a nice fat backhander from a potential buyer of the company."? Checking bank records, private e-mail, that sort of thing. They're unlikely to quit for money without any real guarantees. If they get rehired it'll be very suspicious particularly if they get paid lots.

Their plan to quit should be confidential, and making money from it is fraud, I believe.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 15:53   #33
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Quote:
Originally posted by queball
"All 4 recieved a nice fat backhander from a potential buyer of the company."? Checking bank records, private e-mail, that sort of thing. They're unlikely to quit for money without any real guarantees. If they get rehired it'll be very suspicious particularly if they get paid lots.

Their plan to quit should be confidential, and making money from it is fraud, I believe.

Youd need to launch a huge investigation , gain access to accounts which are almost certainly not held in the UK or Europe, and thus there is no legal basis to subpoena , have a criminal investigation instead of a private one( as a civil suit couldnt subpoena email records), and besides , their reputations alone guarantee them work, hence quitting wasnt any kind of risk. Theyve worked on three of the biggest games of all time.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 16:34   #34
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What's it got to do with Europe? I'd accept they're quitting for largely finanical reasons, I just doubt there was any secretive agreement. It's rare for games developers to go out of their way, risking lawsuits, to get employed by progressively larger and more restrictive corporations.

The Gamespot interview clearly suggests creative freedom and enterprise as reasons for quitting. I doubt anyone knew much at all about the buyers, it's always secretive.

PS. The Microsoft aspect is likely pure bias considering the thread starter is a raving Mac fanatic.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 16:46   #35
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Quote:
Originally posted by queball
the thread starter is a raving Mac fanatic.
That alone drops the value of any of his opinions through the floor. (;

As for it being fraud, the only way they could actually prove that was to prove that the buyer had worked the new offer prior to the employees leaving.

If it really IS microsoft, and they made a very sweet deal to these guys, they could claim that MS wanted them back and made an offer they couldn't refuse. Proving that this wasn't the case would be quite difficult if the buying company has enough capital and investor confidence to present any deal they want in a very short amount of time.

Hell, they could be working said deals right now on the premise that they would want those guys regardless, and if they DIDN'T, buy Blizzard, it didn't really much matter.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 18:48   #36
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sounds like microsoft taking over rare, that should be interesting....
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 20:41   #37
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Quote:
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sounds like microsoft taking over rare, that should be interesting....
they did that ages ago didnt they ? thats why Starfox Adventures was rushed out for the gamecube.
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Unread 6 Jul 2003, 20:42   #38
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Re: *sigh*

Quote:
Originally posted by Mushroom
If Microsoft don't own something, EA do.
They don't make good games, the companies they've consumed do. The problem is that smaller companies don't get a look in, but if they do, they're eaten up by one of the big ones. Microsoft are accreditted with Freelancer (Digital Anvil) where EA are accreditted with the C&C franchise (Westwood studios, which they disbanded and turned into EA Pacific...)
Well, even though they are gaming companies, you can draw parallels with any other industry. When it started, there were hundreds of the things. Now it's been whittled down to about 2 huge ones...
I have more respect for EA than Microsoft, because EA actually did make quite good games when they were a small company and owned barely anything, while Microsoft just got rich and bought anyone they fancied to make more money because they could.
And as for the guys leaving Blizzard, well, they can only put off working for one of these companies for so long, it would seem. If they're good, they'll be wanted by them, and no matter what their 'moral' perspective, they'll either have to go with it or leave the industry eventually.
to be fair microsoft do develop alot as well as publish
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