Blizzard President Mike Ybarra believes that today’s players are becoming more impatient, which makes the developer’s efforts to maintain quality standards difficult. Blizzard’s CEO made this point as part of a broader reflection on what’s next for the company following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
As is the case with developers focusing on eSports and live service games, Blizzard’s recent track record shows that its fan base is increasingly hungry for “instant” content. Therefore, even critically praised and successful games like Diablo 4 are still frequent targets of criticism from a part of gamers.
Reflecting on this situation in a recent interview with The Verge, Mr. Ybarra said that today’s gamers are impatient. “They want new things every day, every hour,” he asserted, adding that the World of Warcraft maker is doing what it can to meet those needs “while keeping Blizzard quality standards at the highest level.” However, according to the director operations, constantly churning out new content comes with large team requirements, thus making proper monetization imperative.
Monetization itself has its own challenges, with the Blizzard President noting that he always advises his teams to think about the user experience. Elaborating on that sentiment, Ybarra said he wants players to “feel good” whenever they spend money with Blizzard, no matter the amount.
And while the company has long focused on direct offerings, Blizzard isn’t opposed to returning to traditional publishing models. As for the existing franchise and the accompanying expectations from fans, Blizzard President recently promised that the wait for Diablo 5 will not be as long as Diablo 4 and that the company will also solicit more input from the community. fellow gamers for this product.