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Mike Morhaime and Paul Sams accept Guinness World Record awards
Apparently there were a few Blizzard blokes at E3 last week, even though we didn't see them wandering the floor at all. Mike Morhaime and Paul Sams were both there to accept their awards for world records from Guinness after making it into the 2009 Gaming edition. World of Warcraft picked up a record for the most popular MMORPG in the world (with, as you probably know, 12 million players), and Starcraft gained recognition for being the best-selling PC strategy game, with 9.5 million copies sold worldwide. Neither of these awards are really that much of a surprise -- both games have already garnered tons of other awards, and both games are already squarely in the pantheon of the best and biggest PC games ever sold. But being recognized is always nice, we're sure.They honored a number of other extremely popular games and services as well, including two big Activision Blizzard titles: Call of Duty 4 was recognized for being the most-played online video game, and Guitar Hero was recognized for being the best-selling rhythm game series (though Red Octane, the game's original publisher, was honored, and they've only recently been acquired by the Activision overlords).Congrats to all the award winners, as if they even needed it. Something tells us the millions and millions of dollars in revenue from all of these games was probably a nicer reward than Guinness recognition. Just a guess.
Blizzard believes fans make their games successful
With E3 2009 officially underway, it's a great time for devs and CEOs to chat about their games and Blizzard's very own Mike Morhaime has been talking about the company's position in the MMO market with Develop. He believes that Blizzard is uniquely positioned within the industry and that it's all about the players:"The story behind us is the passionate community that has grown up around our games," he explains during the interview. "Our commitment to quality has helped us grow a global audience that has grown with every release. While our competitors will be trying to overcome these challenges to grow their brands, we're already a major player there. None have achieved the same level of online growth as World of Warcraft. We're able to leverage huge investments in new content across the world's largest MMO subscriber base."
BlizzCon Flashback: The Panels of BlizzCon 2008
Tickets are sold out for the day, and most of us are probably a little angry, but don't forget! There's another day of ticket sales on the 30th! If you haven't made your decision on whether you want to go or not yet, you're running out of time and it's probably a good time to look back on the BlizzCon that was. BlizzCon 2008 lacked any major World of Warcraft announcements, Blizzard's other franchises stole the spotlight last year, but that doesn't mean WoW wasn't there in spades. Let's take a moment to look back on that, shall we? The Opening CeremoniesBlizzCon 2008 kicked off with the opening ceremonies, hosted by Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. Morhaime delivered many facts and figures about the World of Warcraft at the time (if WoW were a country, it would be the 75th largest in the world), and announced a new class for Diablo III: The Wizard.
Activision conference call: WoW still at 11.5 million subscribers
The OC Register has a great breakdown of what Activision said on their earnings conference call today. Perhaps the biggest WoW-related stat to come out of the call is that the number of subscribers to the game has apparently leveled off: they're holding steady at 11.5 million. Which is nothing to cough at, but it's what we were told four months ago, and if, as Ghostcrawler claimed, the numbers are still going up, then they're going up very, very slowly. Morhaime says that numbers are growing everywhere, but that China will be a main focus of growth this year as Wrath of the Lich King releases there soon.In non-WoW Blizzard news, the Starcraft 2 beta will start this summer and will be the "final" phase of development for that game. The new Battle.net interface will be tested then as well, so keep an eye out for that. And Blizzard expects big things there in China also -- NetEase, the company that will now be handling Wrath's launch, is already set up to run both Diablo III and Starcraft 2 out there, so it'll all be under one umbrella.In short, there's no really bad news from Blizzard, but no really great news either -- the best news to come out of the call is that even in the slow economy lately, Blizzard is holding steady. Not a bad thing at all, but we probably won't see any spikes in player interest in Blizzard or WoW until they announce what's next on the content plate, whether that be at BlizzCon or before.
Bronze Orc statue footage via GametrailersTV
We've already seen pictures of Blizzard's bronze Orc statue finally arriving on their campus courtesy of the OCRegister, but Gametrailers TV has done one better: Video.The clip, while brief, has really been making the rounds through the community. I can see why! Even though it's only a short glimpse, it gives a much better sense of scale than pictures did. It's some fairly heavy duty equipment swinging the pieces of the statue around! It's really a shame that Blizzard (or someone doing it on their behalf) didn't film the whole thing for us to watch, I really would have loved to have seen it. This statue has been hyped up quite a bit for awhile now, it's sort of a shame that the 'ceremony' wasn't very easy for most of us to see.My favorite line about this particular statue came from Mike Morhaime at BlizzCon 08, long before it actually appeared on their campus. I don't remember the exact quote anymore, but he said something to the effect of, 'The statue is going to be cast from solid bronze. Long after all of us are dead, that statue will still be floating around somewhere. Thousands of years from now, an archeologist will dig it up and think to themselves, 'Wow, humans were ugly back then.' Many thanks to everyone that's sent this link in over the last day or so!
Mike Morhaime wins 2008 award from OC* Business Journal
The Orange County Business Journal has awarded none other than Blizzard's own Mike Morhaime with the runner up for their Businessperson of the Year award (the main award went to some CEO of an investment company, much more boring than running a fantasy world full of orcs and elves). The Journal cite's Blizzard's huge successes in a rough financial year as reason for Morhaime's honor.The paper isn't quite completely familiar with what Blizzard does (did you know Diablo III was "released" in June of last year? Don't know why I haven't seen it on store shelves yet!), but there are a few interesting tidbits in there for us, including the fact that WoW was so popular on its original release day that Blizzard had to bring employee copies out to their Fry's to sell them to hungry fans. And Morhaime talks a bit about Blizzard being part of Activision, and reveals the biggest change we've heard of yet since the takeover: "The big difference here is we are one step closer to the public markets. It requires that we spend more time than we used to in educating analysts and investors about Blizzard, where we used to be able to not deal with that side of the business."So hopefully Blizzard's higherups aren't spending too much time trying to sell stock rather than making great games. He does reiterate, however, that Activision has continued to be hands off (especially as long as Blizzard is making so much money for them), so a lot of the things that fans have guessed are Activision influences are probably decisions that Blizzard themselves have already made. Still, success is success -- pretty good for a guy who started out writing test software for Western Digital. Congrats to Morhaime on the award.*Don't call it that.
WoW's Lich King sells record 2.8 million copies in 24 hours
The numbers are in and Blizzard has broken their own record once again. After selling 2.8 million copies in 24 hours, World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, has set the record as the fastest-selling PC game of all time, according to Blizzard. The irony is that the previous record holder was also Blizzard with their first WoW expansion, The Burning Crusade, which sold 2.4 million on the January 2007 launch day.Blizzard's CEO and co-founder, Mike Morhaime, commented on the occasion, "We're grateful for the incredible support that players around the world have continued to show for World of Warcraft." Now the company is setting its sights on breaking the next record of 3.5 million copies sold in the first month; a record also set by The Burning Crusade. At this pace, they should easily break that next week.
Morhaime: "We'd like to be doing regular expansions"
MTV's Multiplayer blog has an interview with Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime (who is apparently sitting pretty with the elven ladies after last week's big expansion launch). He says that he sees no end to the expansions -- Blizzard has told us before that as long as they have ideas (and players), they'll keep making content for this game. He also says that they're happy with the subscription model in the United States -- although we'd imagine that both of those things might get rethought if Blizzard's subscription numbers were going the other way. For now, though, while things are headed up, Morhaime sounds pretty happy with the way things are.Finally, they ask about an iPhone app, and Morhaime says Blizzard is working on connecting mobile devices up to the game, but he also specifically says they're not looking at a stand-alone app. So maybe a mobile version of the Armory? I'd love to see an iPhone app, as we've said before, with mail or auction house functionality, but maybe Blizzard doesn't see the majority of their audience on the iPhone anyway. Then again, their Mac guys always need something to do...
Blizzard has no plans to change World of Warcraft's subscription rate
In another chat with MTV's Tracey John, this time held in an NYC Best Buy during the Wrath of the Lich King launch, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime had some interesting things to say about the economics behind World of Warcraft. Despite the game's towering success, 11 million players and a thriving community, the Blizzard folk have no plans to change the way they charge US customers. John ties this in with the recent announcement of plans for a subscription-based Guitar Hero series, something Morhaime says Blizzard had nothing to do with.He goes on to note something MMO players have long used as a talking point for their hobby: the extremely low rate of cost for content. "If you look at other choices that you can make - like going to a movie with a date - you've already over 15 dollars for two hours. I think that players really see that in terms of value for their entertainment, that this the best value that they can find right now." The CEO states that so far the company hasn't been affected by the country's economic downturn, and they have hopes they won't see any problems moving into the winter months. Click through to read the full interview, which touches on the company's enthusiasm for their new expansion and their plans for future content expansions to WoW.
Blizzard execs haven't played Wrath as yet
Last night was generally a time for merriment and revelry, as many World of Warcraft players talked in lines around the world about just what they were going to do when they first got into game. Would it be the frozen tundra of Northrend, with new races and achievements by the score? Or would they instead be starting a new character and heading for Arthas' floating Necropolis? Surprisingly, among two of the people discussing just what they'd be doing in the strange new lands that Blizzard built were two of Blizzard's very own co-founders; Mike Morhaime, Blizzard's CEO, and Frank Pearce, Blizzard's Executive VP of Product Development. MTV's Multiplayer blog had a launch-night chat with with both Morhaime and Pearce, and discovered neither one of them has really played through the Wrath content as yet. As if that weren't strange enough, it would appear that both men really haven't thought about rolling a Death Knight - or for that matter, what they'd name theirs if they do. We know people who weren't in beta that have planned talent trees, gear progression and more for their Death Knights, so drawing a blank on a good name seems a bit strange to us. Of course, Pearce's reasoning for not going Death Knight is one many World of Warcraft players can likely relate to; he doesn't want to get left behind on his main by his guild, as he was when Burning Crusade launched. But Morhaime, well, we'll have to cut him slack for being the CEO of a company making oodles of money and in heavy development and marketing cycles between Wrath, StarCraft II and Diablo III. Our suggestion would be to take a few well-deserved days off and enjoy some gaming; we hear there's this really popular new MMO expansion just came out that they might enjoy.
Looking to leave World of Warcraft? Good luck!
If you're playing World of Warcraft right now, odds apparently are that you'll be doing that for some time to come. That's the word straight from sister site Joystiq, which listened in on the Activision/Blizzard financials conference call earlier this week. In speaking to the assembled business-types Blizzard President Mike Morhaime reiterated earlier statements, saying something like 70% of folks who left WoW for Age of Conan are already back. Of the players that left the game for Warhammer Online, almost 50% of them have already returned to the Azerothian fold. Mark Jacobs may have pooh-pooh'd Blizzard claims (on more than one occassion) but anecdotally it certainly seems like Shattrath has been a busy place in the last few weeks. These numbers, of course, are all in advance of Wrath of the Lich King's launch next week. Analysts see Wrath of the Lich King garnering a whole new wave of attention to the game, and within the next few weeks we could see announcements of even more individuals signing into Blizzard's juggernaut of a title.
Blizzard: Next MMO won't be WoW 2
Go ahead a strike the possibility of a World of Warcraft 2 off your list of possible next-gen Blizzard MMOs because it's officially not happening. In an interview with Wired, Blizzard's recently talkative Mike Morhaime flat out said that their next MMO project isn't a sequel to their first. Of course, he wouldn't divulge exactly what it was either or this would be an entirely different sort of news post.With this news, the odds for a StarCraft or Diablo MMO go up, but so do the odds for an entirely new IP as well. We're sure the guessing game will continue for quite some time before Blizzard tips their hand to everyone. At least the mystery will offer all of us something to do for the next few years while we wait for other unannounced super-secret games to be revealed in the meantime.
The Daily Grind: What could (and should) Blizzard's next-gen MMO be?
Blizzard's been talking about new MMOs as of late. Mike Morhaime told gamesindustry.biz about the challenges of launching a new game, and Jeff Kaplan dropped a few hints about the next-gen MMO that the company's been developing for a while now.Kaplan hinted that the new game will hit consoles, and answered "all of the above" when asked if the genre would be sci-fi, fantasy, or historical. What impression does that give you, readers? Is it a totally new IP? If so, what do you think Blizz will try to do? And just as importantly -- what do you want them to do? What are you looking for in the next Blizzard MMO? World of Starcraft, or something completely different?
Blizzard comments on new MMO launch issues and WoW expansion schedules
Blizzard's Mike Morhaime feels that companies new to the MMO genre underestimate the challenges of launching a new game into the market, according to an interview with gamesindustry.biz. Morhaime's specifically says, "I think everyone who hasn't done it will probably underestimate the logistics behind it - we certainly did," He continues to lay out his reasoning, citing such factors as scaling everything up quickly, multiple languages, 24/7 services and maintaining internal developer support all at the same time.Morhaime also mentions the once trumpeted yearly release schedule for Word of Warcraft expansions, saying, "Right now we're on the longer than a year plan." The news is unfortunate for anyone hoping to see another expansion released by the same time next year, but Morhaime assures fans that it will be worth the wait. We certainly hope so with developers like Turbine and Mythic who've had past experience getting quality expansions out on a regular beat biting at Blizzard's heels.
Breakfast Topic: What would you whisper into Mike Morhaime's ear?
You walk into the Anaheim Convention Center, the lights are low and the mist is criss crossing the floor with patterns shining all around the venue. To your left and right are some your best friends from your guild who have joined you at BlizzCon 2008. Looking forward you spot an unassuming yet influential man in jeans and a black and blue Blizzard shirt. You're gazing upon none other than Mike Morhaime, the president and co-founder of Blizzard. With a grin on your face you tell your guildies you'll be right back. You walk up to Mike and wink at him. Leaning to his ear you being to whisper...If you could whisper anything in the ear of Mike Morihame, what would it be?And be creative. I hear that they read the site...
BlizzCon Roundup: Day 1
Whew. What a dizzying first day that was, wasn't it? Ok, well, I wouldn't know myself since I'm halfway across the world, but judging from the conference hangovers my colleagues have got, it's safe to say it was one whirlwind of an opening. If you weren't here yesterday to watch -- er, read -- the play-by-play, here's a quick recap of BlizzCon '08 Day One: Our tenacious guys at BlizzCon liveblogged the opening ceremonies, although nothing really spectacular happened here other than the announcement of the Wizard, a hot new class for Diablo III. It was mostly trailers, recaps, and a reminder for everyone that something historic will happen in November. And it's not the elections. Mike gave us all a preview of the people milling about in costume earlier in the day, but that was just a preview for the totally phenomenal costume contest this year. While past years have been pretty cool, this year's crop blew all the past ones out of the water. You'll have to check out the gallery for yourself to see what I mean. Can you imagine a turtle mount? Yes. A turtle mount. Krystalle snapped quite a bunch of shots from the convention floor just to give everyone an idea of how BlizzCon feels. Looking through the general floor gallery, it almost felt like I was there. Minus the trademark convention smell, I presume, and the sad inability to purchase any of the cool swag. The first World of Warcraft panel of the day dealt with the game's UI. It's pretty cool and was a proper teaser for the even cooler things that would pop up later in the day. Our man Alex did the liveblogging duties for this one. Itemrack will have to wait, unfortunately. More stuff from yesterday after the jump!
BlizzCon press conference with Mike Morhaime
Mike Morhaime held a press conference earlier this afternoon, which WoW Insider was able to attend. I arrived a little late since it started before I finished up the UI panel liveblog, but I managed to catch a majority of the Q&A. Unlike the various panels, most of these questions were aimed at the philosophy and business model at Blizzard. How they've operated in the past, and how they'll operate in the future.BlizzCon itself came up a lot throughout the conference, the big question being will this BlizzCon be a letdown? There haven't been any major announcements. Announcements, sure, but nothing on the scale of Starcraft II or Diablo III. Mike Morhaime actually seemed most excited about this particular BlizzCon, because it isn't just showcasing one game. All three of their primary franchises have something new on the way, and fans of all of those games are in attendance. Beyond that, he believes the community is extremely important, and gatherings like BlizzCon are important as well. Blizzard themselves were blown away by just how many people were trying to attend the convention this time around. The number of hopefuls completely dwarfed both last year's BlizzCon and the more recent Worldwide Invitational. Will BlizzCon continue to be an annual event? Maybe. They'll focus on this weekend first, and then they'll start talking about next year once it's through.What I found most interesting, though? Morhaime was asked what the most unusual, off the wall concepts they had for a game that simply did not work out. He mentioned a game titled Nomad that Blizzard was developing after Starcraft was first released. A game they had never mentioned or announced until now. It was a post-apocalyptic style setting, but each day they sat down to work on it, it was with a little trepidation. Eventually they asked themselves, "If we were going to work on just one project today, would it be Nomad or would it be something else?" They went with something else. That something else was World of Warcraft.
BlizzCon 2008: Opening ceremonies liveblog
10:55am: Waiting anxiously for the show to begin. The crowd is excited and ready for a big announcement. WoW movie announcement? Mobile game announcement? Your guess is as good as mine.More after the jump.Update: It's over, and the only real announcement we heard was that Diablo 3 has a new class: the Wizard. Stay tuned all day for more news from BlizzCon, including the WoW UI/Addons panel, a classes panel (always fun), and lots of news from the show floor. And have you seen the costume gallery yet?
Who's who at BlizzCon: WoW Insider's guide to the staff of Blizzard
Everyone going to BlizzCon this year will get to roam around the convention hall with some of the very people who bring you World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games. While many World of Warcraft fans might be familiar with the online pseudonyms such as "Drysc" and "Tigole," very few probably know what they actually look like.We've searched the internet high and low for pictures of these folks and have compiled them into a nice and handy gallery complete with some biographical information. The pictures are small and mobile enough that they can be saved to an iPhone or other mobile device that can be brought into the convention hall.If you happen to be going to BlizzCon be sure to stop and say hello to these Blizzard people. And if you aren't going, check out WoW Insider during the convention for the latest and greatest reporting right from the floor.%Gallery-33827%
Bobby Kotick talks about what Blizzard can do for Activision
The Wall Street Journal sat down to interview Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, and our little World of Warcraft game got a nice bit of face time (one wonders why no one's asking Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime about, say, Guitar Hero, but who are we to question the corporate structure?). Kotick says that Activision closely examined what everyone else was doing with MMOs and online gaming, and saw that the only real winner in the market was Blizzard. Rather than investing in their own franchise, then, they decided to just buy Blizzard from Vivendi (and as you know, that's what happened). Kotick says what's so difficult about running these online games is just the scale -- you've got to handle credit card fraud, keep thousands of servers up and running (and patched), and still provide a good experience for millions of players at a time.Kotick also talks about the way that WoW is sold in Asia (there, instead of paying a monthly fee, many people in Internet cafes pay per hour in cash), and says that Blizzard's experience with setting up a viable pay model may come in handy with other Activision properties overseas, Guitar Hero being his first choice.We're still not exactly clear on how all of this relationship works -- while both Blizzard and Activision have said in the past that it's hands off, you have to think that even though things are buddy-buddy now while the money's flowing, but what happens when the two sides start to disagree?
