Visual China
After Blizzard Games was shut down for more than 100 days, on May 6, 2023, some players found that Blizzard suddenly updated its Chinese client, which was considered to be preparing for the reopening of the national server, and the topic rushed to the Zhihu hot search list.
It is understood that this update is the first large-scale patch of the new version of "World of Warcraft" "Dragon Age", the upgrade package includes the content of the Chinese Simplified version, in addition to the simplified Chinese translation of other Blizzard games such as "Hearthstone" is also being updated simultaneously. But that's just because Blizzard China's localization team is still functioning, and it's still unknown who its new agent is.
When he stopped serving for half a month, Li Peinan won China's first world championship in "StarCraft 2", and the probability of Li Peinan winning the championship given by foreign media was only 0.37%, and the game was gone, but he got the first world championship in 25 years.
Immediately afterwards, Hearthstone's Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports event was cancelled because the project's operation team and server were terminated and no longer had the preconditions for inclusion in the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports event. For professional players who have been training for many years, it is a pity that they missed the opportunity to compete at home.
Hearthstone
At the end of April, NetEase sued Blizzard for the refund of 300 million in arrears, including refunds from national server players and prepaid commission fees, and the two sides fell into a dispute. The largest game acquisition in history, Microsoft's acquisition of Blizzard was opposed by the British antitrust authorities, and whether it can be successfully acquired is still a question mark...
Waiting players are still wandering the world of the internet. The story has been full of pathos since the last night of the shutdown of the national service. A group of players, losing the paradise they spent countless days and nights carefully building, leaving behind a field of chicken feathers.
(Visual China/Photo)
Follow-up to the breakup drama: arrears dispute, acquisition obstruction
"There are still 6 seconds left, and the server is really down." Master Wang, the game anchor of "Hearthstone", paused for a few seconds, and two big words "close" jumped out of the screen, and this final battle came to an abrupt end.
The live broadcast room was quiet, he pursed his mouth, and touched the back of his head with his right hand, stunned. Many fans on the barrage wrote: "tears", "more than ten years of feelings" and "very sad". On the last night, in the live broadcast rooms of major Blizzard games, fans and streamers said goodbye.
Zhongyang, a longtime Hearthstone gamer who was also sitting in front of a screen, recalled that night "was really sad because I didn't know if they would continue to broadcast, and I felt like my familiar friend was going to lose my job." Just like graduating from college or high school, this group may be separating. You know in advance that the moment will come, but suddenly when it snaps and there is no time, you will be very sad and will hope that a miracle will happen. ”
December 24, 2015, Chengdu, Sichuan, citizens watch the theme exhibition of the movie "Warcraft" (Visual China/Photo)
But without miracles, Activision Blizzard's reputation in the country fell to freezing.
On January 23, 2023, NetEase and Blizzard's 14-year cooperation came to an end. Subsequently, NetEase Blizzard game customer service team announced the opening of the refund application channel. At one point, the number of people queuing for refunds exceeded 1 million. Many players have successively said that they have received refunds, and the matter has come to an end.
However, recently, this breakup drama has ushered in a follow-up. Shanghai NetEase Network Technology Development Co., Ltd. filed a lawsuit in Shanghai against Blizzard Entertainment Co., Ltd. for violating a series of license agreements, demanding a refund of 300 million yuan in arrears.
The main reason why NetEase sued Blizzard was because Blizzard refused to bear the refund obligation of national server players, including refunds related to suspended games such as World of Warcraft that NetEase had paid in full, prepayments for inventory of unsold game goods, and prepayment deposits for several undeveloped games.
According to the first financial report, Blizzard said, "Blizzard has not received the relevant complaint at present, but we believe that we have not violated any authorization agreement." NetEase's suspected grievances contract terms involve standard industry practices and have been mutually beneficial to both parties over the years. "A person close to Blizzard said that Blizzard does not believe that the refund received by players before was unilaterally advanced by NetEase." As the operator, NetEase can only refund by them, but it cannot be confused financially, and the money returned to players on NetEase's account is said to be refunded by NetEase, or unilaterally advanced by NetEase. ”
For Blizzard's statement and the controversy, the reporter of "Southern People Weekly" asked NetEase for verification, and the other party said that there was "no response".
July 30, 2021, Shanghai, Blizzard Games booth at ChinaJoy 2023 (Visual China/Photo)
Qian Yinggang, a partner at Jingheng Law Firm, told Southern People Weekly that according to Article 11 of the Notice on Strengthening the Management of Virtual Currency in Online Games, when terminating the service, the online game operation enterprise must refund the user in legal tender or other methods accepted by the user for the virtual currency that the user has purchased but has not yet used. The specific determination of the subject of the refund also needs to be determined comprehensively according to the registration agreement of the game user, payment channel and other methods.
"Assuming that the user registration agreement and payment channel are only related to NetEase, NetEase as an operator is responsible for refunds to players. There is no question of whether to pay in advance, but based on the principle of laws and regulations and the relativity of contracts. Qian Yinggang analyzed, "If NetEase and Blizzard have an agreement, NetEase will bear the responsibility for the refund externally, and then claim responsibility from Blizzard according to the agreement with Blizzard, if Blizzard refuses to pay and refuses to bear the refund part of the funds agreed in it as agreed, it will constitute a breach of contract for NetEase and should bear the liability for breach of contract." ”
On July 18, 2019, during the e-sports show after the closing ceremony of the 2019 WCG World Esports Championship Finals, "Emperor of Humanity" Li Xiaofeng and TH000 Huang Xiang joined hands to perform a 2-on-2 exhibition match with South Korea's "Moon Demon" Moon (Zhang Jae-ho) and WCG2011 Warcraft 3 champion "Beauty Beast King" Lyn (Park Jun) (Visual China/Photo)
Qian Yinggang said that whether NetEase can win the lawsuit depends on how the authorization period or cooperation agreement between NetEase and Blizzard specifically stipulates the authorization period, license rights and obligations, and the player's liability for breach of contract after the suspension of the server. "As for whether there are provisions in the terms of the agreement that are suspected of hindering fair competition and have obvious imbalance of rights and obligations, it needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Too little information has been revealed by both sides at the moment. ”
Blizzard, which is mired in arrears disputes, has not been able to hold hands with Microsoft.
On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced the acquisition of American game company Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. After the acquisition, Microsoft will own 30 game studios, making it the third game company in the world by revenue, after Tencent and Sony.
This is called the largest game merger and acquisition ever, more than Microsoft's net profit of $61.27 billion in 2021.
Several regulators around the world have launched investigations into the deal, which has been approved by six countries including Japan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Serbia and Chile, while the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have not yet approved.
July 31, 2020, Shanghai, Blizzard Games booth at ChinaJoy 2020 (Visual China/Photo)
In late April, the U.K. antitrust authority (CMA) vetoed Microsoft's deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, arguing that when it comes to doing so, it will hurt competition in the cloud gaming space and lead to less innovation and choice for British gamers in the coming years. Microsoft said it remains committed to advancing the acquisition and will appeal. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in an internal email that he was frustrated by the delay and obstruction of the acquisition and would join Microsoft in complaining.
According to Reuters on May 10, people familiar with the matter said that the European Commission may approve the deal next week, and May 15 is the most likely date.
Microsoft's acquisition of Blizzard at a "sky-high price" was once considered one of the triggers for the failure of negotiations between Blizzard and NetEase, and Blizzard tried to sign an unequal contract with NetEase, but was rejected by the latter and the negotiation collapsed.
Rumor has it that Blizzard is extremely demanding on new agents. First, Blizzard requires a further increase in its share ratio from more than 50% of revenue and net profit for the 2019-2022 contract period. Secondly, it is necessary to develop a mobile game for Blizzard for free, turn Blizzard's classic IP mobile game, sign "unpromising binding terms", and pay hundreds of millions of dollars in deposit. Blizzard did not respond to this rumor.
"First of all, the size of this scale of games is not something that any company can take, and there are not many large game companies with this level of game operation experience in China. And also consider whether the specific operating regulations given by Blizzard are acceptable. A game practitioner told Southern People Weekly, "More importantly, China's game market is diversifying, and the opportunities given by the mobile Internet era have also made China's mobile game transformation very successful." The current era is different from the previous era of Blizzard games. ”
February 21, 2023, Brussels, Belgium, Microsoft President Brad Smith speaks on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the future of the gaming industry (Visual China/Photo)
"Some big streamers' traffic dropped by at least 30%"
Zhongyang began playing "Hearthstone" in high school, and he prefers the challenge of Hearthstone to management and strategy than the competitive nature of League of Legends, where game and luck coexist, "Don't eat your reaction and hand speed, and there will be no malicious communication and slander between players." ”
But in recent years, he gradually began to watch live broadcasts, because he found that the game version was updated faster and faster, and the operation level could not keep up with the game process, "You may be very painful and difficult to play by yourself, because if you want to have a good sense of game experience, you need to do a lot of homework, so the angle of watching the battle will be very interesting, you can play your understanding." ”
In addition to their love for the game itself, the personality of Blizzard game streamers is also the key to attracting Zhongyang - they have terriers and have their own style characteristics. Some anchors will even organize some large-scale competitions and make documentaries to expand the boundaries of the game and bring it into the public eye.
"For so many years, they have not been broken in your life, just like friends, forming a kind of dependence, relying on emotional connection." Yang Zhi, the main writer of "E-Sports" magazine, has long observed the game industry, according to his understanding, Blizzard's game anchor is indeed different from other anchors, such as "StarCraft 2" anchor Huang Xudong, everyone watching him live broadcast is like watching Guo Degang say crosstalk, "In fact, everyone is willing to watch what he broadcasts." Most streamers of Blizzard games feel a little bit of this. ”
Why is there such a trait? Yang Zhi analyzed, taking "StarCraft" as an example, it is a very cumbersome game, the threshold is very high, if you can't play it's difficult to understand, and professional anchors can help players immerse themselves in the game. Another point is sentiment, "Blizzard has very few KOLs under each game, but the influence is still quite large." ”
On February 13, 2023, in the StarCraft 2 event at IEM Katowice, China's Oliveira (Li Peinan, formerly ID:TIME) defeated South Korea's Maru 4-1 in the final to win the championship (ESL/Photo)
In addition, some of Blizzard's game streamers have begun to explore more survival paths a few years ago, such as Huang Xudong, who has not completely used StarCraft 2 as the main live broadcast content since 2018. For this type of anchor, the impact of the shutdown of the national server is even smaller, "because for them, if they don't broadcast games, everyone is willing to watch them." So there is influence (among game users), just not as serious as you think. Yang Zhi said.
But this is not the case for all streamers.
Since the news of the suspension of the server was released, the major Blizzard game anchors began a collective lament and farewell, and Zhongyang felt that the feelings of that time were rendered to the extreme. After the sigh of "youth is over", the anchors began to find their own way out.
Several Blizzard game streamers he followed, Andronie delivered food every day as a Meituan rider, and began to update her running orders every day on Weibo. Master Wang began to broadcast goose and duck killings live, and the "elderly activity" began to be used by psychic arts... However, soon after, they all started streaming games on outboards, "The charm of the streamer is part of it, but the game itself is also important." ”
Zhongyang recalled that three or four years forward, many anchors of "Hearthstone" only played Hearthstone, "It's no problem to eat and drink enough." But after the stoppage, few people will "hang themselves from the tree of Hearthstone." The live broadcast industry is very competitive, they strive to attract traffic to major platforms, and the daily live broadcast time can reach 8~10 hours, "maybe 6 hours is to broadcast Hearthstone, and the rest of the time is broadcast something else." ”
Zhongyang observed that the traffic of some big anchors has dropped by at least 30% compared with before, "For example, the number of daily VIPs (viewers who have recharged money in the live broadcast room) of the two head anchors of Spirit Art and Yijin Night Walking may be about 10,000, and it has dropped to 6,000 or 7,000 in a period of time after the closure." Judging by the number of their VIPs, revenue will also decline. Zhongyang mentioned that there are three main types of fans of anchors: ashes, fans who watch the excitement, and new gamers. But those who can stay are often only hardcore players.
"Big anchors are like this, and small anchors are even more (difficult). The recent heat may have retraced a little, but there is still a distance from the peak stage. The player base of Blizzard games is shrinking, and if new blockbuster games appear in the market, the survival of Blizzard game streamers may encounter new challenges. Zhongyang mentioned, "The small anchor may be in the stage of raising the number itself, and once the national service is shut down, it is a very direct blow." A group of new Hearthstone anchors have changed careers, and the impact is obvious. ”
July 31, 2021, Shanghai, 2021 ChinaJoy China International Digital Interactive Entertainment Exhibition, players experience Blizzard games (Visual China/Photo)
The golden age is gone: short and fast is the trend, and games are the epitome
Before the closure, the influence of Blizzard Games in China had shown a downward trend, lacking new blood, and professional players had already begun to lose.
Yang Zhi once wrote the story of "StarCraft 2" professional player MacSed, who needed to frequently participate in various online and offline small competitions, accumulating 100 or 150 prizes each time to barely make ends meet, moving from Shanghai to Chengdu, where the cost of living is lower, "StarCraft 2 players still haven't been able to make a decent living on esports competitions, even if they have reached the top of some domestic competitions." ”
"StarCraft 2's pros have been losing since 2017, and the rest are usually older, because there are no newcomers, and their strength is enough to stay here. "StarCraft 2" does not have too strict professional leagues and systems, and professional players themselves are in a state of semi-loss, want to play a game back to play a dozen, and turn to anchors when they are tired. Because there are no conditions, many clubs slowly do not raise these people. Yang Zhi said.
StarCraft 2
"E-Sports" has previously done social media statistics of domestic e-sports players, and Yang Zhi found that "it is difficult for players of "Interstellar" and "Hearthstone" to compile a list because they have few social accounts, and if they do, they have very few fans." ”
Huang Xudong, one of the founders of Interstellar Old Boy, once said: "We have already died once in 2020. At the time, they thought that spring was coming, but Blizzard suddenly gave a blow to the head, announcing the suspension of the update of paid content of StarCraft 2, although it did not directly pronounce the death sentence, but it also meant that they were on the verge of death.
At that time, the number of online users of StarCraft 2's national server was already 100,000, but it was suddenly suspended at the stage of growth. "One important reason is the departure of Blizzard's former CEO Mike Mohan, who supported the project. So it's hard to say that an era is over by a game itself, but it does carry scratches of that era. Yang Zhi sighed.
In the era of mobile Internet, games are showing a trend of short and fast, China's mobile game market is developing rapidly, and most of Blizzard's products are mostly large-scale game works on the end game, with a high threshold and a lot of time to learn and operate.
Blizzard was synonymous with boutique gaming. "Like World of Warcraft, its internal characters, stories, history, myths and legends are very carefully designed, and the story is also very three-dimensional, which can integrate these things with a thick sense of history, not the kind of product that can quickly become popular with short-term traffic." Zhongyang mentioned.
In 2005, the global users of "World of Warcraft" exceeded 5 million, which can be said to be popular all over the world. Today, Blizzard is still a company that has left a mark on the history of gaming, but its golden age is gone.
"At that time, the domestic game market was barren and barren, and World of Warcraft was basically synonymous with online games. Nowadays, domestic games are slowly diversifying, and the competitiveness of Blizzard, which has stagnated, is definitely not as good as before. Blizzard's games are large, but the activity in terms of anchors and audience ranges is not as active as other big game companies. The younger group is playing in smaller numbers, and Blizzard has lost its most dynamic audience. Zhongyang believes that many games are currently generated quickly to obtain traffic and make money, which is an entertainment product born in the "accelerated society".
World of Warcraft
Yang Zhi also feels that short and fast is a trend, but all of Blizzard's games are actually on the opposite side of this trend, because it must be studied, "It may also come back at another time, if everyone's life is not so hard, when there is a lot of free time, maybe Blizzard's games will become popular again." ”
The StarCraft gaming community is like the last bit of an ideal place reserved for the fragmentation era, but it's a thing of the past. Many players gather here, selflessly dedicating, like a self-governing community.
Yang Zhi sometimes goes to community forums to find information, and will post existing manuscripts that are more professional than the works of people in the industry, and the author of an article can write for 3 months. "You can dive in and make some good content, and the community is willing to wait for you."
Just like that exciting night, Li Peinan stood on the podium of IEM Katowice 2023, the streamers swirled in the air, the lights flashed, and the starry era passed away, and the 23-year-old Chinese boy waited for his trophy.
Southern People Weekly reporter Liu Luming