Items tagged with Blizzard Entertainment
In the last few weeks, Activision-Blizzard leaders have been criticized for the handling, and in some cases enabling, of sexual harassment in the workplace following a California lawsuit. Furthermore, the game development company employees have likened the employee culture to a frat house with a strong “bro culture,” amidst other appalling revelations. Now, these issues have culminated in Blizzard president J. Allen Brack resigning and numerous brand image concerns. This morning, employees of Blizzard Entertainment were notified that J. Allen Brack would be “stepping down as the leader of the studio.” In a post on Blizzard’s website, it is noted that Brack will be...
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A leak has come out ahead of BlizzCon that claims to give some information on the long-anticipated game: Diablo 4. The leak comes from a redditor named PracticalBrush12. However, where the user came by the information is a mystery to us. The leaker claims that Diablo 4 is a giant "wink to Diablo 2 fans." The leak also claims that the game has a dark and gritty tone, a self-referential story, and multiple co-op and PvP combat modes. The story is said to feature the former ally Lilith as the antagonist and to have locations that are toned down from past titles. The leaker says that the environments in the game are more interactive, and they are "infrequently laid with corpses, wasteland, greyish...
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Alphabet's DeepMind has been working on its AlphaStar AI for years to get the AI to be able to beat human players at the popular and challenging video game Starcraft II. The game is one of the most popular esports titles in the world. The game is particularly challenging to humans and specifically to the AI. DeepMind says that Starcraft II has posed a tougher challenge to AlphaStar than games like chess, and other board games, in part because the Starcraft opponent's pieces are often hidden from view. Some professional gamers have conflicting emotions about AlphaStar claiming Grandmaster status in the game. Despite any mixed feelings people have about the AI's new status, DeepMind says that AlphaStar's...
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It has been well over a decade since World of Warcraft (WoW) first burst onto the PC gaming scene, however, the most recent WoW Battle for Azeroth expansion landed back in late 2017. In its heyday, WoW was a massive game with millions of players, and it first crossed the 12 million player threshold in October 2010. Fans of the game will be able to enjoy WoW Classic starting on August 26 in the States. The launch will give players access to the 1.12 version of the game known in its day as the "Drums of War" update. Blizzard Entertainment will be conducting beta and stress tests before the game launches. To get in on the testing of WoW Classic will require players to opt into testing on their account...
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It looks as if Blizzard is trying very hard to shed some employees without having to institute "official" layoffs in some departments. Reports indicate that some very enticing offers have been made in at least one of Blizzard Entertainment's European offices. In Cork, Ireland Blizzard has been offering impressive incentives to get workers in its customer service department to voluntarily leave their positions. The incentive has reportedly been offered on numerous occasions over the last few months. Some anonymous sources claim that workers have taken up to a year's worth of pay to leave Blizzard. Reports also indicate that a large number of workers have taken various incentives, with some...
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After lots of teasing and rumors Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Diablo 3 will be coming to the Nintendo Switch. The specific version of the game landing on the Nintendo console will be the Diablo 3: Eternal Collection. That collection includes the Reaper of Souls and Rise of the Necromancer content add-ons. Blizzard didn’t give up a specific launch date, only stating that the game will land on Switch later this year. Diablo 3: Eternal Collection will sell for $59.99 and buyers will get some other exclusive items only offered in the Nintendo version of the game. All the extras are based on The Legend of Zelda and include a cosmetic armor set that is Ganondorf-inspired seen in...
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For almost as long as video games have been around, players have wanted the ability to play against each other no matter what platform they are on. Xbox players want to fight PC gamers and PS4 gamers and vice versa. The catch is that Sony isn’t into cross-platform action. Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan, who is also the VP of Blizzard Entertainment, has let slip that Overwatch players might gain the ability to share progress between game consoles and PCs. Kaplan said in an interview recently that his team has "frequent and ongoing discussions about" adding that feature. Kaplan also noted that sharing progress between consoles and PC would be "something [the team at Blizzard] would like...
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Blizzard has announced that it is rolling out a new tool for Overwatch players that will allow them to avoid people that make their gameplay experience less than ideal. This less than ideal gameplay can be because the player and you clash and don’t communicate well, or perhaps the player doesn’t meet your expectations for team play and skill. To help you avoid having to deal with this sort of player Blizzard has added a new "Avoid as Teammate" option. If you choose to use the option, the matchmaker won't place you on a team with that player starting with the next match for up to one week. Blizzard writes, "Sometimes you don’t want to play with someone as a teammate because you...
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Before World of Warcraft (WoW), the massively successful MMORPG game, there was Warcraft III. Warcraft III is a game with events set before the events in WoW happened, and has been around for 15 years. Most games that have been around even a fraction of that time are left stale and stagnant with little or no developer support. That lack of dev support typically means no updates, any bugs remain unsquashed, and you certainly don't get any new maps or map updates. That's not how Blizzard rolls and after a decade and a half of availability, Blizzard has added a bunch of overall improvements and new features to Warcraft III. The full list of general improvements and gameplay objectives is listed...
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DeepMind is an offshoot of Google that has scientific mission in mind, with the goal of developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that have the ability to learn to solve complex problems. DeepMind says that meeting that mission requires it to design agents and then test their ability in a range of environments, with some built specifically for testing of AI and others using things built for humans. DeepMind has announced that it has teamed up with Blizzard Entertainment to open the popular video game StarCraft II for AI testing and research. The two firms have released SC2LE, which is described as a set of tools that Blizzard and DeepMind hope will accelerate AI research using the...
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Doomfist, the latest Overwatch character, has made a smashing debut. One professional Overwatch player tested Doomfist out at an exhibition match and wowed the crowd with four quick eliminations. Overwatch player Kim “Libero” Hye Sung of the professional South Korean team “Meta Athena”, recently played Doomfist in a match against “Ardeont”. Libero was quickly able to take out his opponents’ Winston, Genji, Tracer, and Zenyatta with Doomfist’s skills like “Rocket Punch” and “Meteor Strike”. Libero’s savvy use of Doomfist will hopefully encourage other professionals to experiment with the champion. Sombra and Orisa’s professional debuts ended poorly despite the hype prior to their release. Doomfist...
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Overwatch, the team-based multiplayer shooter from Blizzard Entertainment has proven to be an unstoppable force in the industry having now reached the hands of more than 7 million gamers within a week of launch. Many predicted as much once the early beta saw nearly 10 million users. Admittedly, we too have been immovably glued to the game since installing the PC version early last week. It features a wide variety of characters, and play styles, with frenetic-pace gameplay that is easy and intuitive for casual players. Yet Overwatch dishes out plenty of depth and strategy for crafty players who strive at filling specific roles in a team-based setting.That’s us for sure. So after about 100 intense...
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Blizzard has finally lifted on the veil on the upcoming World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and the official information generally confirms and fleshes out the sneak preview from last week. The new expansion will feature the corrupted black dragon Deathwing as its principle villain. Once thought buried in the depths below the fortress of Grim Batol, Deathwing has actually spent years within the earthen Elemental Plane, Deepholm. The Cataclysm itself is caused by Deathwing's ascent and erruption into Azeroth; an event that will create what Blizzard describes as a "festering wound across the continents. The fallen Highborne Queen, Azshara, will also play a role in the new expansion, but Blizzard hasn't...
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