100°

How Blizzard’s Aversion to Revealing Drop Rates From Loot Boxes is Affecting the Industry

Is Blizzard another Ubisoft or EA of the day? Finding means to prevent players from knowing the real drop rates so that they can continue to rake in cash?

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indiannoob.in
Uken122500d ago

Blizzard/Activision are known for this crap. It makes it so you have to "Pay to Win". Or if you want to collect a bunch of stuff you have to pay for it. Destiny is infamous for ripping people off with the drop rate. It's just a way to rip people off and get free money.

Summons752499d ago

Destiny had bad drop rates but the only MT were for dances, all cosmetic. Overwatch is the one in question and it's only because Activision is a greedy company. It doesn't solve the problem but the 3/week plus leveling helps the loot box problem and you don't need to spend a dime.

Princess_Pilfer2499d ago

You don't "need" to spend a dime, but they deliberately set up a grindy BS RNG system with incredibly bad drop rates specifically to attempt to bully people into spending money.

Summons752499d ago

@Princess_Pilfer
and if you are that weak and irresponsible then YOU are the problem but no one is holding a gun to your head for a costume. It doesn't affect gameplay so it doesn't matter when you get it.

Princess_Pilfer2499d ago

1: Yeah, it does effect gameplay. It doesn't change the mechanics, but if it didn't impact peoples experience then they wouldn't be after the things.

2: I don't buy them. I don't buy games that have them because I refuse to support that BS.

3: That's not how it works. You can say "it's all on the player" all you want, that doesn't change that the entire system is deliberately designed to frustrate people into buying their stupid boxes, and it's exploitative nonesense that shouldn't be supported in any way.

Uken122499d ago

Yeah I agree with Princess_Pilfer on.

It's just a shady practice and it does effect the experience of the game. And you won't necessarily get the stuff. Also there are RNG in items you purchase with real money, which is ridiculous. Why not allow the player to choose the actual items?
Also grinding isn't always fun, hence the term grinding. And it can ruin the experience of the game if I have to always grind for a small item that is cosmetic. Especially when a game is all about your customized character.
And then it leads to the hours spent grinding are a waste when I can spend money and skip the horrible grind. It's a BS cash grab tactic and dirty business. It allows companies to screw people over.

Summons752499d ago

@Princess_Pilfer
Your first point only proves you have no idea what you are talking about. "Yeah, it does effect gameplay." Oh really? Because I'm pretty sure changing skins doesn't make Widowmaker better at headshots or Reinhardt's shield last longer, or make any characters Ult. charge faster. It doesn't affect ANYTHING mechanically. If you don't buy them why are you crying so much about it? Just shut up and stop wanting everything handed to you. The only people who buy it are those who have the money to spend on it or are just irresponsible. It doesn't affect you, it's not affecting the game.

Princess_Pilfer2498d ago

I JUST SAID it doesn't change the mechanics, and then told you that doesn't mean it doesn't impact the experience. someone repeatedly hitting you with a balloon doesn't impact the mechanics of a game either but it still changes the experience. Maybe argue against my point instead of repeating yourself and pretending it's a counter point.

Yeah, it does have an effect on me. There are lots of games I'd love to play that I won't because of that. There are a few games I bought before I adopted this policy where the grind is even more frustrating than grind can be under normal circumstances because I know it's only there to try to force me to spend money to buy something that's already in the damn game.

I don't want things handed to me, that's a strawman. I want games to stop attempting to charge me for pieces of them that they made stupidly hard to get *just* to make people pay for it. I play MMOs. I spend months doing the same hard ass raids twice a week to get the gear I need. I'm perfectly willing to work to get what I want in a game.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 2498d ago
joab7772499d ago

Blizzard has the leverage. Why? Because we want the product they make. So much so that we are willing to shell out $60 for a mp only game with microtransactions. Why on earth would they reveal this info when we are handing them money hand over fist? If the problem gets bad enough that it begins to effect the bottom line, they will adjust their policies. But the impetus remains in us as consumers.

bluefox7552499d ago (Edited 2499d ago )

Agreed. We have no one to blame but ourselves for these sort of things.

Princess_Pilfer2499d ago

Way ahead of you. I don't buy games with microtransactions of any kind, under any circumstances, and I wait at least 2 weeks before buying anything so publishers can't sneak them in after most of the reviews are out to stop them being in game decreasing sales.

At least regular microtransactions people can actually buy the thing they want. This fucking paid loot box thing needs to go. It should be illegal.

Muadiib2498d ago

Hence why I didn't buy that crap.

220°

Former Deviation Games Devs Have Formed A New Studio At PlayStation To Work On A New IP

Former Deviation Games developers have formed a new studio at Sony Interactive Entertainment in order to work on a brand new PlayStation IP.

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twistedvoxel.com
Tacoboto14h ago

Well that's an awesome and very surprising turnaround. Cheers to the new studio and what they'll build!

RaidenBlack11h ago

Likely to continue their FPS project

isarai10h ago

That's..... confusing, so shut down but just reformed and same employer 🤔 sounds like pretty much what happened to Japan Studio basically just being rebranded as Asobi

ocelot079h ago

It is odd one I don't know how business deals work or the law of that kind of stuff. But is it possible Sony reached out and said hey we want you apart of Sony but don't want to purchase you for what ever reason. How about use disband and we will open a studio and hire you guys type of thing. Is that even possible?

isarai9h ago

Maybe it's to void/bypass some contract? I have no clue

VersusDMC5h ago(Edited 5h ago)

I guess the deviation team fell apart and didn't deliver good progress on what they pitched (they overhyped themselves when the team was announced)so Sony shut them down. They regrouped with a new team and a new pitch so Sony is giving them another shot.

And this time they are keeping it quiet to keep pressure down on the team. So people aren't asking everyday what deviation(or whatever the new team is called) is doing.

Edit: Also Sony never owned them. They just ended their partnership with them. Deviation decided to close on their own.

outsider16244h ago

Good point. You know, i was thinking of Days Gone too. They pitch an idea to Sony for Days Gone 2 but Sony didnt like it do they scrapped the whole thing. Maybe if a good pitch came by...they'd reconsider it.

isarai3h ago

That makes a bit more sense

lodossrage3h ago

To be fair, Sony didn't shut them down. Devation was independent. Sony pulled funding on the project they were working on. As a result, they couldn't run so Devation decided to close on their own.

roboteye4h ago

If this was MS they'd be gone.

Goodguy014h ago

Maybe make a smaller game this time?

Elda4h ago

Good for them that they were able to work it out. Hopefully they're developing something interesting.

Rainbowcookie3h ago

I think Sony is thinking long term as a replacement for Call of Duty M$ edition.

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240°

More Job Losses At Xbox, “There’s More To Come”: Paul Thurrott

Paul Thurrott in a recent episode commented on the on-going Microsoft fiasco hinting at more job losses and that "there's more to come".

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spieltimes.com
Sonic188111h ago(Edited 11h ago)

There won't be no more acquiring game publishers from Microsoft in the future . Xbox has to pay Microsoft back. It might take two decades to do that.

sagapo7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

I don’t understand what you’re saying. Xbox IS microsoft so there’s no “paying back “.
And MS gross profit in 2023 was over 140 billion dollars so forget your 2 decades.

Unless you mean the money MS invested in Xbox (acquisitions included) and the time it will take for xbox as a brand to gain that money back on it’s own, then yeah, that could take a while.

romulus231h ago

The better term to use might be return on investment, xbox is simply a division of Microsoft one that MS can easily do away with if profit margins are not met. So in that regard he's right, if xbox isn't showing the expected return on investment the higher ups are expecting than it's unlikely Microsoft will acquire any other studios any time soon, especially if they are spending billions buying developers just to shut them down in the end.

SonyStyled7h ago

“There won't be no more acquiring game publishers from Microsoft in the future”

No bro, there do be is for Microsoft not acquiring for what is now if not what it be is 😂

Ms3tjt5h ago

“ Xbox has to pay Microsoft back. ”

Aka

“I don’t know how business works”

Domkakop3h ago

You might need to take a good hard look in the mirror

Ms3tjt3h ago

Yeah I forgot Xbox is separate from Microsoft and Xbox borrowed the 69bn from Microsoft, and Microsoft didn’t get COD, Candy crush etc in return 😂😂👏

jwillj2k410h ago

There really needs to be a class action lawsuit here. You buy these companies just to put people out of jobs. And it’s not like something happened to derail their plans this WAS the plan. Microsoft has no business in this space at all.

franwex10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Microsoft has been doing this for years. They simply want the IPs. Look at Nokia. Look at Skype. This time it simply expanded to games. Gaming is not as important to Microsoft’s executives as it was to the founders too. Bill Gates was willing to sell the og Xbox at a loss. Steve Balmer approved the red ring of death fiasco. This CEO isn’t really a gamer.

-Foxtrot9h ago

Maybe it's time though to put a stop to it and use a big giant like Microsoft as a huge example to the rest of these big companies.

There has to be a line drawn somewhere.

People like the FTC and the like went against Microsoft yet their Actvision deal was still allowed to go through yet look what's happened...it's not even Acitivisions studios aswell, it's Bethesdas.

RNTody10h ago

Ninja Theory, Perfect Dark, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Wolfenstein 3, Dishonored, Prey, Doom, Quake... something tells me that bad things are going to happen to these entities under Microsoft.

anast9h ago

Good thing the bosses of all those small studios made their money.

glenn19798h ago

they cant do it right now they will get burned

XiNatsuDragnel41m ago

Phil and his team need to be gone

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160°

Xbox No Longer Has Its Head In The Game

Microsoft & Xbox have shut down Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks to lay off more workers, insinuating that they're not in the game anymore.

XiNatsuDragnel18h ago

They're headless for a long time because closing tango isn't exactly a good move

1Victor14h ago

“Acquisitions always come with cuts”

343 trillion points shield activated
343 trillion percent damage negate activated
All damage reduced to 1 for 343 trillion turns.
MICROSOFT DEFENSE FORCE IS A GO

Tacoboto14h ago

Especially for Microsoft, when Booty pretty much said they didn't know how to handle that many studios.

Why even make the acquisition then.

-Foxtrot13h ago

Didn’t they make the swipe for Bethesda when Sony wanted like 6 months exclusiveness for Starfield

It’s like…chill, you got Rise of the Tomb Raider for a year.

romulus2312h ago

Do they always come with senseless cuts becasue that's exactly what cutting Tango was, senseless.

H914h ago

Everyone's acting now that game companies care about games and Xbox is committing the Ultimate betrayal, they are all like this and you have just been quiet about it for far too long

Nuclearmoon13h ago

I wonder if Microsoft do pull out of the console market that it might open the door for valve to relaunch the Steambox. Competition is good for the industry but Microsoft don't even seem to be trying anymore.

UltimateOwnage9h ago

Steam / Valve are one of the few truly pro-consumer bright spots in gaming right now. Thankfully.

jwillj2k412h ago(Edited 12h ago)

“Your game has won some pretty significant awards and is a show piece for where we want to go in the future.”

1 hour later.

“We’re gonna have to let you go. You can’t cover our 100 billion dollar acquisition. Oh and take your awards too 👍🏾”

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