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Blizzard

If there’s been a running theme in 2018, it’s that most developers and publishers and positively fleeing from any kind of monetization system that will bring them any measure of controversy. In hindsight, 2017 now feels like the year things were pushed too far, and now 2018 is a course correction.

Ubisoft now sells nothing but cosmetics and tiny boosts in its single player games like Assassin’s Creed Origins and Far Cry 5, and they’re incredibly easy to avoid. EA essentially went on an apology tour about 2017 at E3 this year, promising no more pay-to-win, no more loot boxes in upcoming games like Anthem, and those things (and pricey season passes) no longer exist in series like Battlefront. Some of the biggest hits of 2018 have really not been monetized at all (God of War) or just barely (Monster Hunter). The biggest game in the world right now, Fortnite, has a monetization system (the battle pass) that draws almost no criticism from its fanbase, as it doesn’t lock away game content, or dole out rewards in loot box randomization.

And then there’s Activision Blizzard.

The largest publisher in the world, Activision Blizzard has been able to dodge some of the more major controversies regarding industry monetization, and as a result, changed practically nothing about the way they monetize their biggest titles. But now with all these other publishers very publicly turning over a new leaf, there are few companies to focus on other than them, and looking over its line-up, it feels pretty weird in this day and age.

While other companies have exceptions to this new era of “non-terrible” monetiation (EA and FIFA), it’s different with Activision, since it runs the full list of their most popular series.

Blizzard

Overwatch , the original purveyor of the modern age of loot boxes, still has them. And they’re still even called “loot boxes,” which is almost jarring to see in this age of battle crates, hero crystals and all other stand-ins for the terms. Overwatch still throws events where they dump 100+ new items and skins into loot boxes for players to grind out or buy. The most major concession the game has made is to eliminate legendary duplicates, thereby making the process a little less frustrating.

, the original purveyor of the modern age of loot boxes, still has them. And they’re still even called “loot boxes,” which is almost jarring to see in this age of battle crates, hero crystals and all other stand-ins for the terms. Overwatch still throws events where they dump 100+ new items and skins into loot boxes for players to grind out or buy. The most major concession the game has made is to eliminate legendary duplicates, thereby making the process a little less frustrating. Hearthstone ’s entire business model is literally just loot boxes, though in the form of card packs, the original loot boxes. Granted in the CCG space, this is not unusual and simply how it works, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of Blizzard’s biggest titles and it relies on selling millions of what are essentially loot boxes each expansion. Again, legendary drops were bumped up a bit after fan complaints, but that was it.

’s entire business model is literally just loot boxes, though in the form of card packs, the original loot boxes. Granted in the CCG space, this is not unusual and simply how it works, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of Blizzard’s biggest titles and it relies on selling millions of what are essentially loot boxes each expansion. Again, legendary drops were bumped up a bit after fan complaints, but that was it. Heroes of the Storm also now has loot boxes these days, despite originally being a League of Legends model where it just sold skins. It’s far from Blizzard’s biggest game, but has loot boxes all the same.

also now has loot boxes these days, despite originally being a League of Legends model where it just sold skins. It’s far from Blizzard’s biggest game, but has loot boxes all the same. Starcraft and Diablo were two of Blizzard’s biggest series, but also the hardest to monetize after launch. I don’t think it’s a huge coincidence that those series have all but disappeared as a result.

were two of Blizzard’s biggest series, but also the hardest to monetize after launch. I don’t think it’s a huge coincidence that those series have all but disappeared as a result. Destiny is still stumbling into microtransaction controversies to this day, the latest being the game selling an Iron Banner ornament players can’t earn in the game. But the fact remains that it still essentially has a season pass and pricey expansions that players must buy to keep up with the game, and this is opposed to say, The Division 2 announcing that all its year one DLC is going to be free. Destiny also still has loot boxes in the form of Bright Engrams. They’ve changed how those work during holidays, and they’ve added more cosmetics to the game’s regular “earned” loot pool, and yet they’re still a huge part of the game’s economy all the same.

is still stumbling into microtransaction controversies to this day, the latest being the game selling an Iron Banner ornament players can’t earn in the game. But the fact remains that it still essentially has a season pass and pricey expansions that players must buy to keep up with the game, and this is opposed to say, The Division 2 announcing that all its year one DLC is going to be free. Destiny also still has loot boxes in the form of Bright Engrams. They’ve changed how those work during holidays, and they’ve added more cosmetics to the game’s regular “earned” loot pool, and yet they’re still a huge part of the game’s economy all the same. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has a pricey season pass that essentially makes the game cost $100, because you cannot buy separate pieces of it. If you want any of the DLC content, it is mandatory you buy all of it, and now even certain modes (Classified Zombies) are being tucked into the season pass. While we don’t know this for sure yet (I don’t believe), it also stands to reason that at the very least, BO4 will also have cosmetic loot boxes like WWII

Activision

You see my point here. Activision is making pretty much no effort to change its ways, other than minor alterations to these systems. It flies in the face of pretty much the direction of the entire rest of the industry, but the company is such a market leader, it can kind of do whatever it wants. If they can avoid a huge blunder like what happened with EA and Battlefront 2, there’s really no reason to change because the outrage simply isn’t loud enough. Overwatch and Hearthstone players don’t really complain about the loot boxes that make up their game. Call of Duty players buy the game no matter what happens post-launch. Destiny players complain about everything, so issues with monetization just feel like more noise.

I’m not demanding that Activision change. It just think it’s interesting to point out that Activision is “getting away” with this in an era when so many other publishers have had to bend over backward to try and change their monetization plans going forward. Will Activision Blizzard ever have to move on from their old models? Perhaps, but that time has not yet come.

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