Tag Archives: blizzard

The competition and market regulators are still evaluating Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard. While it seemed like things were trending towards the acquisition being blocked, sources this week have claimed that the EU is actually now planning to approve the deal. 

A few weeks ago, Diablo 4 producer, Rod Fergusson, made it clear on Twitter that an open beta announcement would be happening soon. Many of us anticipated that this would line up with IGN Fan Fest over the weekend and that turned out to be exactly right. During IGN's stream, …

Documents from the CMA's investigation into the Microsoft-Activision merger have been made public for a while and plenty have found interesting details within them. Most recently, a line in one of the documents shows Microsoft confirming that titles on Game Pass do lose a non-disclosed percentage of sales while on …

Activision Blizzard found itself in a pit of controversy two years ago, with anger against leadership and CEO, Bobby Kotick, leading to lawsuits and employee walkouts. Many who support Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard are hoping to see new leadership at the publisher, but if the acquisition fails, it looks …

As anticipated, the UK's Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed that it believes Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard would harm the UK market. The CMA confirmed its concerns in documents released today, but it has also sent a list of potential remedies to Microsoft.  The CMA has concluded …

We've learned through numerous leaks that Blizzard has been holding an ongoing private beta for Diablo IV in recent months. Now, it seems that a public beta will be taking place soon, giving us a chance to play the game early ahead of its June release.  Diablo IV Producer, Rod …

One of the biggest changes between Overwatch 1 and its successor is the fact that Overwatch 2 was announced to be getting a campaign mode for the first time. Unfortunately, this campaign didn’t launch with OW2 in 2022, with the team revealing it will instead be released “gradually” starting later …

At its heart, Overwatch 2 is a hero shooter with a few core game modes. That said, thanks to seasonal events we see the team at Blizzard flex their creative muscles just a bit by including new and varied limited-time game modes. Starting from tomorrow, players will be able to …

Activision Blizzard recently announced its June 2023 launch date for Diablo 4 and the game is now available for pre-order with a number of editions to choose from. There's just one glaring problem with Diablo 4's collector's edition – it doesn't include the game.   While the Digital Deluxe and Ultimate …

The last week has been a rollercoaster for the gaming industry, as Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has continued to make headlines. A few weeks ago it was reported that the FTC would sue to block the deal, but then a subsequent report claimed that the panel scrutinising the …

Recently, it was reported that the FTC is considering filing a lawsuit to block Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In the days that followed, Microsoft reportedly offered Sony a ten-year deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation and is planning to make formal concessions in order to get …

Politico previously reported that the EU would enter a phase 2 investigation into the Xbox Activision-Blizzard merger. Now, the site is reporting that the FTC is planning on filing a lawsuit against Microsoft to block the merger.  The FTC has been stricter on anti-trust cases recently. The commission previously filed …

Blizzard has had a long-term partnership with NetEase to allow its games to operate in China. Unfortunately, a dispute between the two companies has come to light, and as a result, their licensing deal will be coming to an end and the majority of Blizzard games will be pulled from …

During October, Blizzard had to make changes to two Overwatch 2 heroes due to bugs, taking Bastion and Torbjorn out of the roster. To kick off November, Mei was disabled due to another bug. While Blizzard planned to bring Mei back this week, the fix has been delayed.  Mei, a …

Blizzard made the controversial choice last month to depreciate the original Overwatch, completely replacing it with the free-to-play Overwatch 2. While opinions on the game itself remain mixed, Overwatch 2 has had an impressive first month commercially, with more than 35 million players flocking to the game. As part of …

We've known for some time that Blizzard is planning to launch Diablo IV in 2023, but exactly when is still a mystery. According to a new leak over the weekend, it'll be much earlier in the year than anticipated.  According to sources speaking with Windows Central, Blizzard is planning to …

Overwatch 2 has been out for roughly one month at this point and we've already seen a couple of heroes disabled in-game due to bugs. Just recently, Bastion finally returned after weeks of being out of the game. unfortunately, now another character is being disabled for a period of time.  …

If Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal does go through in 2023, many of us were expecting to see Call of Duty heading straight to Xbox Game Pass. However, it may take a little longer for the flagship franchise to hit Microsoft's gaming subscription service.  Microsoft is facing an unexpected level of …

Overwatch 2 has had a rough launch to say the least. Multiple issues have come into play over the last 10 days, but still, that hasn’t stopped the sequel from being a massive success.  This week, Blizzard announced that over 25 million players logged into Overwatch since launch. In addition …

Overwatch 2's launch issues have been well-documented at this point. The game's initial days live were hampered by DDOS attacks, connectivity issues and long log-in queues. The past week has seen more issues, forcing some heroes to be taken offline for maintenance, and now, an errant PC bug is causing …

We've seen a number of companies comment on Microsoft's pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard in recent months. The loudest voice in the room has been Sony, but we've also seen quotes from companies like Ubisoft, WB, Riot and others. Recently in an interview, Take-Two CEO, Stauss Zelnick, added his take …

Overwatch 2 has had its fair share of issues since its launch. Player demand on day one, in addition to a DDOS attack effectively locked thousands of players out of the game for long stretches during the first week. Now, Blizzard has had to take two heroes offline for emergency …

Overwatch 2 did not have the smooth launch that Blizzard was hoping for. A mix of high player numbers and a DDOS attack led to service outages, with many struggling to get into the game. In addition, Overwatch 2 also began requiring a phone number, both for additional security via …

Last night's Overwatch 2 launch did not go as smoothly as Blizzard would have hoped. While we've seen connection issues or long log-in queues with other Blizzard launches, in the case of Overwatch 2, it appears the situation was spurred by a mass DDOS attack.  According to Blizzard President, Mike …

Overwatch is now officially dead, with the original game shutting down for good earlier this week. Later today, it will be replaced by Overwatch 2, which is having a global launch later today. We've gathered all the unlock times for each time zone for those looking to jump into the …

Blizzard has been making good progress with Diablo 4 this year. Not only did we finally get a gameplay trailer back at E3, but the development team has also been posting monthly updates on the game's progress. This month, the company announced the first ‘public' Diablo 4 beta, and the …

Blizzard has made some questionable decisions with Overwatch 2. The sequel will completely replace the original next week, ushering in a new age of battle passes, 5v5 gameplay and character grinding. We already know that players will have to unlock new heroes by levelling the in-game battle pass, but newcomers …

In recent weeks, PlayStation head, Jim Ryan, has made several statements in an effort to sway regulators against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, claiming the deal would have “major negative implications” for the entire games industry. Now, Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, is getting involved with one simple message – “if …

Blizzard has been making good progress with Diablo 4 this year. Not only did we finally get a gameplay trailer back at E3, but the development team has also been posting monthly updates on the game's progress. In the latest update, Blizzard set out plans for Diablo 4's beta.  We've …

The past weekend has been massive for gaming leaks. First, an hour of pre-alpha Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay leaked online, split across 90 videos showing different portions of the game. Now, almost an hour's worth of Diablo 4 gameplay has found its way onto the web.