Creating Warcraft 3: Reforged was a nightmare: “we made pre-reservations knowing that the game was not ready”

Bloomberg indicates development problems for the remake, according to several Activision Blizzard employees.

One of the most important news of the week and, probably of the year, is the information that has been uncovered about a new case of a toxic and discriminatory work environment, this time on Activision Blizzard . An unpleasant fact that we have to keep echoing at this point, hoping never to give news of this kind again. The worst thing is that, this time, there are more. If harassment, unjustified dismissals and a suicide were not enough, journalist Jason Schreier continues to uncover information about the problems of the aforementioned brand in recent years.

The journalist, an expert in this type of in-depth content that uncovers what is happening within some of the most important video game companies in the world, tells new facts about the toxic environment at the Activision Blizzard offices . The pressure to meet the goals set against the clock has taken its toll on many of its workers.

Employees fell into depression and other psychological problemsIn a new article for Bloomberg that was in preparation before the complaint filed with Activision Blizzard was known, the aforementioned Schreier transfers statements from workers and former workers of the firm , which detail the problems they have had in recent developments, giving as an example Warcraft 3: Reforged , a remake that did not meet expectations . And that has its reasons.

“We have employees who have dealt with exhaustion, anxiety, depression and more for a year,” they say in the middle, where they point out that the poor results of the game have been due to “poor management, financial pressure and a team thrown into the abyss . ” The game was redesigned several times to adjust the mandatory budget cuts: remember that the fact that the CEO of the company collects millionaire bonuses after proceeding with numerous layoffs has also been the subject of debate .

They indicate that the game’s launch reflected significant cultural shifts at Blizzard in recent years, citing corporate aspects. The business owner was pushing the development team to cut costs and prioritize their most important titles.

The thing does not stop there, and Schreier tells on social networks that nine months after the launch of Warcraft 3: Reforged the studio was closed . And those who could not locate in the company were fired, after having spent a few convulsive months. The development had quite a few communication problems for all that we said, and they were not convinced that they were on the right track. “We pre-booked in advance when we knew the game was not ready.”

The company did not value a remake of a strategy game from years agoThe company promised “more than four hours of updates, video game scenes and rerecorded voiceovers,” among other things. But the project was never a priority for Activision Blizzard, say company representatives who have spoken with Bloomberg. ” A remastering of an old strategy game had little chance of becoming the kind of billion dollar product they wanted . ” So a lot of the ideas came to nothing.

At the time, the company apologized for the release, saying that it had chosen to go back on updating cinematics because “we didn’t want the game scenes to stray too far from the original game.” But documentation obtained after its release, as well as interviews with 11 people who worked on or near the game, indicate that Reforged was actually changed due to budget cuts and internal discussions about the direction of the game.