Month: October 2019

EA Sports has released a big new content update for NHL 20 that makes a series of changes and bug fixes across the professional hockey game’s various modes, and more.

Starting with gameplay changes, the patch notes confirm that NHL 20 has added the real-world NHL rule change for the 2019-2020 season for when the puck goes out of bounds. The rule change states that when the attacking team sends the puck out of bounds in the attacking zones, the ensuing face-off will take place in one of the two dots in the attacking zone. This should now happen in NHL 20.

Additionally, the NHL 20 patch fixes an issue where the skaters in some situations were unable to pick up the puck after a penalty shot in Threes mode. Outside of these changes, the new update makes some physics fixes, one of which eliminates a gruesome-sounding bug that could cause players to get their limbs stuck in the net. Ouch. There were also instances of when the puck could magically move through the goalie’s pads, but that bug has also been fixed.

There are also AI improvements in the newest update, including defenders making smarter plays on odd-man rushes. Additionally, the new NHL 20 update makes goalies smarter by improving and expanding on goalie animations.

Elsewhere, the social hub–World of Chel–has been updated with reduced requirements for the weekly challenge card, while a number of new jerseys for multiple teams have been added. You can see the full patch notes below, as written by EA Sports.

EA typically releases a tuning update around this time, but that isn’t happening this year because the baseline gameplay is “in a good place,” EA said in a blog post. That being said, EA is still looking into a few areas and asking players for advice on how to improve them. These include:

• Interceptions from behind
• Inconsistency of low relative speed hits from console to console
• Puck loss when pivoting at high speed

NHL 20 was originally released in September for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. GameSpot’s NHL 20 review scored the game a 9/10.

NHL 20 October 1 Patch Notes:

Gameplay

General

• Added NHL 2019-2020 season rule change for puck out of bounds
• When the attacking team is responsible for the puck going out of play in the attacking zone, in all instances, the face-off will be conducted at one of the two face-off dots in the attacking zone
• Fixed a case where the player is sometimes unable to pick up the puck after a penalty shot in Threes

Physics

• Fixed a case where players could get their limbs stuck in the net
• Fixed multiple cases where the puck could go through the goalie’s pad
• Improved cases where slap shots would be missed when taken near the boards

AI

• Improved a case where the weakside defender would overcommit on an odd man rush allowing the puck carrier a breakaway
• Fixed a case where AI players would start to accelerate when passed to without player input

Goalie

Various goalie animation fixes

• Fixed cases where goalies were sometimes trying to perform controlled/redirect saves when the puck had a high chance of being deflected and would leave them more vulnerable than they should be
• Improved goalie tracking when the puck is behind the net

Shooting

• Improvements to shot angle selection logic for some rare cases
• Improved cases where players on loose pucks would perform a snap shot when a slap shot would be expected
• Fixed rare cases where one-timers would miss the puck completely

Presentation

• Added ability to preview the play-of-the-period replays in action tracker
• Various environment camera clipping fixes
• Player lineup animation and camera improvements
• Play-of-the-period/game animation and camera improvements
• Various Play of the Game/Play of the Period selection logic fixes
• Multiplayer hug improvements
• Fixed cases where penalty replays in EASHL don’t show the penalty being taken

Franchise Mode

• Added the season standings to the calendar screen
• Added Auto Staff Setting that allows the CPU to assign scouts for the user team
• Fixed an issue where Alumni Player’s Ages don’t show correctly in a fantasy draft in Franchise Mode
• Fixed an issue where the PP and PK columns in Hire staff were reversed
• Misc stability improvements

Art

NHL

• Updated Nashville Predators Scoreboard
• Center Ice Changes
• Updated the following Center Ice layouts

AHL

• Binghamton Senators
• Canadian Hockey League
• London Knights
• Cape Breton Eagles

Uniforms

The following uniforms have been added to NHL 20:

NHL

• Buffalo Sabres Alternate
• Chicago Blackhawks Home and Away
• Edmonton Oilers Alternate
• Carolina Hurricanes Away

Canadian Hockey League

• London Knights Home and Away
• Tri-City Americans Home and Away
• Cape Breton Eagles Home and Away

SHL

• Farjestad BK Home and Away
• HV71 Home and Away
• Rogle BK Home and Away

Liiga

• Mikkelin Jukurit Home and Away
• Lahti Pelicans Home, Away and Alternate
• Tappara Tampere Home, Away and Alternate

EBEL

• Dornbirn Bulldogs Home and Away
• EC Panaceo VSV Home and Away
• EC-KAC Home and Away
• EC Red Bull Salzburg Home and Away
• EHC Liwest Blackwings Linz Home and Away
• Hydro Fehervar AV19 Home and Away
• HC TWK Innsbruck Home and Away
• Graz 99ers Home and Away
• SPUSU Vienna Capitals Home and Away

HUT

General

• Fixed a desync issue which was causing the opening faceoff to loop in some Online Games
• Fixed an issue where players could see their opponent’s PSN ID/Gamertag before loading into a Competitive Seasons/HUT Champs games
• Fixed an issue where Goalie Mask items may have become invisible when navigating the Apply Consumable screen
• Fixed some issues where items may have not been properly revealed in Choice Packs

Squad Battles

• Save last-used difficulty as default (complete games only)
• Now display ‘Possible Points’ for each opponent as difficulty is selected

World of CHEL

Improvements

• Having heard the community feedback, we are reducing the requirements for the World of Chel weekly challenge card. Now, user will only need to complete a reduced number of the 5 columns to earn that week’s Special Reward.
• Added a link to Edit Player from the Recent Items screen so the user doesn’t have to manually back out and enter the flow from the WoC HUB
• Added the ability to have EA Custom Stock Team Branding uniforms be equipped by clubs. Stay tuned throughout the year for future uniform releases that can be earned by clubs through hockey bags.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the current leader in Ones was not displaying correctly after the user has won the final Ones Eliminator round
• Fixed an issue where we display the wrong error message if a club is in a Threes Eliminator dressing room, and the session falls below the minimum users
• Reskinned the “Waiting for All Users to Resume” screen that comes after the pause menu so that the text is more legible
• Fixed various clipping issues and enabled several additional goalie intro animations that previously had clipping issues
• Fixed a failed to retrieve data issue that could occur when trying to enter any Dressing Room without the Lead Profile
• Fixed an issue where a user could crash upon another user closing the game while loading into gameplay
• Fixed a timing issue where desnyc’s could occur when a Player Class Tuning file or a Gameplay Tuner Set upload happens while games are about to get underway from the Dressing Room
• Fixed an issue where very long club names could overlap each other in the dressing room after matching up in a clubs game

Following the launch of Destiny 2’s new Shadowkeep expansion and New Light – the new free-to-play entry point for Destiny players – Destiny 2 has now reached an all-time concurrent players record on Steam, which has seemingly caused Bungie to take the servers entirely offline due to an overload, according to their tweet as of 2:13pm PT.

The tweet read: “Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 are being taken offline for emergency maintenance. Please standby for updates,” and another update was sent out at 2:46pm PT which read, “Emergency maintenance for Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 is still ongoing. We apologize for the continued delay. Please stay tuned for updates on our progress.”

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We’re constantly on the lookout for the best deals, but while there are quite a few big sales events throughout the year, such as Prime Day and Steam’s Summer Sale, nothing compares to the whirlwind of blowout sales that is Black Friday and Cyber Monday. From consoles and games to accessories and tech, there’s no better time of year to spend money on the hottest products. While Black Friday 2019 is still a ways off, the holidays will be here faster than you think, and whether you have a long list of loved ones to buy for or a personal wishlist (hey, we’re not judging), it’s best to have a plan when Black Friday and Cyber Monday roll around this year.

When is Black Friday 2019?

Well, it’s tricky. Black Friday is technically the day after Thanksgiving, of course, which falls on November 29 this year. But if what you’re really asking is when do the deals start, the answer is that they’ll likely roll out gradually over the month of November and ramp up significantly on Thanksgiving. Black Friday itself will be the biggest day for deals, but expect to see sales through that entire weekend and into Cyber Monday.

While the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday will be the key time to pay attention to retailer offers, some stores will offer “Black November” sales that span the entire month. We’ll update this piece with the latest info as soon as Black Friday-related sales start to appear.

The biggest Black Friday sales to watch for

Practically anything you might need to buy will get a discount during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but if you’re mainly on the hunt for consoles, games, tech, and other types of entertainment media this shopping season, there are a few specific stores to keep your eyes on. Amazon, of course, will be a major player in the shopping frenzy, but other key retailers include Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Newegg, Ebay, and Google Express. The latter three stores, in particular, offered some of the best console bundles and game deals around during Prime Day this year, so we expect they’ll have more surprising deals to offer come Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

While the holiday shopping season tends to emphasize tech and hardware–those shiny things people shove their way through crowds to grab–it’ll also be worth checking out sales at digital game stores, like the Nintendo Eshop, PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, Fanatical, Green Man Gaming, and more. Digital games tend to stay at a higher price range than physical discs, so if you prefer owning games digitally, this is a great opportunity to snag any games on your wishlist.

The best Black Friday deals to expect

When it comes to gaming, it’s always hard to predict exactly what deals will be available during Black Friday and Cyber Monday–but we’ll take our shot in the dark.

Games

You’ll be able to find a good discount on nearly any game from the past few years, including some early 2019 releases like Resident Evil 2, Kingdom Hearts 3, The Division 2, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. We’d expect to see those as low as $15 to $30. During Black Friday 2018, for instance, the critically acclaimed God of War could be found for $17; it released that April. If you’ve had your eye on a game released within the past few months, like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Gears 5, Borderlands 3, or Zelda: Link’s Awakening, those newer games may fall to $30 or $40 (although steep discounts are more likely for PS4 and Xbox One titles than Nintendo Switch ones).

Consoles

With newer Switch models finally on the market–the new Switch with better battery life and the smaller, handheld-only Switch Lite–we’re sure to see discounts on the launch model Switch, likely around $250 or even less. If you like playing the Switch docked and don’t have an issue with slightly less battery life, that’ll be an excellent discount on the hottest console of 2019. If you’re holding out for one of the newer Switch models, however, it’s less likely there will be significant discounts, but we’d bet on some good console bundles hitting stores around Black Friday. If you’re buying a new Switch or Switch Lite for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, those game bundles will be one thing to look out for.

Meanwhile, this will likely be the last big holiday season for the PS4 and Xbox One consoles, as anticipation is building for Sony and Microsoft to reveal their next-generation consoles. Microsoft has already confirmed that Xbox’s next iteration, codenamed Project Scarlett, is slated to arrive in Holiday 2020. We know less about the PS5, but while there’s no release date, we’re sure to hear about the next generation of PlayStation hardware in 2020.

So what does that mean for Black Friday 2019? Well, PS4 and Xbox One discounts are becoming a dime a dozen these days, and we expect to see the consoles hit their lowest prices yet this holiday season. If you (like me) still have a launch-edition PS4 or Xbox One and are starting to see performance issues on newer games like Control, this might be a good time to trade in that old console and get the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X at its lowest price yet. After all, the next-gen consoles are still at least a year away. During Black Friday 2018 as well as Prime Day 2019, we saw the PS4 Pro drop to $320, so we’ll likely see it on sale for at least $300 during Black Friday 2019. While the Xbox One X hung around $400 last holiday season, we saw it as low as $314 at Google Express during Prime Day, so we’ll go out on a limb and predict it also hits $300 at some point during Black Friday.

Other deals

Of course, Black Friday is an excellent time to save on subscriptions, accessories, and practically anything on your wishlist or holiday shopping list. You’ll likely see markdowns on memberships like PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass, and Nintendo Switch Online. Controllers, headsets, memory cards, and more will also see discounts.

How to get the best Black Friday deals

It’s all about speed, baby. Black Friday is like Prime Day on steroids, with almost every retailer throwing their hat into the ring and competing to offer the best deals. Your best bet is to follow retailers and brands you’re interested in on Twitter or Facebook and pay attention to their ads and posts in the weeks leading up to Black Friday. And as our sister brand CNET points out, there are various sites that hunt down and post “leaked” Black Friday ads from retailers ahead of the event, revealing what products will be on sale during the shopping bonanza. In 2018, those leaked ads started popping up as early as the end of October. Finally, if you see a product at an incredible price during Black Friday or Cyber Monday, don’t wait to buy it. The best deals will be gone in a flash.

Of course, you’ll also want to stay tuned to GameSpot as we highlight the best deals on games, electronics, and entertainment leading up to and during Black Friday. Be sure to follow GameSpot Deals on Twitter so you don’t miss the hottest discounts.

If you consider yourself “fancy,” you might want to take a look at “The Frame,” a high-definition TV which is made to resemble (and function as) a picture frame when not being used to play your favorite games or watch your favorite TV shows.

While this fancy installation normally clocks in at $1999, you can get one right now for $1097 at Walmart, which is the deepest discount we’ve ever seen.

Samsung “The Frame” 4K QLED Smart TV for $1097

• Get it at Walmart for $1097

This 55-inch TV has 4K, HDR, and a QLED screen, but it also sports an Art Mode (and Art Mode Slide Show functionality) which allows you to set either a static art image or slideshow when the TV isn’t in normal use. It also comes with 4 HDMI ports, 3 USB ports, Bluetooth LE support, a No Gap Wall Mount, and Walmart is offering free 2-day delivery.

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Note: sorry for the late timing on this review. I was out on vacation last week but wanted to make sure I didn’t break my streak when it comes to reviewing all issues of House of X and Powers of X.

There’s been a notable shift with the most recent few House of X/Powers of X installments. Having laid out his bold new vision for the X-Men line and introduced two game-changing plot twists, writer Jonathan Hickman is turning his attention to laying the groundwork for the ongoing series spinning out of this crossover. Powers of X sheds critical new light on one of those books, even as it allows Hickman the opportunity to dig in deeper with two fan-favorite mutants who had previously only played small roles. This issue doesn’t rock the boat as much as those that have come before, but it still offers an intriguing taste of things to come for the franchise.

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Today Game Informer unveiled their latest cover story, and it’s all about the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield. While there are still plenty of questions surrounding the next generation of Pokemon, we finally have some new details to tide us over until November.

Pokemon Sword and Shield is just a month and a half away from being released but Game Freak is still keeping a lot of details close to the vest. Today’s Game Informer cover reveals new information that directly addresses some of the most pressing questions from fans.

Here are the biggest Sword and Shield details revealed so far:

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If you’re an Apex Legends fan you’ll no doubt know that Season 3 has officially begun. If you fire up the game you’ll be prompted to download the Meltdown patch and, once you’ve got it, you’ll be treated to a whole lot of new content. This includes a new character called Crypto and also a new map. Respawn has released the official patch notes, so we can dig into what else the update has to offer.

There’s a significant amount of tweaks and changes to the way Apex Legends plays. Existing characters have had their functionalities fiddled with, and the way various weapons and items perform have also been altered to create a balanced gameplay experience. Interestingly, there have also been some more drastic changes, with new hop-ups being added and one fairly recent addition being removed.

Of course, there’s also a bunch of quality of life improvements and bug fixes. You can take a look at the patch notes below. The new character Crypto, meanwhile, has a drone which can be used for recon, among other things. You can learn about what he’s capable of in our full Apex Legends Crypto breakdown.

Apex Legends Season 3 Update Patch Notes

Legend Meta

All Legends

• Executioner Perk: Previously, the Gold Armor perk, “Executioner”, gave a full shield recharge on successful completion of a finisher. In Season 3, all Legends will have this perk meaning–finishers will fully recharge your shields regardless if you have Gold Armor equipped or not. Gold Armor will now have a Guardian Angel perk that is detailed below in the Loot/Meta Changes section.

Gibraltar

• Dome Shield
  • Players in the Dome Shield use healing items 25% faster.
  • Increased the throw distance by 60%.
  • Increased cooldown.
    • 20 seconds -> 30 seconds.
• Defensive Bombardment
  • Decreased cooldown.
    • 4.5 minutes -> 3 minutes.
  • Decreased duration
    • 8 seconds -> 6 seconds.
  • Increased throw distance by 36%.

Bloodhound

• Eye of the Allfather
  • Reduced the animation time to activate by 33%.
  • Now immediately tells you how many targets have been pinged.
• Beast of the Hunt
  • Fixed an issue with FoV scaling messing up ADS aim sensitivity.
  • Reduced animation time to activate by 30%.
  • Increased movement speed bonus
    • 25% -> 30%

Bangalore

• Rolling Thunder
  • Increased damage
    • 20 -> 40

Octane

• Adrenaline Junkie
  • Fixed an issue with FoV scaling messing up ADS aim sensitivity.

Wraith

[Designer notes: We’ve pulled back additional nerfs for further testing, but Wraith’s power balance is definitely on our radar.]

• Dimensional Rift
  • No longer deploys if you are downed before placing it.

Pathfinder

• Grapple
  • Reduced the grapple projectile velocity by 33%, meaning it takes a fraction of a second longer to connect the grapple to the wall. The behavior once you are connected remains the same.
• Zipline
  • Increased cooldown
    • 90 seconds -> 120 seconds.

Weapon And Loot Meta

• Hop-ups: [Designer notes: We think the number of hop-up types in the game is about as high as we want to go right now when we consider loot dilution and the likelihood of finding a desired hop-up. Going forward, we intend to rotate hop-ups each season — some may be removed from the loot pool to make room for new or returning ones. Below are the changes we’ll be making to hop-ups for Season 3.]
• REMOVED: Disruptor Rounds
• REMOVED: Skullpiercer Rifling
  • Wingman: Was 2.0 base / 2.25 with Skullpiercer. Is now 2.15 base.
  • DMR: Was 2.0 base / 2.5 with Skullpiercer. Is now 2.15 base.
  • The base headshot damage multipliers of the DMR and Wingman have been increased slightly.
• NEW HOP-UP: Anvil Receiver
  • Attaches to: Flatline and R-301.
  • Rarity: level 4 (gold).
  • This hop-up empowers semi-auto mode; it offers highly increased damage, but at the cost of reduced rate of fire and double ammo per shot.

• NEW HOP-UP: Double Tap Trigger
  • Attaches to: G7 Scout and EVA-8 Auto.
  • Rarity: level 3 (purple).
  • This hop-up makes each trigger pull fire a quick two round burst.

Consumables

• Ultimate Accelerants
  • 20% -> 35%.
  • Ultimate charge restored increased
  • Reduced the amount in the world by around 40%.

Gold Gear Changes

• Gold Backpack
  • The gold backpack has a new perk, “Guardian Angel”. With Guardian Angel, you will revive downed teammates with bonus health and shields (if they have armor).

• Gold Armor: The gold armor will now have “Fast Use” (consumable items take half as long to use), which was previously on the gold backpack. Now, you will be able to tell when an opponent has the ability to heal faster by seeing the gold armor damage numbers.

Weapons

[Designer Notes: For Season 3 weapon changes, our goals were to encourage and improve longer range gunfights and reduce power on some of the weapons that have been dominating lately. We will of course be closely watching data and player feedback on these during the season.]

• R-99
  • Base mag size reduction
    • Before: 18/22/26/30
    • After: 18/20/23/27
  • Added some recoil randomness to patterns.

• PDW Prowler
  • Added some slight recoil randomness while maintaining the same pattern when fired in full-auto mode.

• Longbow DMR
  • Reduced rate of fire
    • 1.6 -> 1.3
• Reduced leg damage multiplier
  • 0.9 -> 0.8

• G7 Scout
  • Increased base damage
    • 30 -> 34

• Hemlok
  • Increased base damage
    • 18 -> 22
  • Slight decrease to rate of fire to both fire modes.

• R-301
  • Reduced damage
    • 14 -> 13

• Mozambique
  • Decreased pattern spread
  • Mozambique will now reset from recoil faster, which should make it easier to track targets and see where shots land.

• L-STAR
  • Substantial reduction to horizontal recoil.
  • Now comes equipped with 1x Digital Threat optic.
  • Reduced damage 21 -> 19

New Kitted Gold Weapons

We’ve swapped out the previous set of Gold Weapons with some fresh new ones for Season 3. Keep an eye out for these fully kitted beasts that all include tier 3 versions of all compatible attachments, hop-up, and the following optics:

• Flatline
  • Includes 1x-2x optics
• EVA-8
  • Includes 1x threat scope
• TripleTake
  • 4x-10x Threat scope
• G7 Scout
  • 2x-4x optics
• Charge Rifle
  • 4x-10x threat scope

Quality Of Life

• Added a “random” option for customizing your unlocked loadscreens.
• Expanded the Ping Wheel so that you can now equip your unlocked Intro and Kill quips.
  • Equip up to 8 intro or kill quips in the lobby
  • Nearby enemies can hear quips when activated
  • Press Y while ping wheel is up to access (controller) or F1 (default keyboard binding — you may need to set this manually as it won’t auto-bind).
  • “Celebrate” quickchat is now the 1st option in the quip wheel (Previously down on dpad).
• New Legend battle chatter – Legends now have voice lines that will call out when your squad is being third-partied. This is triggered if you take damage when recently damaged by another living squad
• You can now equip multiple skydive emotes (if you have multiple available on a character) – Hold A while skydiving to open the menu to select the skydive emote you want to use.
• Daily challenges should only give you, at most, 1 challenge for a Legend you don’t own.
• No dupe character daily challenges (e.g. you should never get 2 Gibraltar dailies in the same day).
• Fixes for slowdown/performance drops at the start of a match.
• Mirage – decoys will now go where directed when deploying them during the drop if Mirage isn’t the Jumpmaster.
• Lifeline – D.O.C. Healing Drone will no longer float away after being deployed on Supply Ships
• Fixed issue where Legends could show up as locked instead of selected when joining a match late.
• Small improvements across UI to make fonts and other elements more readable.
• When swapping weapons with one on the ground, attachments will now attempt to transfer to your stowed weapon in addition to the weapon you are about to pick up.

Bug Fixes

• Octane – fixed a bug where sometimes mantling while using a tactical stopped players from being able to perform any other actions until the tactical is finished.
• Wattson – fixed bug where sometimes the visual FX from her fences would not show up after being deployed.
• Pathfinder – Fixed a bug with Insider Knowledge passive where Survey Beacon locations would disappear from the full map after activating them.
• Fixed bug where players could sometimes receive additional Battle Pass rewards by leveling up two games in a row.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to spam fire with the Peacekeeper.
• Fixed bug where looting Lifeline’s Care Packages would not count towards the “Loot X amount of Care Packages” in the Battle Pass challenges.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes the smoke visual FX from Gibraltar, Bangalore, and Caustic Ultimates would show up on scopes when swapping weapons rapidly.
• PC – Fixed bug where model settings would be forced to “high” regardless of what setting was selected.
• Fixed a bug where players could sometimes skip the landing animation after a long fall.
• Fixed bug where sometimes map fog visual FX would disappear while looting a deathbox.
• Rebalanced audio to address issues with footsteps, ziplines, and jump jets.

Ranked League Series 2

You can check out the full details for Series 2 and learnings we got from Series 1 in our Ranked Blog here. Some highlights of the changes we’re making below.

• Rewards for your placement in Ranked Leagues Series 1 will be available to you after downloading the update for Season 3.
• We’ve adjusted the scoring for Series 2 that allows for more granularity for future improvements.
• At the launch of Series 2 on 10/1 we’ll be doing a soft reset on everyone Ranked Position from Series 1. The reset will be 1.5 tiers. That means if you ended Series 1 in Gold II, you’ll be reset to Silver IV. Players in Platinum IV will be reset to Silver II, and Apex Predators will be reset to Platinum II.
• Assists have been added to your overall score.
• New HUD elements have been added to help players keep track of their in-match RP gains or losses.

Samsung makes fantastic tech (especially TVs), and they are frequent headliners in our best deals posts, and today’s 75-inch 4K HDR TV is no exception. This giant Smart TV is last year’s model, and it’s on sale at Walmart for an extremely affordable $997 (down from $1499).

Samsung 75-inch 4K UHD HDR TV for $997

• Get it at Walmart for $997

This massive 75-inch behemoth has everything you need from a new TV; native 4K support and upscaling, HDR, 120Hz refresh rate, Smart TV functionality, and Dolby Digital Plus support. It has two HDMI ports and a single USB, and Walmart is offering free freight shipping.

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After the departure of Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime, J. Allen Brack stepped up to the role of president. Brack has a long and storied history with the company, including being executive producer of World of Warcraft, one of the most beloved and successful video games of all time.

This heritage is something that Brack is very keen to highlight, and for good reason: it’s a reminder that the person in charge of Blizzard right now is someone that helped develop the game that has been its biggest success.

Brack hasn’t had the best of starts, owing to the reveal of a mobile version of Diablo that fans had a negative reaction to. This, by Brack’s own admission, was something that could have been handled better. But in the midst of this drama–and after it–it’s the developer’s perspective and history that he has that he highlights when asking fans to put their faith in him and the studio.

While Brack admits the messaging could have been clearer, he still has faith in Diablo: Immortal as a game and is confident that it represents Blizzard’s values as they always have been and always will be. Not just that, he is confident that the Blizzard of today carries the spirit of the same developer that brought us Warcraft, WoW, StarCraft, and the many other beloved games in its stable.

Ahead of the climax of the Overwatch League season and BlizzCon 2019, we spoke to Brack about the response to Diablo: Immortal, the preservation of the studio’s identity, and his ambitions for Blizzard.

GameSpot: What was it like seeing World of Warcraft Classic launch, given your history with the game and the company. Must have been strange seeing the halcyon days of WoW brought to life again.

J. Allen Brack: Yeah. I think that, almost two years ago at BlizzCon that I announced that we were going to do WoW Classic. It was something that the fans had been asking for for a long time.

We said that we weren’t going to do it. And then, throughout the beginning part of 2017, we sort of figured out how we were going to do it. So announcing that to BlizzCon was honestly one of my career highlights. It was really unexpected. It was really something that no one had thought that we would ever do because of our comments about it.

To then kind of come full circle here, it is almost two years later, and to just see the massive amount of excitement, the massive amount of passion, the huge number of people returning, both people who have played it in the past, as well as people who had never really had the opportunity to experience what the early days were really like … It’s been–this phrase resonates, but it’s inadequate–it’s just been hugely satisfying and hugely gratifying to see the passion of the fans and to see the community come together like that. But it’s been a peak career experience, for sure.

So taking a step back and looking at your rise to your position now. What were your ambitions and what were the key areas of focus that you identified coming into this leadership role in Blizzard?

I think the thing that was really most important–and I think is why Mike [Morhaime, co-founder and former president of Blizzard] ended up choosing me for this job–was the fact that Blizzard is really a developer-led organization and that the products and the game focus that we have [is there], throughout all the leadership levels and is really important and really strong.

And so one of the first things that I did was to bring Ray Gresko on as the chief development officer and then add Allen Adham to the executive team to really make the percentage of people who are making games and have recently made games just a lot higher. There’s a refocus on our core and a focus on what has made Blizzard’s great, which is our games. And so that’s really the kind of the very, the start of what we tried to do.

Throughout this year, we’ve looked at all the various projects that we’ve got going on. We’ve looked at different things that we were doing that we felt like we should do more of. We looked at different things that we were doing that we felt like we should do less of. And we’ve come up through this launch of WoW Classic, which has been just a great moment for us. And we were at the Overwatch League for season two and getting ready to head into the end of the year with BlizzCon. So it’s been a pretty good ride here.

For people who may not have a clear vision of what Blizzard is trying to do now, what would you say about recent shakeups at the executive-level, layoffs, and the kind of direction the company you want to take it in?

I think the important thing that is true, has been true traditionally, and is going to be true going forward is that we are a values-driven and a values-led company, and we make a lot of our big strategic decisions through that lens.

Stepping back, I think, anytime you have a founder who has been in the chair for 28 years, I think that it is normal and natural and reasonable to have some fear, uncertainty, and doubt around how we’re going to continue to go on going forward.

What I think is important for people to know is the values that have built this place and built Blizzard are still the same values. We still prioritize gameplay first among all. We still focus on delivering great player experiences and a great community focus for everything that we do, and that couldn’t be more important as we look to the future.

What I think is important for people to know is the values that have built this place and built Blizzard are still the same values

Obviously as a company you want to grow, and you do that by embracing new ideas and exploring new opportunities. How do you balance doing that versus maintaining what your fans believe your identity is? A great example is Diablo: Immortal. On paper it’s a smart way to tackle mobile gaming, which is big in many territories so you can’t ignore that [market]. It makes sense for Diablo to be the product that moves you into [that space] because it’s a good fit. But at the same time, it clashes against the identity people know Blizzard to have, and what fans love Diablo as, which manifested in the reaction.

I think the thing that we did a poor job of when we announced Diablo: Immortal was contextualizing what we think the future can be and what we think of mobile in particular. And I also think the key thing that was lost, that we did a poor job double emphasizing, is we are a PC developer first. And then we look for other platforms that we think are awesome that can support the types of game play experiences that resonate with the type of games and values that we want to put forth into the world. And the example of that is, there was a little bit of a backlash when we [announced] that we were going to port Diablo 3 to console as well.

We ported it to both the Xbox and PlayStation platforms. Last year we announced Diablo for the Nintendo Switch. And the reason for that is because we think that that’s a great game that can really work really well on those platforms.

If we think about what mobile was going to be for Blizzard in the future, we think that mobile doesn’t have to be a lesser-quality experience. We think that we can make Blizzard-quality games. We think that we can have Blizzard values around monetization, and we think it can be a great experience. And Diablo: Immortal is a game that we’ve been working on for quite a few years at this point, and we’re happy with how it’s coming along. We’re looking forward to having the players see it whenever it’s ready to go.

But first and foremost, I think the thing that did not get communicated, and I can’t say enough, is that we are a PC developer that also looks for opportunities on other platforms.

You want to emphasize that you’re a PC-first kind of developer and company and publisher. Do you understand the resistance from fans, then, when they’re like, “Yeah, but this is a mobile thing, and that’s not who you are.”

I think in retrospect, we had a very honest look at ourselves, post-BlizzCon, to look at the fan reaction. It’s the task of trying to understand really deeply, that reaction.

We did not do a good job in assuaging our core fanbase that we’re not abandoning PC for mobile and console. That part of the message did not get communicated in a way that I think, if we could go back, we would do.

It’s not hard to understand the fan reaction of, “I’m a Blizzard fan. Blizzard, just keep making PC games like you’ve always done. Like I like. That will make me happy.”

But, I think if you think about the world, and you think about games, it’s hard to imagine how anyone who is a core PC Blizzard fan today also has not experimented with console platforms, or mobile platforms in their career, or in their life, rather.

Some mobile games are very good, and some mobile games are incredibly crappy, just like every other platform, and we do think there is an opportunity for players to play and enjoy the games that are at a very high quality level, that we really like, that we really believe in, in the Blizzard IP. That’s the lens for Diablo Immortal.

If you’re a core PC gamer, then there are not an insignificant number of mobile games that don’t have a great reputation. We’ve seen these games, and we’ve played these games. We’ve played games that we feel like are predatory when it comes to monetization, that are not the most fun experience that we could imagine, and not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s hard [for people] to see how Blizzard is still Blizzard on that platform.

But, if we didn’t think that we could make great games on a mobile platform, we wouldn’t do it. Mobile games have been out for quite a while and Hearthstone is the only one that we have done so far. What has made it take so long is figuring out how we were going to find the Blizzard way of making a great mobile game.

Are there ever discussions that are like, alright, let’s do mobile but let’s come up with something that doesn’t have all the baggage of an existing IP, and all these people already invested in it.

Yeah, we have talked about that. We’ve talked about, “How do we think about new IP on new platforms?”

One of the things that we articulate with all of our IP is, each one of them is built and has been constructed to really support a lot more, not only different platforms, but different types of games, and different genres of game.

I’ll give you an example of that. If you think about Warcraft, which is our most storied IP, it has supported a big giant MMO, it has supported real-time strategy games, and it’s supported a collectible card game. So those are very different genres of game that have come out of the same IP, and we think that there is a lot of opportunity for having games, different types of games, in our existing IP. But, I think that you do take on a piece of player perception, of player expectations whenever you’re talking about creating a new game on a new platform, for sure.

Is that kind of model of creation sustainable or feasible in a business sense? Something like Overwatch exists now because you went through this protracted phase of having Titan, reworking it, and having the ups and downs of development. The end result, many years later, is a game that has a really wide and powerful presence. But can you really afford to have that same cycle for each project?

I don’t know that we at Blizzard have any choice but to do it that way. I don’t know that there is another way for Blizzard. We really believe strongly that the team leadership has to believe and have an idea for a game that they think can be excellent. It’s a very bottom up way of doing things.

Blizzard does not have a history of having Mike [Morhaime], or me or someone else at the top saying, “Hey, Blizzard should go make, insert type of game.” That’s not really how Blizzard works. How it works is a team of developers who really are passionate about a particular idea or a particular genre are given the space to create and iterate and deliver something that we think can be excellent. That’s really how it’s always been, and that’s how it is today.

I’m trying to figure out a way of asking this without unnecessarily vilifying Activision. I guess my question is, are the business realities of today, such, and is your relationship with your parent company, Activision, such that, you can continue to operate that way? Is Blizzard autonomous enough to say, ‘We don’t think this is a good idea, so we’re going to kill it, and we’re going to go back to the drawing board … you may not see another game from us for five, 10 years, or whatever it may be?’ Are you in a position where you can do that?

You know, there were a handful of questions that I had when Mike said, “Hey, you should think about taking this job.” There was a handful of questions I had for him and a handful of questions I had for Bobby [Kotick, CEO of Activision], and the rest of the folks at Activision Blizzard. What you’re touching on is something that it’s really important to what it means to be Blizzard, both from a developer standpoint, as well as, frankly, a community and a fan standpoint.

Here’s the thing I will say. We’re sitting here and we are about to have the Overwatch League Finals, which has really been created in conjunction with some of the people at Activision Blizzard, and the desire that they have is the same as the desire that we have, which is to have our games exposed to and played by millions of players all around the world.

I think we have different ways to think about how we achieve that goal, but our goals are very similar and very aligned with them.

The worry from a fan perspective is, if there’s ever a point where it does look like an Overwatch League can’t sustain the kind of interest it needs, does Activision suddenly shift to, “Well, you’ve got to give us the next thing now,” and that’s where the clash of ideologies may happen, where it’s like,”Well, we work in a way where you might not get another Overwatch for another 10 years.” Are you still in a position where you call the shots on your games, and won’t be told how to produce them or be forced to produce them in a different way to meet demands.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think that’s the way that Blizzard has traditionally worked with this sort of a bottom up approach on what the games that we want to create and move forward are, and [that] is what’s important. That’s so intrinsic and so built in to the DNA of Blizzard, I don’t know how Blizzard is successful any other way.

You know, I think the fact that a developer was put in charge of the company after Mike, and I think the fact that we promoted Ray Gresko to be the chief development officer really speaks to not only what Blizzard values are, but is also an indication that Activision Blizzard understands what’s important to Blizzard.

I love Overwatch and have been obsessed with it in a way I haven’t been with any other Blizzard game, and I’m sure it’s the same for many others. Creating new IP clearly works for you, but you also have this stable of classic games that fans really want more of, like StarCraft, like Diablo. What’s your take on creating new versus leaning on the old? Are you still planning to explore the older stuff in the same way that you have done with a wild classic or is there still life in StarCraft and as well as whatever may come next?

You know, I think we’re fortunate to really have now four giant IPs in the form of WarCraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and now Overwatch. And then you have Heroes, which is sort of a subset of an amalgamation of all of the kind of borrowings from all the pieces of the IPs.

And I think that is extremely powerful. I think going back to an earlier question where I talked about these IPs and the ability of many of them to support different types of gaming experiences, that’s something that we’re always going to look for.

I personally think that there are often characters and awesome stories and plenty of games and plenty of game experiences that we can create in our existing IPs. I think there’s plenty of room and plenty of space for that. But I also think at the same time, you do need to be thinking about new things as well.

And so both are important. Fans want more StarCraft games. I’m a fan, I also want more StarCraft games. Fans want more Diablo games. I’m a fan, I also want more Diablo games. Fans want new IP, me too.

And so the things that we think about in terms of, “What IP we should use and how we should think about it?” the team has a lot of decision-making authority on that. But also we have to really think about what games and what IPs the teams are very excited about. What IP would work for different types of games.

I think the fact that we have these IPs that have these stories, time periods, any story of games that are with them–I think of that as an asset. I don’t think of that as a liability. I think the ability and the desire to create new is also important, and we’ve proven that we can do it with Overwatch, and we’ll prove it again in the future.

A first-person shooter based on StarCraft seems to have become Blizzard’s white whale. There was a report recently of a project that was a first-person shooter set in the StarCraft universe being canceled, and of course, there was StarCraft Ghost. Is that idea something that you still want to pursue?

You know, I think one of the things that I would mention is there has been some recent press around games that we have not moved forward on, but internally it has been known that 50% of the games that we start actually ship.

And so the fact that we’re not moving forward on this game or that game is sort of an indication that Blizzard is working as usual. I think most of the games that we’ve started and have never shipped for one reason or another, most people never even know their names outside of Blizzard. It doesn’t really get a lot of attention.

So this is just sort of the normal Blizzard being Blizzard, frankly, when we evaluate games and decide what games are going to move forward and are not going to move forward. I’m a huge StarCraft fan personally, and so I look forward to future games in that universe. But I really think it’s part of the creative process. The creative process is not linear, it’s very circuitous.

Fans want more StarCraft games. I’m a fan, I also want more StarCraft games. Fans want more Diablo games. I’m a fan, I also want more Diablo games. Fans want new IP, me too

Final question, given the success of World of Warcraft and now of Classic are there any intentions to explore console for World of Warcraft? When it first came out there weren’t that many successful MMOs on consoles, but now we have Final Fantasy XIV and a few others. It seems like the perfect time to try and explore that opportunity. Is that something that you’re interested in?

Yeah, that’s a great question. For me, I know whenever we’re talking about games the camera and the controls are really for me fundamentally key about any type of gaming experience. What are the cameras? What are the controls? And if I think about World of Warcraft, it was really designed for a keyboard and a mouse experience.

And so, if you think about the number of abilities that you have–so the classes have 50 abilities at level 60–if you think about the number of items that you have an inventory and just how the UI works, like it’s really built for a keyboard type experience.

I think the interest in Classic and the interest in other platforms for WoW means people are really interested in the world, people are interested in the gameplay. It’s something we’ve talked about on and off honestly for more than a decade. Personally, I think that if we said we could do an effort where we did some class simplification and we slimmed down a lot of the abilities and kind of reworked a lot of how the inventory works, I could imagine that working. I do think it’s a little bit of a different game, right?

Because we think about how you want the pace of combat to work and how you want your controls to work. That can be a little bit different for a console audience, but it is something that we’ve talked about for sure.