Gamers bail on Diablo 3

 

There are no official numbers coming from Activision-Blizzard, but judging by all the imadbro and I’m-leaving posts in the Diablo 3 forums, it’s pretty clear the game is hemorrhaging players.

Though people have a lot of reasons why they’re leaving, one of the main ones is the Real Money Auction House.  Activision-Blizzard could’ve gone the traditional route to make a little extra money from their game – they could’ve opened up a cash items store. But no. They went full-bore corporate greed with an RMAH, no doubt thinking it would bring in millions and millions of sweet Benjamins from their 15% cut. What’s 15% of nothing? Let me see…

Who wouldn’t have seen that coming? Ummmm. Just about every gamer in existence.

And that’s the problem, as the corporate suits take over gaming, more and more, you’re going to have more incidents like this, simply because the people in charge are not gamers. They have no idea what works in their own games. EA and other companies have looked for ways to monetize their game, but Diablo 3 has taken greed to a whole new level. EA has zero fan loyalty. Activision-Blizzard has a fan base is legion, but you have to wonder how much Diablo 3 has undermined that loyalty.

Good work Activision-Blizzard. What’s next? Flaming bags of dog crap on the stoop of every Battle.net subscriber?

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