Exclusive Dialogue Blizzard CEO: Next generation MMO will become social networking

On the right is Blizzard President and CEO Mike Mohan (Mike Morhaime), who is the executive vice president of Blizzard on the left, Frank Pierce. Both were founders of Blizzard and rarely appeared to communicate with the media at the same time. (Sina technology Menghong at Blizzard headquarters in California, USA) April 28 Morning News, Blizzard President and CEO, co-founder Mike Mohan (Mike Morhaime) yesterday in the Blizzard headquarters and Sina Technology exclusive dialogue, said the hope that the next generation of MMO into social networks.　　Mohan stressed that Blizzard is also trying to blend in more social elements while social gaming improves its own entertainment. In 1991, three graduates from UCLA (UCLA) decided to create a gaming company named silicon and neural bonds.　　20 years later, the company was finally known for its blizzard reputation. In Mike Morhaime's memory, the toughest moments were neither the beginning nor the financial crisis. It was 2004, after the launch of the online game World of Warcraft.　　"We weren't ready, we didn't expect so many people to play," says Morhaime, who said Blizzard spent a whole year upgrading its hardware and software.　　A widely circulated story is that when the founder of the Blizzard was internally speaking of "World of Warcraft" there will be more than 1 million players online, and his response is only colleagues laugh. Earnings showed a slight drop in the revenues from the MMO business last year compared with 2009, when the listed companies, combined with the combination of blizzard and blizzard, still operate separately.　　However, Morhaime does not think Blizzard's development in the MMO slowed down, after all, last year, "Wrath of the Lich King" finally launched in China, and he is eagerly looking forward to the release of Warcraft next data. In fact, Blizzard is a bit dismissive of the so-called industry development bottleneck.　　"We believe that there is always a big enough market space for good games," said Blizzard executive vice president and co-founder Frank Pierc, "The bottleneck depends on the quality and experience of the game, and good games can also drive the industry."　　Blizzard is already ready to push the industry back into the future, relying on the next generation of MMO. "We have seen some new trends in the years of operation of World of Warcraft," Morhaime in the exchange of technology with Sina, which is further specific to the interconnection, social and mobility enhancements.　　"You don't have to follow the traditional MMO format," He points out that MMO is not necessarily an RPG game, and it's time to recreate and define it. Not to be overlooked is the growing number of social and leisure gaming players, along with the development of SNS such as Facebook.　　In just a few years, Zynga, the social-gaming company, became the second-largest gaming company after a blizzard of vision. "This huge trend is only just beginning," morhaime that at this stage, many game companies have not done their best to。　　He thinks the future is that Blizzard will be entertaining while adding more social elements, while social gaming companies will add more entertaining content on their own basis.　　Morhaime revealed that Blizzard wanted to make the next generation of MMO a social network. Blizzard has begun to move. It is reported that in the "fission of the Earth", will introduce an upgraded trade union system and achievements, encourage players to form a circle of friends. On the other hand, Blizzard also wants to give the game more flexibility and enough player adaptability. That is, in attracting very professional Ashes class players, but also to retain casual game enthusiasts. (Menghong) The following is a transcript of the dialogue between Sina technology and blizzard executives: Sina Technology: Blizzard is the world's most well-known gaming company. Many game companies take Blizzard and Blizzard's games as role models. From stand-alone to online games, Blizzard has been keeping ahead.　　On the 20 anniversary of such a memorable occasion, can you specifically talk about the important factors of blizzard success? Frank Pierce (Vice president of Blizzard, co-founder): At the foot of the bronze statue downstairs at our headquarters, the eight core values of Blizzard are engraved: excellence (commit to quality), fun first (gameplay), collection of ideas (every voice matters), honesty (play beautiful Play fair), based on the global (thought globally), King style (lead responsibly), life-long learning (learn and grow), embrace the real me (embrace Your　　Inner Geek). This is what I think is the most important factor and really contributes to the growth of our performance. For example, we are very concerned about the quality of their own game, give players a fascinating, immersive experience.　　At the same time, we also attach great importance to listen to the voice of the community, the player, in the process of development, our various departments, experience the game of employees, but also to the development team effective advice. Mike Morhaime (President and CEO of Blizzard, co-founder): I think the most important factor in the end, is our passion and focus on the game.　　For example, we are very encouraging staff to embrace the real me, that is, employees to really love the game in the heart, love products, we believe that as long as we provide users with a very good, very good experience, or a game we play is really love, users will love this game. Sina Technology: Blizzard All the way also have ups and downs, in 20 years, you think the hardest is when? The beginning of the day, or 2008 that year?　　What was the biggest threat from that time? Mike Morhaime: We're very lucky that blizzard, not the blizzard, saw very strong growth even in the midst of the economic crisis. In fact, that year was the fastest growing blizzard.One year. As for the most difficult time, I think it was the time of World of Warcraft just released. We weren't prepared for it, and we didn't expect so many people to play "World of Warcraft".　　To ensure the user experience, throughout the year, we spent a year upgrading our infrastructure and recruiting more people to expand our research and development teams and our entire company. Sina technology: In China, the main gaming companies rely on MMO to start, last year began their development into bottlenecks, homogenization, etc. were attributed to one of the reasons. At the same time, we noted that the results of the Blizzard show that MMO-type game growth also showed signs of slowing.　　From the perspective of industry development, what is the crux of the weakness of MMO? Mike Morhaime: For Blizzard Global and business in China, 2010 is a record year, we are very excited to see that China has finally launched the wrath of the Lich King.　　In the coming time, we are also very anxious to launch the "Earth fission", this information, once launched, for Blizzard in China's development is a strong catalyst. Frank Pierce:mmo bottlenecks are primarily determined by the quality of the game and the quality of the player experience. We believe that there will always be a big enough market space for good games. And the introduction of a good game can also bring a very favorable impact on the industry.　　For example, the future of the next generation of MMO, I believe will be able to bring a good impact on the industry, to help the entire industry grow. Sina Technology: At the 10 anniversary of Blizzard's inception, Morhaime has made accurate predictions about the future of the game, and the so-called next-generation MMO has begun to be mentioned at least a year ago.　　Just mentioned the next generation of MMO, standing on the 20 anniversary of the node, can again describe the next generation of the game will look like? Mike Morhaime: In fact, we've seen some new trends in the years of running World of Warcraft. We want to apply the lessons learned to the next generation of MMO. This includes social aspects, which means that users are playing with friends. Very importantly, we want to make the MMO a social network. It is important to have some of the content that you have played. Looking at the world's most important types of MMO, our sense is that you should not follow the traditional MMO format.　　That is, MMO is not necessarily a RPG game, it can create different experiences for players, recreate content, and redefine MMO games. Frank Pierce: There is also a very important point that the game must have a lot of flexibility to give the player adequate applicability. Not only can attract very professional Ashes class players, and casual game users will also feel very fun. For example, this is true of World of Warcraft, which includes the hardcore players, the fun of team replicas, and casual gamers, who can enjoy the fun of playing games with family members or friends who are not often seen. It's interesting to note that in World of Warcraft, we introduce new games to the Ashes class players, but soon casual players will be asked to be concerned. Sina technology: Just happened to talk about social issues. We see that Zynga, in a few years ' time, has already valued more than EA, the game company's second-most-viewed blizzard. This casual game may be seen as a short plate of blizzard.　　How do you see the rapid development of social and recreational games, especially in the context of Facebook's popularity? Mike Morhaime:facebook is really popular recently, people around the world basically have a homepage, all want to interact with other people more. Zynga is looking at the market blank and doing something related to Facebook.　　You can use this to share fun with your family and friends. In fact, the huge trend is that the experience of the game is interconnected, social and mobile, and the players can communicate with each other at any time, making it easier, easier and freer to communicate and share. The entry threshold for this market is very low.　　But I think that this big trend is just beginning, at this stage, many companies have not done their best. Overall, Blizzard is more focused on this trend, while Facebook and Zynga are more socially oriented. They will add more entertaining content on their own basis, and blizzard will inject more social elements.