The BlizzCon 2019 is over. But surprises were absent. Through leaks, all information, sometimes down to the smallest detail, was already known beforehand. Diablo 4 had been known since November 2018, Overwatch 2 since June 2019 – even the WoW expansion had already been made known. Why are there so many leaks at Blizzard?
This was the problem with BlizzCon 2019: Everything was essentially fine with BlizzCon itself.
There were two big new announcements, expansions for the important games, and Blizzard immediately released the tension regarding the anger over the Hong Kong protests at the beginning of BlizzCon.
While specific release dates were missing, there were hardly any disappointments.
Nevertheless, BlizzCon 2019 had a major problem: the leaks.
It was practically known in detail what Blizzard would present at BlizzCon 2019. And that’s exactly how it turned out.
Whereas leaks used to often be just “wild fan speculations”, this time they were precise. Also because many of the leaks came from credible sources who had spoken directly with Activision Blizzard employees:
- The “main surprise” about Diablo 4 had been known since November 2018. The site Kotaku had revealed that Blizzard was working on Diablo 4, what kind of game it would be, and what the main ideas in the design would be (via kotaku)
- The second surprise “Overwatch 2” surfaced in June 2019. Here too, Kotaku learned from an anonymous source that it would be some kind of “PvE Overwatch”. (via kotaku)
All the beautiful secrets
Even the smaller announcements were leaked. Most of them did not come to light through the contacts of a journalist, but through serious mistakes by Blizzard employees or through indiscretion.
Thus, the Hearthstone expansion and the new mode were revealed shortly before BlizzCon by an analyst who had good contacts in Asia.
Much about the WoW expansion “Shadowlands” was already widely known from leaks. An employee had posted information from an internal presentation on 4Chan.
Further leaks shortly before BlizzCon made Shadowlands increasingly likely.
Advertising goes live too early – Blizzard sends out an email with secret information
Details about Diablo 4 came from an art book – an advertisement appeared too early in GameStar. Images of the art book then circulated before BlizzCon and confirmed Diablo 4, even before it was presented on stage.
Details about Overwatch 2 came from an email from Blizzard. They were leaked to ESPN. Author Breslau said to Kotaku: Blizzard had packed some of the most sensitive information about Overwatch 2 into a document and sent it to employees and freelancers of BlizzCon.
Then they noticed this, sent another email without the “secret information” and claimed to have only fixed a spelling mistake.
But the leak had already made it into the world – Blizzard had simply forwarded the wrong email to too large a distribution list.
Frustrated employees are not good secret keepers
Where do these leaks come from? The two main leaks probably stem from Blizzard’s difficult situation. There has been a rift at the company for several months. Since President Mike Morhaime announced his resignation in October 2018, things seem to have been awry.
There were layoffs in February 2019. Publisher Activision increasingly seems to be taking control of Blizzard. Because Blizzard is allegedly costing Activision too much money while hardly any new games are being developed.
This increased pressure and the layoffs seem to be causing stress and frustration among Blizzard employees.
Frustrated employees seem to be speaking anonymously to the US press:
- The information about Diablo 4 became known when everyone was criticizing Diablo Immortal. It is quite plausible that developers sought conversation to “set things right”
- The information about Overwatch 2 emerged just as a StarCraft shooter was canceled and people were laid off – perhaps these employees also felt a need to talk about their work
- The newer leaks likely stem from either silly mistakes or from the fact that confidentiality at Blizzard is not being taken as seriously anymore as in previous years
Due to the lousy atmosphere at Blizzard, which insiders have reported for some time, confidentiality does not seem to be as assured as in previous years.
How do the developers react to the leaks? On stage at BlizzCon, the main developers such as Ion Hazzikostas (WoW) or Jeff Kaplan (Overwatch) frequently referenced these leaks with a smile.
They humorously integrated them into their presentation and commented on them with a wink.
Kaplan later said in an interview (via pcgamer), that these leaks are extremely “demoralizing” for a team. Especially because they often present the work out of context or in poor quality.
