The English-speaking World of Warcraft site WoW Insider was shut down by AOL yesterday. Today it is back under a new name and with its own flag, having reached its first funding goal after 6 hours.
As part of a restructuring at AOL (we reported), the US WoW site WoW Insider, the MMO site Massively, and the general gaming site Joystiq were closed yesterday.
At WoW Insider, it seems they were well prepared for the step. They immediately relaunched as Blizzard Watch. Under a new name and on their own, part of the old guard wants to give it another try: “Free from the chains of the corporation,” as Alex Ziebart writes, who was editor-in-chief at WoW Insider and is now his own boss at Blizzard Watch.
Through Patreon, a crowdfunding site where patrons, known as backers, pledge monthly support, they had already gathered the 8000 dollars a month needed for a “full service” after just 6 hours. Just a few hours later, the extended goal of 10,000 dollars a month was already surpassed. The site will also be supported by advertising.
Blizzard Watch aims to become structurally more open, free from the tight structures and constraints of AOL, to choose topics more freely and perhaps also report on other Blizzard games.
The MMO gaming site “massively” is also set to be revived by former employees on their own. However, they are not yet at the point of presenting a new site.
