blizzard

Global subscribers to World of Warcraft crossed the 12 million mark, according to an announcement today from Activision Blizzard. After holding at 11.5 million subscribers for more than a year, some had assumed WoW had peaked. Between this announcement and the forthcoming expansion Cataclysm scheduled for release on December 7, we'd be willing to bet the venerable online role-playing game, which launched in 2004, will continue to grow.

In light of this announcement, it seems we need to update our calculations from earlier this week regarding WoW's likely longevity.

To recap, we're using Sony Online Entertainment'… Read more

Blizzard Entertainment sent word across the wires and its European press site this morning that Cataclysm, the next expansion of its World of Warcraft franchise, will hit stores and its own digital download service on December 7. Cataclysm will be the third expansion for the long-running role-playing game, and highlights of the new content include a redone and expanded version of the original game world, two new playable races, and a character level limit raised from 80 to 85.

If you're wondering just how long the 11.5-million-member-strong World of Warcraft will last, we turn to 1999's Everquest. … Read more

Activision Blizzard, which is prepping the release of M-rated Call of Duty: Black Ops later this year, has joined the games industry's fight against a California law that blocks the sale of violent video games to minors.

Back in 2005, California passed a law that banned the sale of "violent and inappropriate" video games to minors. At the time, the bill was challenged by the gaming industry, which said that it violated First Amendment rights. The bill was blocked by a U.S. District Court in 2005 and again by the U.S. Appeals Court in 2009.

Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case on November 2. In preparation, Activision Blizzard has filed a "friend-of-the-court" brief to show its support for the games industry. The industry is also supported by 10 state attorneys general, Activision said.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is outspoken about the California law.

"Our First Amendment has survived intact for 219 years amid far greater technological, historical and social challenges," Kotick said today in a statement. "The argument that video games present some kind of new ominous threat that requires a wholesale reassessment of one of our nation's most treasured freedoms, and to take that freedom away indiscriminately from an entire group of our population based on nothing but age, is beyond absurd."… Read more

The long-awaited sequel StarCraft II is easily the biggest PC game release of the 2010, with millions of players around the globe waiting to sign on and engage in massive galactic battles. Being a pop-culture ephemerist, however, I was more interested in what kinds of trinkets and extras came packed into the fancy Collector's Edition of the game, which, handily, just landed on my desk.

Though the basic boxed (or downloadable) version of StarCraft II costs $59--the current standard for mainstream games--the Collector's Edition runs $99, and comes in a large box made of heavy laminated cardboard. Packed … Read more

The release of Starcraft II not only signifies what's arguably the most notable PC game release in a while, but also marks one of the longest periods of time in between two franchise releases (not counting expansion packs). After 12 years, developer Blizzard Entertainment is finally set to release the follow-up to the 1998 real-time-strategy instant classic, Starcraft.

Set in a far-off galaxy in the 26th century, Starcraft II has three chapters, the first of which (Wings of Liberty) will release July 27. Later on, two expansion packs will add on to the game, fleshing out the fate of … Read more

We're hearing from more folks that AT&T is giving our free microcells to make up for its lousy service. Oh, and so is Verizon. Plus: Apple's Toyota moment, Windows XP gets a reprieve until 2020, and the undead crash their car.

Game developer Blizzard has backed down on a plan to require users of its official online forums to register with real names, just days after announcing the move.

The shift, announced Friday in a message posted to the company's forums, followed a firestorm of criticism from users expressing privacy concerns.

"We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums," Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, wrote in the Friday post. "As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums."

Morhaime stressed that the real-name requirement was not to be confused with the optional in-game Real ID system that's now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. That system is a voluntary, optional level of identity designed to keep players connected even outside of games with features such as cross-game and cross-realm chat and real names on friends lists.

Forum users met Morhaime's announcement with hundreds of pages of messages, many of them thanking Blizzard ("Fantastic. Thanks for restoring my faith in you guys," read one post typical of the mood on the boards. Read another: "The little guy wins!").

Some, however, tempered their relief with caution. "Although I certainly am grateful for the announcement, I...am concerned about the use of 'At This Time,'" wrote another poster. "This is definitely code for "At some point, we may consider trying again." … Read more

If you find that your employees are goofing off watching porn at work instead of working, does it make logical sense that you should get rid of the porn, or the employee? Exactly. Of course, the government doesn't see it that way, but they're the ones who encoded their like, 900-word mission statement into the U.S. CyberCommand shield. Sigh.

Blizzard boasts one of the largest, most engaged user communities of any game developer in the world. The benefits of such a following are obvious, but the downside becomes similarly stark when the company runs afoul of its user base.

The company on Tuesday unveiled its new Real ID system, a service that allows friends to easily follow each other's activities in Blizzard games like World of Warcraft. It also introduces cross-game chat and social-networking features that let users see not just their friends, but also their friends' friends.

However, Blizzard is requiring users to register for the service … Read more