Tag: Overwatch

“Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment” is Coming from Jason Schreier on October 8, 2024

After releasing Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made in 2017 and Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry in 2021, investigative journalist Jason Schreier is getting ready to publish his next deep dive into the development side of video games.

Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment will explore Blizzard’s founding and its early years creating classics like Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft. But it’ll also tackle the company’s more recent woes as corporate intrigue surrounded its Irvine campus in the wake of its merger with Activision, as well as an examination of the sexual misconduct and discrimination lawsuits levied against the company, and Blizzard’s eventual acquisition by Microsoft in 2023.

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GQ Looks Backs at the 2010s in “The 17 Best Games That Shaped the Decade”

Just before the end of the year, the editors at GQ got together and published a look back at some of the “most important and best games” of the last decade. Here’s how they decided on which games to include:

Some of the best games we’ve ever seen came out in the past decade, but the 2010s were also the most turbulent, transformative, and revealing years for video games. Game development costs skyrocketed to new, unsustainable heights. Some games became never-ending, always online, services that you pay for in subscriptions. As advancements were made in public health care, indie game development flourished, and then regressed accordingly as it was dismantled. Games also reached beyond what was previously thought possible, delivering beautifully detailed worlds, touching and intimate narratives, and shared cultural experiences unlike any others. Here, according to the GQ staff, are the most important and best games of the decade.

“The 17 Best Games That Shaped the Decade” zigzagged it’s way through many of the titles that reshaped the game industry over the last ten years, as well as two that originally launched in Early Access in the previous decade (Derek Yu’s Spelunky and Mojang’s Minecraft). But which other games made the cut?

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Destructoid is Talking About “The Games that Defined the Decade” This Week

Destructoid’s staff combined forces this week to deliver “The Games that Defined the Decade,” a series of essays that looked back at some of the highlights of the last ten years.

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2016 GOTY Scoreboard: Overwatch, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and More

2016 was an absolutely wild year for video games.

After years in “Development Hell,” Doom (2016), Final Fantasy XV, and The Last Guardian were all finally finished and released. Even more surprising, Nintendo temporarily bowed out of the market as they put the Wii U on hiatus and prepared to move ahead with their mysterious NX console (which we now know as the Switch). And Blizzard jumped back into original console development in a big way with the launch of Overwatch.

As the recipient of three major awards (and more than a dozen awards from individual publications), Overwatch was head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the overall “Game of the Year” discussion last year, but a number of other games took home at least one prize in 2016.

You can see more of last year’s most-acclaimed titles, along with all of their “Game of the Year” accolades, after the break.

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Overwatch is “Game of the Year” at the 2016-2017 GDC Awards

Overwatch continues to rack up year-end awards for Blizzard Entertainment, and it picked up two more statuettes last night during the Game Developers Choice Awards.

After more than a month of deliberations, the GDC committee choose to bestow “Game of the Year” status on the team-based shooter, as well as “Best Design” for its colorful world.

Two other games collected multiple awards at last night’s GDC Awards. Playdead’s platformer, Inside, earned “Best Audio” and “Best Visual Art.” And later in the night, Campo Santo’s Firewatch was selected as “Best Debut” and its story was honored with “Best Narrative.”

“This year’s amazing slate of winners is a testament to the diversity of experiences in games,” said Meggan Scavio, General Manager of the Game Developers Conference.

Scavio added: “Pokemon Go [“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”] took gaming outdoors using AR, while Job Simulator [“Best VR/AR Game”] showed how lo-fi aesthetics could meet cutting edge tech for a winning VR experience. Overwatch once again proved Blizzard’s uncanny ability to make a perfectly balanced multiplayer game, and Inside delved deep into our dark psyches to unearth our scariest nightmares. These nominees speak to the strength of games as a medium, but also show the various textures and possible creative outlets that interactive entertainment can provide. Congrats to all of the winners and nominees for following their visions and thanks to all developers who strive to make amazing games for us day in and day out.”

The full list of winners and nominees from the 2016-2017 Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break.

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Overwatch Wins “Game of the Year” (and Three Other Awards) at 2016-2017 DICE Awards

Blizzard made their mark on last night’s DICE Awards presentation when Overwatch took home the trophy in four categories, including “Game of the Year.” The shooter was also honored as “Action Game of the Year,” as well as for “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design” and “Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay.”

It was also a good night for Naughty Dog, as the developer claimed four victories for their work on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End including “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Animation.”

The full list of winners and nominees from the 2016-2017 DICE Awards (including Pokemon Go for “Mobile Game of the Year,” Pokemon Sun and Moon for “Handheld Game of the Year,” and three awards for Inside ) can be found after the break.

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Overwatch Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2016 Game Awards

The 2016 Game Awards were filled with surprises, but I’m sure no one was shocked when Blizzard’s Overwatch walked away with the most statuettes last month, including the coveted “Game of the Year” prize. The popular online shooter also won the “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Game Direction” awards, as well as the fan-voted award for “Best eSports Game.”

Developers from Naughty Dog and id Software also had a good night as both studios collected two wins apiece. The familial tale at the center of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End won “Best Narrative,” while Nolan North won “Best Performance” for his final turn as Nathan Drake. Meanwhile, Doom blasted its way into the spotlight with wins in the “Best Music/Sound Design” and the “Best Action Game” categories.

Playdead’s Inside (“Best Art Direction” and “Best Independent Game”) and Pokemon Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game” and “Best Family Game”) also earned multiple awards at the 2016 Game Awards.

Congratulations to all the winners, and you can find a full list of all the winners and nominees after the break.

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