3 ms·

I wonder how Blizzard is feeling about throwing in with the CCP right about now

by brundolf 5y ago

rolobio 5y ago
Probably having a hard time thinking straight with all the piles of money around them?
- brundolf 5y ago
  Their massive, important new market for expansion just got a whole lot smaller
  - rolobio 5y ago
    This only effects children. Plenty of room to expand into adults, for now.
- blibble 5y ago
  they've lost 50% of their users in 4 years and this was before the recent PR disaster
  - jayd16 5y ago
    Probably has little to do with China.
    - blibble 5y ago
      which is why this decision will be such a blow they made the calculation that losing some percentage of their western markets to appease the CCP was worth it and now they're going to lose that too couldn't happen to a group of nicer people
  - mbesto 5y ago
    > they've lost 50% of their users in 4 years Blizzard maybe, but Blizzard is owned by ATVI and are still growing top line revenue QoQ: https://www.reuters.com/companies/ATVI.OQ/financials/income-statement-quarterly https://www.reuters.com/companies/ATVI.OQ/financials/income-... So, yes the company is technically still in "piles of cash" ($2.8B net cash from operations in 2020 for example).
zpeti 5y ago
They are probably too busy pretending to be activist and on the side of minorities in the western world, ie taking zero risks pretending to be virtuous. In the meantime the actual authoritarians who are persecuting religions and minorities are walking all over them and getting them to comply.
- bopbeepboop 5y ago
  I find it interesting how many companies “condemn mistreatment of minorities” in the US… then are silent on Chinese treatment of the Uyghurs. Where is Blizzards statement that Chinese abuse of Uyghurs is wrong? — where are the protest banners and digital events?
bArray 5y ago
> I wonder how Blizzard is feeling about throwing in with the CCP right about now I'm wondering how many foreign investors in the Chinese market are feeling right now. They were warned over and over again, and continued to invest with the promise of short-term gains. This exact lack of foresight caused the 2008 financial crisis and will continue to cause many other financial disasters in the future. A few good rules I've heard are 1) Don't invest in a Country that won't easily give you a visa, 2) Only invest in Countries that have stable and accountable governments (democracies), 3) Diversify to prevent a single point of failure. The same reason you cannot negotiate with the Taliban is the same reason you cannot reason with the CPP. You cannot reason with a state led purely by an ideology. Ultimately, push comes to shove, the ideology blindly comes first. If Capitalism fails at all but one thing, it's that it is able to admit it's own failures and adapt, even co-exist with other ideologies if allowed. Where does this leave the HN startup? Consider investing locally into people and systems you can trust and understand. As some of the largest and oldest companies know, stability can be better in the long-run at the cost of profit margins.
bigbillheck 5y ago
They're having too much fun harassing employees to care.
scruple 5y ago
Doesn't Tencent flat out own Riot? I'd be much more interested in understanding what they (Tencent) think of this.
- firebird84 5y ago
  No, they own a significant minority stake.
  - dxhdr 5y ago
    They acquired the entire company in 2015. You are probably thinking of Epic Games.

I wonder how Blizzard is feeling about throwing in with the CCP right about now

rolobio 5y ago

Probably having a hard time thinking straight with all the piles of money around them?

brundolf 5y ago
Their massive, important new market for expansion just got a whole lot smaller
- rolobio 5y ago
  This only effects children. Plenty of room to expand into adults, for now.
blibble 5y ago
they've lost 50% of their users in 4 years and this was before the recent PR disaster
- jayd16 5y ago
  Probably has little to do with China.
  - blibble 5y ago
    which is why this decision will be such a blow they made the calculation that losing some percentage of their western markets to appease the CCP was worth it and now they're going to lose that too couldn't happen to a group of nicer people
- mbesto 5y ago
  > they've lost 50% of their users in 4 years Blizzard maybe, but Blizzard is owned by ATVI and are still growing top line revenue QoQ: https://www.reuters.com/companies/ATVI.OQ/financials/income-statement-quarterly https://www.reuters.com/companies/ATVI.OQ/financials/income-... So, yes the company is technically still in "piles of cash" ($2.8B net cash from operations in 2020 for example).

zpeti 5y ago

They are probably too busy pretending to be activist and on the side of minorities in the western world, ie taking zero risks pretending to be virtuous. In the meantime the actual authoritarians who are persecuting religions and minorities are walking all over them and getting them to comply.

bopbeepboop 5y ago
I find it interesting how many companies “condemn mistreatment of minorities” in the US… then are silent on Chinese treatment of the Uyghurs. Where is Blizzards statement that Chinese abuse of Uyghurs is wrong? — where are the protest banners and digital events?

bArray 5y ago

> I wonder how Blizzard is feeling about throwing in with the CCP right about now I'm wondering how many foreign investors in the Chinese market are feeling right now. They were warned over and over again, and continued to invest with the promise of short-term gains. This exact lack of foresight caused the 2008 financial crisis and will continue to cause many other financial disasters in the future. A few good rules I've heard are 1) Don't invest in a Country that won't easily give you a visa, 2) Only invest in Countries that have stable and accountable governments (democracies), 3) Diversify to prevent a single point of failure. The same reason you cannot negotiate with the Taliban is the same reason you cannot reason with the CPP. You cannot reason with a state led purely by an ideology. Ultimately, push comes to shove, the ideology blindly comes first. If Capitalism fails at all but one thing, it's that it is able to admit it's own failures and adapt, even co-exist with other ideologies if allowed. Where does this leave the HN startup? Consider investing locally into people and systems you can trust and understand. As some of the largest and oldest companies know, stability can be better in the long-run at the cost of profit margins.

bigbillheck 5y ago

They're having too much fun harassing employees to care.

scruple 5y ago

Doesn't Tencent flat out own Riot? I'd be much more interested in understanding what they (Tencent) think of this.

firebird84 5y ago
No, they own a significant minority stake.
- dxhdr 5y ago
  They acquired the entire company in 2015. You are probably thinking of Epic Games.