What Is Blizzard Entertainment Worth It?

With last year’s release of Overwatch, a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter game, there is no doubt that Blizzard Entertainment has outdone itself again. The company that once started as Silicon & Synapse in 1991, and primarily specialized in making game ports has now become one of the leading game developing companies in the world. The story of the transition from Silicon & Synapse to Blizzard Entertainment is a long and interesting one; however, it is one worth knowing. One of the very first games that the company produced was RPM Racing in 1991 , published by Interplay Entertainment, and is said to be the first American developed game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Soon after, in 1993 followed the release of ‘The Lost Vikings’ and ‘Rock N’ Roll Racing’, and by the end of the year, the company not only changed its name to Chaos Studios, but also saw an expansion in projects, staff and office space. Consequently,

Most of Blizzard’s games are widely available in digital form. As a result, Blizzard has been witnessing a decline in revenue from Product Sales for the past 4 years, and an increase in revenue from Subscriptions and Licensing (SEC 10-K, 2016). Digitizing not only helped cut costs, but it also allowed access to a wider array of users. This is partly the reason why today, Blizzard Entertainment is one of the few companies that has been successful in entering, gaining, and maintaining popularity in the Asian market (China, Japan, and Korea). Moreover, the company has been outstanding in catering to the needs of its consumers, by using their constructive feedback. Hence, new patches and upgrades are rolled out frequently, keeping the current users engaged, as well as attracting new users. This is the primary reason that their games are a success to this day - user importance &