Well, Blizzard is the news again, and once again, it’s not great.
This has not been a great year for Blizzard, and it has been highlighted in the last month. Everything from the blitzchung decision, to executives in contradiction with each other, to losing sponsorship money.
Now another issue with Blizzard has been reported, and it has to do with how the game developer ran the Grand Finals for the Mythic Dungeon International (MDI.)
MDI is a Blizzard esports series that features World of Warcraft players facing off as teams in a head to head race, finding out which team can finish a dungeon quicker.
The Grand Finals took place at Blizzcon 2019, the annual gaming convention put on by Blizzard, and the conditions were less than ideal, according to the champions Method EU.
The General Manager of the esports organization Method (which Method EU represents,) Darrie, wrote a statement and posted it via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/shutupdarrie/status/1193608142992662530
She starts it off by stating the fact that multiple members of Method EU asked her to make a statement.
Darrie mentions the prize pool controversy (click here to read about it), specifically how MDI and the Arena World Championship (AWC) competitors, another esports tournament that took place at Blizzcon, get paid significantly less than other Blizzard esports.
She points to cost-cutting by Blizzard as the reason for them not contributing to the prize pool.
She then mentioned a few specific examples of what Method EU players had to deal with at the Grand Finals.
Facilities were apparently atrocious for players, as they were only granted one official practice day before the tournament, an inadequate amount of food.
Tournament competitors had to find their own computer cafes to practice at since Blizzard didn’t offer facilities, which led to rival teams practicing next to each other. She cited a few more issues, including an impractical schedule for meal vouchers.
The last issue Darrie brought up was the inability of fans to watch the opening event. The pre-matches before Blizzcon, which took place a day before the official start of the convention, were played offline and was not broadcasted for fans.
The first main issues with MDI and AWC not being streamed for viewers is the loss of sponsorship money for players as fans can’t see them compete using the sponsored apparel. Secondly, the facts that the WoW esports fans that crowdfunded the event, couldn’t even watch it the opening.
She ends her statement by listing off the accomplishments of Method this year and thanking the WoW Esports Department.
It will be interesting to see what kind of response, if any, will be made by the game developer. Blizzard Esports players will be hoping this is a wake up called for Blizzard, and that they’ll plan the logistics better next time.
