As an analyst with a background in gaming and over two decades of industry experience, I find the progress Blizzard has made under Microsoft in their first full year to be quite impressive. The numbers speak for themselves – 8.34 billion game hours across all Blizzard games is no small feat.
2024 signifies the inaugural year with Microsoft in full control of Activision Blizzard, following the record-breaking gaming acquisition. Recently, Blizzard President Johanna Faries published a retrospective report highlighting the company’s advancements.
8.34 billion game hours across Blizzard games in 2024
2024 so far, the combined gameplay hours across all Blizzard games such as Diablo, Warcraft, and Overwatch, amounted to a staggering 8.34 billion hours. I’m quite confident that a significant portion of that was spent by me on Diablo 4, which ranked first in my Xbox Year in Review.
There’s a lot of waffling going on through Battle.net
2024 saw over 379 million messages being exchanged via Battle.net, which would require a continuous reading of 5 minutes per message for 60 years to complete them all. Given the abundance of “meet me” requests and conversations about expensive game items, that’s quite a stretch!
With Microsoft planning to bring several titles from their own studios onto Battle.net in 2025, including the unexpected launch of Avowed on the platform, it seems that next year could be even more bustling for Battle.net.
Warcraft Wow and Rumble statistics
As a tech enthusiast and die-hard World of Warcraft fan, I can’t help but share my excitement about the return of countless players this year with the release of the War Within expansion. It’s not exactly good news for the poor Spiders or Nerubians, as I alone claimed an astounding 4.5 billion lives in this latest chapter. This marks the beginning of a larger narrative arc, the Worldsoul Saga, which will span across another two expansions.
Hearthstone and Diablo
Hearthstone continues, as players skillfully showcase their Murloc minion prowess. Diablo 4 saw us slaying a record-breaking 1.7 trillion demons – though they haven’t shared if this number includes numerous attempts at Tormented Duriel for Mythic Unique rewards. Blizzard debuted Vessel of Hatred, the first in a series of expansions (as mentioned by Rod Ferguson), and it will be intriguing to see how 2025 shapes up with Path of Exile 2 entering the fray.
Diablo Immortal and Overwatch stats
480 million characters in Diablo Immortal have perished, which is ironic given its title, seemingly not so immortal after all. Conversely, Overwatch players have amassed an impressive 203 years’ worth of gameplay on the latest Clash maps. The beloved charity skin for Mercy has been a success too; the Pink Mercy campaigns from 2018 and this year have collectively donated $25 million to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).
“In our first full year as a part of Xbox, we’ve been thrilled to embrace our new community and to broaden access to Blizzard games.”
Johanna Faries joined Blizzard Entertainment in January of this year. Coming from management of the Call of Duty franchise under Activision Blizzard, this end-of-year note represents her first year at the helm of Blizzard.
“As I approach my first full year with Blizzard, I am filled with deep gratitude and inspiration. The powerful work that our teams have produced—both for our player communities around the world and for each other—is nothing short of amazing. It remains a daily honor to work alongside such a talented and dedicated group of people, who are the guiding force behind what makes Blizzard such a special place. I am incredibly grateful for their camaraderie and collaboration, feedback and guidance, resilience and creativity, and their commitment to excellence each and every day.”
You can check out the full blog post here, but Faries finishes her statement by acknowledging this first milestone for Blizzard as part of Xbox. “Beyond the tremendous achievements and milestone markers within our games and teams, we’ve also taken part in some pretty big developments. In our first full year as part of Xbox, we’ve been thrilled to embrace our new community and to broaden access to Blizzard games.”
Faries hints at more “2025 is poised to be another big year of new and exciting experiences to come.” I’m personally hoping that means another Diablo 4 expansion and more Blizzard games on Xbox Game Pass!
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2024-12-18 02:09