Former Blizzard boss wants fans to “tip” developers for games like ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’

Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra has said players should be able to tip developers.

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Taking to social media Ybarra, who stepped down from Blizzard earlier this year, explained that he wanted the option to “tip” developers after completing a game.

“When I beat a game, there are some that just leave me in awe of how amazing the experience was. At the end of the game, I’ve often thought ‘I wish I could give these folks another £8 ($10) or £16 ($20) because it was worth more than my initial £56 ($70) and they didn’t try to nickel and dime me every second’,” he explained.

He then went on to praise Horizon Zero Dawn, God Of War, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring. “I know $70 is already a lot, but it’s an option at the end of the game I wish I had at times. Some games are that special.”

He went on to admit that “many” will dislike the idea though.

I've thought about this idea for a while, as a player, since I've been diving into single player games lately.

When I beat a game, there are some that just leave me in awe of how amazing the experience was. At the end of the game, I've often thought "I wish I could give these…

— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) April 11, 2024

“Or you could share more of the profit with the devs instead of asking more from the consumer,” wrote one fan, with another adding: “I often play a game and am disappointed. Can I get my money back?”

Earlier this year, Ubisoft defended the £50 price tag for live-service title Skull & Bones, calling it a quadruple-A game while Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch has told IGN he believes that price-point will go the way of the Dodo. “I just don’t think it’s sustainable”.

Ybarra’s departure from Blizzard came as 1900 members of staff were let go from a number of Activision Blizzard studios. Microsoft also confirmed that the survival game Blizzard announced in 2022 has been cancelled with some members of staff shifting to work on “one of several promising new projects Blizzard has in the early stages of development.”

Hitting out at the number of layoffs across the gaming industry, Larian’s head of production David Walgrave said onstage at the DICE Awards: “There’s an expression in Dutch—’honesty lasts longest. We don’t make decisions where we think ‘this could make us the most money’ [because] in the long run, building a community, building a playerbase, building games that are actually fun is going to make you the most money, that’s it.”

In other news, a number of Fallout games have had a huge spike in players following the launch of Amazon Prime Video’s take on the franchise.

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