In a sad turn of events, but not exactly surprising, the President of Blizzard responded to the petition calling for Blizzard to support Linux, the answer is obvious, but what's sad is the response from the petition creator.
Here's the official response to Blizzard not being on Linux:
QuoteI certainly appreciate your passion and enthusiasm around this. Those are some great comments that you have included below, but the numbers just aren’t there right now. Linux usage represents less than 2% of installed desktop operating systems browsing the web, and I would assume most of those people also have access to a Windows or Mac device capable of playing Blizzard games.
We will continue to monitor the growth of Linux, but it is very unlikely that this will be something that we pursue in the near future.
I think we all saw that coming, but here's the sad part, in public directly below this the petition owner said this:
QuoteI am not sure just what the hell Morhaime is smoking but obviously he needs to stop or change to a different plant. How can he say we are under 2% when there is no concrete evidence to prove it. He also can not seem to grasp the fact that the reason why some of use are stuck using Windows is because of Blizzard and not because we love using Windows.
One thing is for sure, I am gonna have to work harder if I am going to break through that thick head of his.
Will keep you posted.
That's a perfect way to make sure Blizzard never respond to that petition again. This also gives them fuel to continue to not support us, if that is the attitude of people who try to represent us.
I think we all need to ask ourselves what Andrew (the petition creator) "is smoking". It was a perfectly reasonable response from Blizzard, and I didn't even expect Blizzard to respond until the petition was much bigger.
Blizzard, we aren't all like this, and please do not think that person speaks for us, as they do not. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
When I was a WoW SUPER MEGA ADDICT Player I have to admit that I didnt have a clue if there were other games out there than WoW... 
I had only two icons on my Desktop, Firefox and WoW nothing else :D
So Windows, basic was just acting as a launcher for me to execute these 2 applications...
Steam? What? 7 years playing wow never installed Steam not even to try and play the free games...
After some events/incidents I was getting frustrated by windows, I had stooped as well playing wow ,so I installed Linux :D
At start Linux was not easy , had some issues but after a a period of 6 months I got addicted to Linux <3 ^_^ and I am not going back to Windows EVER!!!
I had only two icons on my Desktop, Firefox and WoW nothing else :D
So Windows, basic was just acting as a launcher for me to execute these 2 applications...
Steam? What? 7 years playing wow never installed Steam not even to try and play the free games...
After some events/incidents I was getting frustrated by windows, I had stooped as well playing wow ,so I installed Linux :D
At start Linux was not easy , had some issues but after a a period of 6 months I got addicted to Linux <3 ^_^ and I am not going back to Windows EVER!!!
2 Likes, Who?
Not a big deal, I would rather being playing dying light and shadow of Mordor any day over any of the titles on their web page, Enjoyed star craft 2 a couple of years ago, I generally think WOW is more a sub based pay2win chat room than an actual game.
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PublicNuisance Mar 11, 2015
While the petition creator had a childish response he did have a very valid point. There are around 125 million steam users at current according to Wikipedia. Now of that 1.02% are Linux as of last month. There are around 7 billion people on the planet. Are we to believe that out of that 6 800 000 000 people who don't use Steam, a good chunk of which have access to the internet, that Linux doesn't have more than 2% of that very large number ? I just find it hard to believe. There is no hard data either way. If Blizzard doesn't wish to support Linux then they should just say so. It would be better than coming up with this weird less than 2% argument that in no way can be proven.
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Quoting: liamdaweYou realise developers, publishers, ceo's, and the like are human too right?Seldom a newsarticle is made for the sole purpose of showing we're not some guy who's obviously extremely frustrated with the views of modern gaming companies. And it's one of these rare cases I'm inclined to respond.
We aren't "kissing some body parts" of anyone here, we are being realistic, and not trying to burn bridges with developers. That's an extremely childish response from you. Sad to see people commenting like that here.
We respect Blizzard's decision.
While I'm not going to argue on whether you're kissing body parts or not, I do think you jumped the gun with a massive title that isn't even close to doing the situation justice. I've emailed blizzard before, I've spent time on their forums before and when this petition came up, I knew that any effort there is completely wasted. I guess it doesn't hurt to be hopeful but alas.
We're talking about a company here that has OpenGL in nearly all of their games and even have a WoW linux client that they flat out REFUSE to release. These guys are simply not interested in bringing you (the Linux gamer) content anymore. Hell, if anything, Diablo 3 has shown they are no longer interested in bringing anyone decent content. What they want, and what they will want is just your money. And less than 1% extra revenue is not going to affect their minds the slightest.
Having been a Linux gamer for over 15 years now, I very well know and understand the petitioner's frustration and I can very well understand why he's writing in the tone he has. And after this long of a while, even after repeated resources show that the Linux market can be profitable, to essentially get the finger (because that is what Blizzard did) the petitioner is well within his rights to send it right back at them.
So I'm hoping you'd bring at least a little more understanding to the petitioner's situation. He's putting in a great deal of effort, he gets belittled by almost everyone everywhere and gets an additional kick in the nuts for good measure. For you people to stab him in the back because you don't like his tone is extremely disrespectful.
Yes I understand the developers at Blizzard are mere mortals, but the mere mortals at Techland, Aspyr and others have much more heart for their cause; which is something this blog should emphasize if anything.
2 Likes, Who?
That fallout is very saddening. True, Blizzard's CEO answer hurts, and I guess that triggered such response, but I would just shrug it off, drink cool water, take a walk and then post something. Life is life, and there's so much else we can do with Linux gaming before falling into despair like this.
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As for market share....I really don't know....either we can't measure our numbers predictably or we are still around 1% as all web statistics show. Even if we are specific market, it is PITA for companies to access when there's much easier targets around.
Edit: But also I would like to point out that Blizzard is just very bad example. This company has changed their views and is greed mode at this moment. They won't waste even little money on something obscure as Linux port because their shareholders might not approve it.
As for petitioner - he needs to apologize, shrug it off and move on. Blizzard got under his skin. It happens.
Edit: But also I would like to point out that Blizzard is just very bad example. This company has changed their views and is greed mode at this moment. They won't waste even little money on something obscure as Linux port because their shareholders might not approve it.
As for petitioner - he needs to apologize, shrug it off and move on. Blizzard got under his skin. It happens.
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Quoting: reaVerHaving been a Linux gamer for over 15 years now, I very well know and understand the petitioner's frustration and I can very well understand why he's writing in the tone he has. And after this long of a while, even after repeated resources show that the Linux market can be profitable, to essentially get the finger (because that is what Blizzard did) the petitioner is well within his rights to send it right back at them.
How long you have been a Linux gamer isn't an issue, and it doesn't mean anything, to anyone. Neither does how long I've been one (but it has been a number of years for me obviously as well).
I love the Blizzard games, but I wouldn't even think of acting the way he did, and certainly not in public on the petition I would be trying rally support for.
Quoting: reaVerSo I'm hoping you'd bring at least a little more understanding to the petitioner's situation. He's putting in a great deal of effort, he gets belittled by almost everyone everywhere and gets an additional kick in the nuts for good measure. For you people to stab him in the back because you don't like his tone is extremely disrespectful.
A little more understanding? Some random guy pastes his petition everywhere, so we decided (against my better judgment, and only because regular people visiting GOL requested it) to post an article on it to our front page, and thus giving our support of it.
That tiny petition got an open and honest response from none other than the President of Blizzard, and the petition owner responds with what he did, how exactly should we understand?
QuoteYes I understand the developers at Blizzard are mere mortals, but the mere mortals at Techland, Aspyr and others have much more heart for their cause; which is something this blog should emphasize if anything.We give everyone equal footing. No developer is above or beneath another simply because they don't feel we make business sense just yet.
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: liamdaweQuoteYes I understand the developers at Blizzard are mere mortals, but the mere mortals at Techland, Aspyr and others have much more heart for their cause; which is something this blog should emphasize if anything.We give everyone equal footing. No developer is above or beneath another simply because they don't feel we make business sense just yet.
I think if it was developer responding - first, answer would be less "screw you, you are not registering on our greed radar" and petitioner's response would be less toxic as well. However, it was president and it was full on "you are niche and you will stay niche" mode. I don't approve his answer. But I can easily see what triggered such comment from petitioner. He needs to apologize if he wants to do any good. But I understand how he feels.
1 Likes, Who?
How can you get frustrated about this? I've seen dozens and dozens of petitions and not a single one I'm aware of has had an effect on anything. There is nothing to be surprised about. Also, if you are serious about doing these petitions you have to stay civil. Basic human interaction 101.
5 Likes, Who?
Quoting: GuestBobby Kotick and Activision have been blocking Linux games since he took over the company, why did we ever think they/he would allow Blizzard to?
My guess is, he is under some kind of contract with Microsoft and Apple to stop Linux taking over.
This theory about Microsoft and Apple is ridiculous.
I want to remind you that Activision was one of the first companies that decided to cooperate with Loki to port games to Linux. They allowed Loki to port their games to Linux x86, and they even allowed them to port games to niche platforms like Linux PowerPC, Linux Sparc, and Linux Alpha.
I think that Activision do not want to lose money again, and perhaps people from Blizzard can not decide about it. I think that we have many big companies who supported Linux in the past, and they do not want to make this decision again. They consider Linux as the experiment for games, and we should not buy games from them.
I read a lot of comments about WoW for Linux, but I did not notice anything about their old games for Linux. I will be happy if they start to port games like The Lost Vikings to Linux,
Similarly, I do not see to many people interested in the open source projects e.g. Wargus, Freeablo, because ten years ago I did not even dream that I will have chance to play e.g. Morrowind on Linux.
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