[2022] Are content creators more important than players?

It’s a fair question.

The nature of the relationship between us and creators vs. us and the broader community is essentially apples and oranges. Our team (community) views content creators as professional partners, and we manage that relationship similar in nature to how we view our relationship with other business partners.

The difference is, these business partners have tied their success to not only the game, but also the community. We’ve been focusing on building trust and confidence from the creator community, improving communication, giving lead time so that they can prepare content to be ready in way that’s coordinated with our announcements and major news, and creating regular check-ins with both the community team and T4.

Their needs are very different, but ultimately everyone benefits if we have a better relationship with content creators. Players get timely content from their favorite channels, creators feel confident in building their audience and community with us, and our announcements and major beats have a better chance of the message being shared farther and broader.

I want to acknowledge that I understand folks who disagree with this approach, and 5 years ago, the way the industry viewed content creators was very different. Today, it’s to our benefit to treat them as trusted partners whenever possible.

To directly address some of the common feedback I’ve seen;

• a desire for more frequent updates: this is something I’ve heard loud and clear. Not much more to say here other than you all saw Mike’s tweet yesterday.
• to hear news at the same time as content creators: for several reasons, this isn’t feasible. Content creators, whenever possible, need additional lead time to create videos, write scripts, and line their schedules up with our communicated embargo dates. I’ve laid out some of why this is important above.

Moving forward, I’d urge folks to think of our relationship with the OW Creator Community as part of our publishing planning, just as our own videos, blogs, and messaging planning is. Working with creators to make sure official OW news is spread far and wide, throughout our global community.

It’s not a zero sum question.

Players are important
Content creators are important

The way we serve the needs of these groups are different.

Respectfully, this just isn’t true. The average player’s financial success doesn’t hinge on their relationship with the developers of any given game.

I want to be very clear that the forum community isn’t made up of nobodies. Jodie and I devote a significant part of our weeks solely to forum interaction and feedback gathering.

It’s been great to get to know all of you over the last several months. Even the folks who like to consistently hold our feet to the flame are valued and respected, and I really look forward to the day we can finally meet some of you all, whenever events like BlizzCon end up returning.

There’s a certain point where what I say about what’s happening behind the scenes starts to spoil the efforts and countless hours of work of all of the people who would be involved in our major beats and announcements.

I’m not Mike Y, and don’t have the latitude to discuss certain things. I know y’all want news and information with more details. I’m not particularly keen on making promises without something of substance to show for it (yesterday’s statement notwithstanding).

This is something I agree with, and will take accountability for. I didn’t quite anticipate the creator response coming out of the call that folks are commonly referencing.

Moving forward we’ll be more discrete, so as not to build hype and excitement before it’s time.

I understand, and to be honest, I wish we could have a 1:1 relationship with every OW content creator in the same way we do with what roughly the top 15-20% of our creator community.

I mentioned this to you in another thread, but it’s on me to define how we support content creators at each step of their journey. Nothing else to share here, aside from that it’s something I’m working on.

YouTube metrics and Twitch analytics are only a single data point in how we decide how to support creators.

My first 3 months on the job consisted of dozens of 1:1 calls with content creators from all backgrounds (among other things). During those calls, these creators shared with me what frustrates them, what they need from us, and what could be leading them to moving away from Overwatch content.

Anyone who has been in a management/leadership/vision setting position knows that strategies and their associated tactics take months to formulate, means test, and drive alignment behind. Taking in data from as many different sources as possible is an integral part of that process.

Listen, I hear what you’re saying, but let’s put a pin in this and circle back offline. We really need to be thinking outside of the box here, and working to drive synergy across all verticals.

Excuse me now…I need a shower.

Just to clarify one thing: decisions like that aren’t made solely by me, without taking in feedback and listening to the concerns of my team, peers, and manager.

I’m not always going to make the right choice, and when I screw up I’ll accept accountability with the community. Also keep in mind that what is “right” to do can be completely subjective, based on where you’re looking at it from. It just so happens that Jodie and I’s viewpoint has to incorporate both the needs of the community, and the OW team.

To help give a demonstration on why this is important, I have been creating video content for a different non-Blizzard game that is currently in development. No content creator there gets information in advance right now (though this is likely to change in the near-future as that game ramps closer to its launch). Right now, there was some news posted in that game’s official social channels, and I am right now busy making a video on it, but I don’t expect to have it done until tomorrow. I would also note I had to change my schedule and plans for the day based on this news coming up earlier than expected. So my free time I had tonight is now gone.

I wanted to drop a note to say that I appreciate the conversation we’ve been having here. It’s an important one, and I think has been long overdue here on the forums.

I have been reading and processing all of your thoughts here. I understand the frustration some folks have expressed, and do sincerely appreciate the passion and dedication to this game and community. The fact that you care enough about the world we’ve built together to share your feelings with us is always a reminder that, ultimately, we all want the same thing.

Another thing I want to point out on my own behalf is that while I am creating video content for another game in development, I don’t consider myself actively creating content for Overwatch directly. With maybe the exception of balance change comparison videos, I rather use my own skills to generate support for everyone in the Overwatch community. This includes helping with tech issues, maintaining the dev post directory, helping with streaming reward drops and OWL token drops, etc.

I would also like to remind everyone, that forum MVPs which includes me are not representatives of Blizzard. You all can learn more about the MVP program in the link below. I have my own voice and my own opinions, but I tend to keep a wide-open understanding of the desires of the Overwatch Community Team and the Overwatch Development Team. There are parts that I don’t agree with in terms of the overall design philosophy of Overwatch, and right now I haven’t been playing much because there hasn’t been too much to engage with in the game myself. That’s okay because I have faith more fun things are coming for Overwatch in the near future (and I say that with absolutely no insight to what the future really holds).