“And when your console gaming overlords continue making less software for the consoles and focus their efforts on a digital future that can be found elsewhere, and you wonder why your overlords aren’t focusing their efforts on developing games for the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3, I’ll be happy to respond with the computer fanboy response: Now you fuckers get to know how we felt for the last six years. Enjoy.”

“Such easy access to free-to-play games to a large number of PC gamers is bound to harm the traditional MMO market, but Valve stands to earn a lot more than EA by 2025; even if most of those free-to-play games are not Valve’s own.”

“And they’ll be like, “If you don’t like it, don’t buy it! That’s how the free market works! God! Stop hating America, daddy!” And then I’ll say, “Eh. I tried.””

“With these tools, Blizzard Entertainment could lash against all of the third-party entities (legal, illicit, immoral, ethical and elsewise) that had helped to make their games a worldwide phenomenon.”

“But now, the two hottest properties in video games were making millions (and eventually billions) by corralling their audiences into networks where companies could control the terms of engagement. The industry was taking notice.”

“In order to remain the biggest computer video game developer in the world, Blizzard would have to make a fundamental shift in their business strategy.”

“Blizzard’s games were now so popular that people were playing them in front of television audiences. It was all thanks to Battle.net.”

“From [here], you can learn how this company built the most successful online gaming portal in retail video games. And from there, you can learn how Blizzard Entertainment (and the video game industry) got this crazy idea of defending their intellectual property at all costs.”

“…I am being downright pleasant when I call Microsoft’s 2011 outing one of the most dreadful in the history of the convention.”

“Class dismissed. If you have any lengthy, in-depth questions, feel free to ask them. Don’t worry. Call of Duty isn’t going to change while you’re doing that.”

“When [Microsoft] could no longer profit from the apex of an open-source computer video game market, they built a closed system and called it the Xbox.”

“Well, see, I don’t care for authority. Especially not when that authority is built by a custom map for people who weren’t good enough to play Warcraft III and then that custom map fosters a community with a disgusting sense of elitism.”

“In order to establish a different skill set, Counter-Strike was ultimately a simpler game (i.e. containing fewer game rules) than the shooters that had preceded it.”

“Video games are serious fucking business and I fully intend to prove it. Let’s talk shooters.”