Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra would like to “tip” developers

Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra would like the option to “tip” developers once he’s completed a game.

Whilst acknowledging that “most will dislike this idea”, Ybarra says that when he beats a game, he has “often” thought, ‘I wish I could give these folks another $10 or $20 because it was worth more than my initial $70′”.

“I’ve thought about this idea for a while, as a player, since I’ve been diving into single player games lately,” Ybarra wrote on Twitter/X.

“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 $10 or $20 because it was worth more than my initial $70, and they didn’t try to nickel and dime me every second’.”

“Games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Gears of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, etc. 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.

“I know most will dislike this idea. [By the way], I realise we are tired of ‘tipping’ in everything else – but I view this different from a pressure to tip type scenario many face and give feedback on.”

His final comment likely reflects on “tip culture” and the perception that some industries use tipping to suppress wages of already overworked people, and some players have already opined that they would find it hard to trust publishers to share tips equally (if at all).

Following the departure of Ybarra, Blizzard recently announced its new president: Activision’s former general manager of its Call of Duty franchise, Johanna Faries.

Faries’ new position was announced a week after Microsoft confirmed layoffs at the start of the year. Her appointment marks the first new leader of the studio since Microsoft finally purchased Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in October, following almost two years of regulatory approvals and legal wrangling.