Streamer Josh Strife Hayes is considered an MMORPG expert on YouTube. In a stream he now explains that Blizzard offered him a lot of money to promote the new expansion for World of Warcraft, The War Within, and why he declined.
What kind of deal was that?
“I would have met people and I’m sure they would have offered a truckload of money. The number of zeros on the contract was pretty impressive. But I just said: I don’t think my viewers want that.”
WoW: The War Within – All the big features of the new expansion
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YouTuber puts his content before personal luxury
Why did he refuse? The YouTuber explains that he simply doesn’t need a lot of money. If he had wanted to, he could have bought a Lamborghini two or three years ago or decorated his bathroom with gold.
That doesn’t interest him: it’s important to him that he creates timelessly good content and that he stands up for his principles. A deal that means he has to revoke statements he has made doesn’t suit him.
Strife Hayes says he has repeatedly positioned himself against what modern MMORPGs stand for, so he can’t make a deal with Blizzard now.
Does he generally reject sponsorships? No, he says he’s advertised products he can stand behind in the past, like Guild Wars 2.
And he currently has a deal with GOG, they give him CD keys and he says that he has keys from them. He believes that such deals, without a contract, are “gentlemen’s agreements” from which both sides benefit.
Josh Strife Hayes also has his price, it’s just very high
Would he promote WoW? Yes, he would. At about $10 million, he says, he would be weak.
Because then it would be about money that not only regulates his livelihood, but that of his family for 4 or 5 generations. He doesn’t plan on having children, but still.
He could then do something good with the money:
Ultimately it is a question: profit or integrity. How much would I sell my integrity for?
Strife Hayes says he doesn’t judge anyone who takes money to pay bills. But for him it was never his goal to earn as much money as possible as quickly as possible.
He comes from modest circumstances. His parents fought their way up from the working class to the middle class in Great Britain. They had a car and a house with a mortgage. He’s fine. And right now he says “no” to a lot of things because he’s all about developing the best content.
What bothers him so much about WoW? If you’ve followed Josh Strife Hayes for a while, it’s probably the pay model. Blizzard includes absolutely everything here: full price for expansions, subscription model and a cash shop. Blizzard also allows you to pay for each service separately.
Hayes probably just has trouble putting his face and name behind such a monetized product.
It could also be that, as an MMORPG expert, he doesn’t like going into the mainstream and promoting the top dog and not an indie gem.
As early as September 2023, Blizzard rejected Hayes because they wanted him to promote Hearthstone.
When asked how much advertising costs him, Hayes said nothing. He would like to promote Hearthstone for free. But the prerequisite is that they play a good game.
Instead of giving him money to praise Hearthstone, they should put the money into the game and improve it. An MMOPRPG that Hayes actually advertised is based on WoW: New MMORPG wants to bring back the golden age of WoW – Could actually be something