The January release of Warcraft 3: Reforged was a stunningly ugly affair. Despite being one of the most beloved RTS games of all time, the release of the long-awaited remastered version has sparked widespread outrage over everything from the cut content to the EULA, which claims exclusive rights to any mods and other content created for the game. It has sparked.

The situation is serious enough that Blizzard is now "refunding on request" to any Warcraft 3: Reforged owner who wants a refund, without the usual refund policy cap. In addition, during Activision's fourth quarter investor conference call today, Blizzard President J. Allen Black acknowledged that the situation is difficult, but said that Blizzard has not yet put an end to it.

"As for Warcraft 3: Reforged, it's been a bit of a hard week, to be honest. Our community came to expect something really great from us, and we heard from them that we didn't meet that hurdle," Brack said. [But] we stand behind our game and have consistently shown that we not only support the game, but that we will continue to make the game after launch. And we promise to do so here as well. We will continue to update the game and keep the community informed of our future plans."

However, it is unclear to what extent Blizzard is willing to address the complaints. According to an update posted earlier this week, bug fixes and various online features are in the works, and Blizzard promised to "continue to tweak" the game. But "tweaking" is unlikely to be enough: the complaints are on a more fundamental level, with promised but unfulfilled cutscene enhancements and interface improvements, the removal of features from the classic "Warcraft 3" with the release of "Reforged," and, as we noted in our angry commentary EULA, etc., which, as we stated, "is a blatant reminder that Blizzard is a company first and foremost, with legal language that puts profits before players."

Combined with the loss of goodwill from the fanbase over the past few years, especially in the wake of the Blitzchung controversy, Blizzard has a very steep mountain to climb.