Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment® is the company that created the internationally renowned Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo series of gaming software.

Organization
Since the early 2000s, Blizzard's development staff is divided into numerically-designated team, each in accordance with a specific game (e.g. Team 1 has focused on StarCraft II). The company also employs "strike teams" who move from project to project to offer feedback. This also ensures some coherency exists between the development staff and the company's culture remains intact. A "design council" also exists which is a gathering of all of the game directors and lead designers throughout the company.

Core Values
Blizzard Entertainment lists its eight core values on their mission statement page:


 * 1) Gameplay first
 * 2) Commit to quality
 * 3) Play nice; play fair
 * 4) Embrace your inner geek
 * 5) Every voice matters
 * 6) Think globally
 * 7) Lead responsibly
 * 8) Learn and grow

History
Blizzard turned 20 years old in 2012. Its history is recorded on a timeline on its own site here. Chris Metzen has expressed the idea that Blizzard has had at least two distinct eras (pre and post-World of Warcraft) and a third area has begun with the development of smaller games.

Relationship with Activision Blizzard
Vivendi Games, the former publisher for Blizzard Entertainment, was the majority shareholder of Activision Blizzard. Almost no change is expected at Blizzard Entertainment, and it and Activision will continue to exist as separate entitites. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. will remain as Blizzard's brand.

Conferences
Blizzard Entertainment has conferences for Blizzard announcements and demonstrations, known as the Blizzard Entertainment World Wide Invitational and BlizzCon. The first WWI was held in Seoul, South Korea on May 19 and 20, 2007 when Blizzard officially announced StarCraft II. Paris, France hosted the second Invitational on June 28 and 29, 2008.

Released

 * 1991 - RPM Racing
 * 1992 - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I (Amiga port)
 * 1992 - Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess (Amiga port)
 * 1992 - Castles (Amiga port)
 * 1992 - Battle Chess (Windows port)
 * 1992 - MicroLeague Baseball (Amiga port)
 * 1992 - Lexi-Cross (Macintosh port)
 * 1992 - Dvorak on Typing (Macintosh port)
 * 1992 - The Lost Vikings
 * 1993 - Rock N' Roll Racing
 * 1993 - Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye
 * 1994 - Blackthorne
 * 1994 - The Death and Return of Superman
 * 1994 - The Lost Vikings 2 (SNES version)
 * 1994 - Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
 * 1995 - Justice League Task Force
 * 1995 - Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
 * 1996 - Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal
 * 1996 - Diablo
 * 1997 - Warcraft II: The Dark Saga
 * 1998 - Diablo (PSX version)
 * 1998 - StarCraft
 * 1998 - StarCraft: Brood War
 * 1999 - Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition
 * 2000 - StarCraft 64
 * 2000 - Diablo II
 * 2001 - Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
 * 2002 - Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
 * 2003 - Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
 * 2004 - World of Warcraft
 * 2007 - World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
 * 2008 - World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
 * 2010 - StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
 * 2010 - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
 * 2012 - Diablo III
 * 2012 - World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
 * 2013 - StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
 * 2013 - Diablo III (console version)
 * 2013 - Blackthorne (PC download)
 * 2014 - Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
 * 2014 - Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
 * 2014 - The Lost Vikings (PC download)
 * 2014 - Rock n' Roll Racing (PC download)
 * 2014 - Curse of Naxxramas: A Hearthstone Adventure
 * 2014 - Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition

In Development

 * World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (2014)
 * Hearthstone expansion (TBA)
 * Heroes of the Storm (TBA)
 * StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (TBA)
 * Warcraft: Orcs and Humans port/remake (TBA)
 * Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness port/remake (TBA)
 * World of Warcraft: Sixth Expansion (TBA)

References have been made to Blizzard working on an unannounced "major game" to be released in 2014, an unannounced "small team" game to be released at an in-determinate point, and a "top-secret project to be unveiled sometime in 2014."

Unreleased

 * Bloodlines (concepts later used for StarCraft)
 * Crixia (2D shooter)
 * Denizen
 * Diablo II: Salvation (trademark patented in 2001)
 * Diablo Junior (intended for the Gameboy Color, scrapped due to production costs)
 * Games People Play (crossword puzzles, boggle, and other word games)
 * Nomad (canceled in favor of World of Warcraft)
 * Pax Imperia II (rights sold to THQ, later released as Pax Emperia: Eminent Domain)
 * Raiko
 * Ronin
 * Shattered Nations (canceled in favor of StarCraft)
 * Starblo (ARPG in a sci-fi setting)
 * StarCraft: Ghost (indefinately postponed on March 24, 2006)
 * Titan (canceled on September 23, 2014)
 * Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans (canceled on May 22, 1998)
 * Warcraft IV (mentioned in 2008, confirmed to not be in development as of 2013)
 * World of Warcraft II (under consideration as of 2004)

Blizzard Employees

 * Main article: Blizzard personnel

Notable Blizzard Entertainment employees include:


 * Allen Adham (vice president and co-founder)
 * Greg Canessa (battle.net 2.0 project coordinator)
 * Andy Chambers (creative director)
 * Dustin Browder (lead designer of StarCraft II)
 * Samwise Didier (art director)
 * David Kim (balance designer)
 * Brian T. Kindregan (lead writer)
 * Chris Metzen (vice president of creative development)
 * Michael Morhaime (president and co-founder)
 * Rob Pardo (vice president of game design, formerly)
 * Frank Pearce (vice president and co-founder)
 * Matt Samia (senior director of cinematics)
 * Robert "the Voice" Simpson (esports coordinator)
 * Brian Sousa (senior 3D artist for StarCraft II)
 * Kevin Yu, aka Karune (battle.net representative)