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.[3] The existence of strike teams dates back to the development of Diablo II.[4]
As of August 2017, most of Blizzard's development focus is on supporting its existing IPs, but has a "pipeline" of new IPs.[5] Currently, Blizzard's model is to continue support for existing IPs with its existing teams. As the teams grow in size, they will be 'spun off' to work on new IPs as a separate team.[6]
Core Values
Blizzard Entertainment lists its eight core values on their mission statement page[7]:
- Gameplay first
- Commit to quality
- Play nice; play fair
- Embrace your inner geek
- Every voice matters
- Learn and grow
- Think globally
- Lead responsibly
History
Blizzard turned 20 years old in 2012. Its history was recorded on a timeline on its own site here.[8] Chris Metzen has expressed the idea that Blizzard has had at least two distinct eras (pre and post-World of Warcraft) and a third era has begun with the development of smaller games.[3]
From the late 2010s to 2022, Blizzard experienced a round of departures, with many employees going on to form their own development studios.[9]
Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft in October, 2023.[10] In August 2024, it was reported that Blizzard formed a new team to focus on AA games based on its IPs.[11]
Relationship with Activision Blizzard
Vivendi Games, the former publisher for Blizzard Entertainment, was the majority shareholder of Activision Blizzard.[12] In 2007, almost no change was expected at Blizzard Entertainment, and it and Activision were planned to continue to exist as separate entitites.[13] Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. will remain as Blizzard's brand.[14][15]
For much of the decade that followed, Activision and Blizzard effectively remained separate entities. However, in the years leading up to 2018, Activision has reportedly begun to exert more influence over Blizzard, including the sale of Activision games in the Blizzard store. (Former) staff members expressed concerns over the level of Activision's influence and cultural shifts within the company.[15] The cancellation of Titan was the catalyst for Activision exerting more control over Blizzard, pushing cost-cutting and faster release cycles.[16]
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.[17]
Blizzard Games
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
- 2014 - World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
- 2014 - Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft: Goblins vs. Gnomes
- 2015 - Blackrock Mountain: A Hearthstone Adventure
- 2015 - Heroes of the Storm
- 2015 - Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft: The Grand Tournament
- 2015 - StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void
- 2015 - Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft: The League of Explorers
- 2016 - StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops (part 1)
- 2016 - Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft: Whispers of the Old Gods
- 2016 - Overwatch
- 2016 - StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops (part 2)
- 2016 - Hearthstone: One Night in Karazhan
- 2016 - World of Warcraft: Legion
- 2016 - StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops (part 3)
- 2016 - Hearthstone: Mean Streets of Gadgetzan
- 2017 - Hearthstone: Journey to Un'Goro
- 2017 - Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne
- 2017 - StarCraft: Remastered
- 2017 - Hearthstone: Kobolds and Catacombs
- 2018 - Hearthstone: The Witchwood
- 2018 - Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project
- 2018 - World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
- 2019 - Hearthstone: Rastakhan's Rumble
- 2019 - Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows
- 2019 - Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum
- 2019 - Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons
- 2020 - Warcraft III: Reforged
- 2020 - Hearthstone: Ashes of Outland
- 2020 - Hearthstone: Scholomance Academy
- 2020 - World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
- 2021 - Hearthstone: Forged in the Barrens
- 2021 - Blizzard Arcade Collection
- 2021 - Hearthstone: United in Stormwind
- 2021 - Diablo II: Resurrected
- 2022 - Hearthstone: Journey to the Sunken City
- 2022 - Diablo Immortal
- 2022 - Overwatch 2
- 2022 - World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
- 2022 - Hearthstone: March of the Lich King
- 2023 - Diablo IV
- 2023 - Warcraft Rumble
- 2024 - World of Warcraft: The War Within
In Development
- Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred (2024)
- Untitled Overwatch mobile game (TBA)[18]
- Untitled StarCraft FPS (TBA)[19]
- Untitled RPG (TBA, pre-established IP)[20]
- Untitled Warcraft mobile game[21]
- World of Warcraft: Midnight (TBA)
- World of Warcraft: The Last Titan (TBA)
Unreleased
About 50% of all Blizzard games have been cancelled during development.[6]
- Andromeda (Warcraft hack n' slash game, cancelled c. 2020)[22]
- Ares (StarCraft first person shooter, canceled to shift development to Overwatch and Diablo projects)
- Avalon (Warcraft game in the vein of Minecraft)[22]
- Bloodlines (concepts later used for StarCraft)
- Crixa (2D shooter)[23]
- Crossroads (cancelled MMO)[24]
- Denizen[25] (dungeon crawler, shelved due to lack of resources)[26]
- Diablo II: Salvation (trademark patented in 2001)
- Diablo III: The King in the North (canceled second expansion for Diablo III)
- Diablo Junior (intended for the Gameboy Color, scrapped due to production costs)[27]
- Diablo MMO (dropped concept)
- Games People Play (crossword puzzles, boggle, and other word games)[28]
- Hades (cancelled Diablo game)
- Neptune (Warcraft mobile game, cancelled)
- Nomad (canceled in favor of World of Warcraft)[28]
- Odyssey (survival game, cancelled in January, 2024)[29]
- Orbis (Warcraft mobile game, cancelled)
- Orion (mobile RPG with asynchronous turns)[30]
- Pax Imperia II (rights sold to THQ, later released as Pax Emperia: Eminent Domain)[31]
- Raiko[25]
- Ronin[32]
- RPM II (sequel to RPM Racing, canceled in favor of Rock N' Roll Racing)[33]
- Shattered Nations (canceled in favor of StarCraft)[25]
- Starblo (ARPG in a sci-fi setting)[34]
- StarCraft 4X
- StarCraft: Frontiers (dropped concept)
- StarCraft: Ghost (indefinitely postponed on March 24, 2006)
- Titan (canceled on September 23, 2014)[35]
- Untitled Call of Duty RTS (pitched/prototyped only)[22]
- Untitled mobile game[36]
- Untitled pirate-themed ARPG (canceled after 1 year of development)[37]
- Untitled Star Wars RTS (cancelled in favor of StarCraft)[38][30]
- Untitled Warcraft game (twin-stick, prototyped, cancelled between 2020 and 2024)[30]
- Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans (canceled on May 22, 1998)
- Warcraft Legends (cancelled RPG, elements re-used in Warcraft III)
- Warcraft IV (pitched/prototyped only)[22]
- World of Warcraft II (under consideration as of 2004)[39]
Blizzard Employees
- Main article: Blizzard personnel
Notable Blizzard Entertainment employees include(d):
- Allen Adham (vice president and co-founder)
- J. Allen Brack (previous president)
- Greg Canessa (battle.net 2.0 project coordinator)[40]
- Andy Chambers (creative director)
- Dustin Browder (lead designer of StarCraft II, retired)
- Samwise Didier (art director)
- David Kim (balance designer)
- Brian T. Kindregan (lead writer)
- Chris Metzen (retired vice president of creative development)
- Michael Morhaime (former 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)[41]
- Brian Sousa (senior 3D artist for StarCraft II, formerly)
- Kevin Yu, aka Karune (battle.net representative)
References
- StarCraft II homepage at Blizzard Entertainment
- StarCraft homepage at Blizzard Entertainment
- Battle.net StarCraft Compendium
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Blizzard Entertainment The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Blizzard Entertainment. Wikipedia content was licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License prior to June 15, 2009 is. Wikipedia content from June 15, 2009, and StarCraft Wiki content, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported). |