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Blizzard Entertainment

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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]:

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

Main article: 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

In Development

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):

References

  1. ↑ 2021-08-03, New Leadership at Blizzard. news.blizzard.com, accessed on 2021-08-04.
  2. ↑ 2021-11-02, A Message From Jen Oneal. news.blizzard.com, accessed on 2022-03-10.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 2014-10-03, THE THREE LIVES OF BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT. Polygon, accessed on 2014-10-04.
  4. ↑ 2015-09-13, Page 3: In Their Own Words: An Oral History of Diablo II With David Brevik, Max Schaefer, and Erich Schaefer. US Gamer, accessed on 2015-09-15.
  5. ↑ 2017-08-04, Blizzard Has Multiple New IPs Incubating But Won't Rush Them Out. GameSpot, accessed on 2017-08-05.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 2018-11-08, Our Full BlizzCon Interview With Blizzard Co-Founder Allen Adham. Game Informer, accessed on 2018-11-19.
  7. ↑ What We Stand For. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2021-08-04.
  8. ↑ Blizzard Timeline. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2012-07-05.
  9. ↑ 2022-12-27, After Blizzard: The Big New AAA-to-Indie Exodus Is in Full Swing. IGN, accessed on 2022-12-30
  10. ↑ 2024-08-31, “I’m intrigued”: Blizzard Is Seemingly Working On an Unannounced AAA RPG First Person Shooter. Fandom Wire, accessed on 2024-09-04
  11. ↑ 2024-08-02, Leaker Shares Good News For Blizzard Fans. GameRant, accessed on 2024-08-17
  12. ↑ Brendan Sinclair. 2007-12-03. Activision, Vivendi merger reaps positive reactions. Gamespot. Accessed 2008-11-28.
  13. ↑ Activision Blizzard FAQ
  14. ↑ Ordinn. 2007-12-02. 0. Activision Blizzard FAQ . WoW General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-12-02.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 2018-11-22, The Past, Present, And Future Of Diablo. Kotaku, accessed on 2018-11-22.
  16. ↑ 2024-09-25, Inside Activision and Blizzard’s Corporate Warcraft. Bloomberg, accessed on 2024-10-02
  17. ↑ Worldwide Invitation 2008
  18. ↑ 2021-11-16, Overwatch Mobile may be released on 2023 leaked by Blizzard job offering. Esportsgen, accessed on 2022-05-14
  19. ↑ 2024-09-27, For a third time, Blizzard Entertainment is trying to make this famous game into a shooter. Will it succeed this time?. Windows Central, accessed on 2024-09-28
  20. ↑ 2022-02-09, Blizzard’s Working On An Unannounced RPG Within An Established IP. Segment Next, accessed on 2022-02-10
  21. ↑ 2022-08-08, Blizzard Looking to Follow Up Diablo Immortal with Mobile Warcraft Game. MSN, accessed on 2022-08-10
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 2024-09-29, I'm Jason Schreier, reporter at Bloomberg and author of PLAY NICE: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, AMA. Reddit, accessed on 2024-10-01
  23. ↑ 2014-11-23, A brief history of Blizzard's canceled and unreleased games. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2014-09-24
  24. ↑ 2017-05-11, BlizzCon 2017: How Overwatch rose from Titan’s failure. Blizzard Watch, accessed on 2017-11-05
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 2008-02-07, D.I.C.E. '08: Blizzard talks about blowing up. Gamespot, accessed on 2013-05-29
  26. ↑ Schreier, Jason. Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. Grand Central Publishing.
  27. ↑ 2012-10-12, Blizzard North considered making Diablo Junior for the Game Boy Color. Joystiq, accessed on 2013-05-29
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Blizzard Entertainment Inc., Moby Games. Accessed on 2013-05-28
  29. ↑ 2024-01-26, Microsoft Announces Major Layoffs. GameRant, accessed on 2024-01-26
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 2024-10-01, Jason Schreier On Blizzard's Secret Games And Turbulent History. YouTube, accessed on 2024-10-05
  31. ↑ JudgeHype, Pax Imperia II. Accessed on 2013-05-28
  32. ↑ 2013-02-4, The Art of Blizzard Entertainment (book) review…. Inside the Box, accessed on 2013-05-28
  33. ↑ 2021-02-20, ROCK N ROLL RACING’S UNMISTAKABLE INFLUENCE ON THE BLIZZARD STYLE. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2021-04-21
  34. ↑ 2012-10-23, Diablo in space? Blizzard actually worked on "Starblo". Neowin.net, accessed on 2013-05-29
  35. ↑ 2014-09-23, Blizzard cancels its next-gen MMO Titan after seven years. Polygon, accessed on 2014-09-24
  36. ↑ Sources: Blizzard Cancels StarCraft First-Person Shooter To Focus On Diablo 4 And Overwatch 2 Kotaku.com 06-6-2019
  37. ↑ 2016-01-09, Marvel Heroes 2015 (January 8 2016). YouTube, accessed on 2016-01-11
  38. ↑ 2017-11-05, BLIZZCON 2017 STARCRAFT REMASTERED: THEN AND NOW. Blizzpro, accessed on 2017-11-19
  39. ↑ 2014-08-11, Blizzard Has Considered WoW 2 -- What Would You Like to See?. Gamespot, accessed on 2014-08-16
  40. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment staff, Greg Canessa. 2010-02-009. Battle.net Preview. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-02-09.
  41. ↑ Blizzcon Video Archive (Sonkie vs Yellow). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-10-19.
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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).
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