Blizzard Entertainment | |
---|---|
2015 logo Video game developer and publisher | |
Formerly called |
Silicon & Synapse (1991–1993)[1] Chaos Studios, Inc. (1993-1994)[1] |
Type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Video game industry |
Founded | February 8, 1991 |
Founders |
Allen Adham Michael Morhaime Frank Pearce |
President |
Mike Ybarra (2021–present) Formerly: Michael Morhaime (1991–2018) J. Allen Brack (2018–2021) Jennifer O'Neal (2021) |
Headquarters | Irvine, California, U.S. |
Number of locations | 10 (studios and offices) |
Products |
Diablo franchise Hearthstone Heroes of the Storm Overwatch franchise StarCraft franchise Warcraft franchise |
Parent |
Davidson & Associates (1994-1998) Vivendi Games (1998-2008) Activision Blizzard (2008-present) |
Website | blizzard.com |
Blizzard Entertainment® (often shortened to "Blizzard" or "Blizz") is a video game developer & publisher that is responsible for the Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch franchises. The company originally concentrated primarily on the creation of game ports for other studios before beginning development of their own program with the development of games like Rock n' Roll Racing & The Lost Vikings.
In July 2008, Blizzard's parent company, Vivendi, merged their Vivendi Games subsidiary with Activision to create a new holding company called Activision Blizzard.[2][3] Five years later, in July 2013, Vivendi sold off most of its shares in Activision Blizzard, which now exists as an independent company.[4] As of October 2014, the company employs over 3,900 individuals.[5]
Core values[]
Blizzard Entertainment lists its eight core values on their mission statement page:
- Gameplay first
- Commit to quality
- Play nice; play fair
- Embrace your inner geek
- Every voice matters
- Think globally
- Lead responsibly
- Learn and grow[6]
History[]
Originally under the name Silicon & Synapse, the company was founded on 8 February 1991[7][8] by three graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles:[9] Allen Adham and Michael Morhaime. Brian Fargo, the CEO and founder of Interplay Entertainment, was granted a share in the company to improve the prospects of working jointly for the young studio.[10][11] Frank Pearce also joined the studio upon inception as the first employee.[12]
The small company initially did many "ports", converting games from one platform operating system to another, including board games (Battle Chess, Lexicross), strategy games (Castles), sports games (Amiga Baseball), and others (Dvorak Teaches Typing), though the company did become the first American developer to release a Super Nintendo title with RPM Racing, which became one of the first ten launch titles for the platform in North America.[12] It was not until Interplay Entertainment and Silicon & Synapse collaborated on the SNES side-scroller The Lost Vikings that its critical — though not commercial — breakthrough came. With some acclaim, the game hit the shelves in 1993. The game's release, along with Rock & Roll Racking (also 1993) led Nintendo to name the studio its "Developer of the Year". Tragically, the release of the two games coincided with the death of the 16-bit console market, and neither title sold well.[12]
Sometime in 1993, co-founder Adham told the other executives that he did not like the name "Silicon & Synapse" anymore as the name was getting confused with the meaning of silicon the chemical element used in microchips. Late 1993, Adham changed the name to "Chaos Studios", reflecting on the haphazardness of their development processes. However, they would later be contacted by a Flordia company by the name of Chaos Technologies and would happily let them use "chaos" for $100,000. Instead of paying for the license, they decided on a rebrand again which lead to "Ogre Studios" but Jan Davidson, President of Davidson & Associates, stated that it may be too scary for the kids (as stated by Adham). The choice for "Blizzard" came down to Adham looking through the dictionary with a close contender being "Midnight Studios". The company would be renamed to Blizzard Entertainment on 24 May 1994.[1]
In August 1995, the company moved from a 3,600 sq. ft. office in Costa Mesa to a 14,000 sq. ft. office in Irvine, CA.[7]
Facing a lack of success in the console market, and not willing to bet solely on one market, the company continued developing several 16-bit console titles while branching out by starting development on two new games: Games People Play, a crossword/word-game that was never completed, and Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, whose development was led by its second employee and VP of Research & Development, Patrick Wyatt.[12]
Blizzard turned 20 years old in 2012. The history is recorded on a timeline on its own site here.[13]
In 2013, Blizzard announced an official partnership with TeSPA to provide licensed StarCraft, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm in-game rewards to college gaming clubs.[14][15][16] In early 2014, TeSPA and Blizzard Entertainment hosted the $5,000 North American Collegiate Hearthstone Open series, culminating in a live grand finals event at the Twitch.tv stage at PAX East and PAX Prime.[17]
On February 8, 2016, Blizzard celebrated their 25th year anniversary with a video and continued to celebrate it along with the Diablo 20th anniversary at BlizzCon 2016.[18][19][20]
On October 3, 2018, Activision Blizzard announced J. Allen Brack as the new president of Blizzard Entertainment succeeding Mike Morhaime.[21] In February 2019, Blizzard underwent a round of layoffs, though announced that it would be expanding its development staff. Teams for some of its IPs, including Warcraft and Hearthstone, will be expanded.[22]
On March 7, 2019, Blizzard and GOG.com partnered to release the classic Diablo on GOG.com's platform[23] as well as Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition by March 28.[24] On June 5, 2019, Blizzard gave the OK to GOG.com to add the authorized non-canoncial expansion Hellfire which was developed by Synergistic Software to Diablo as a free add-on, due to popular demand.[25]
On January 22, 2021, Vicarious Visions is now a subsidiary of Blizzard Entertainment, from Activision.[26][27] Vicarious Visions was merged with Blizzard on 12 April 2022 and renamed to Blizzard Albany and would be fully dedicated to Blizzard games.[28]
Blizzard turned 30 years old in 2021 and celebrated it at BlizzConline with the release of Blizzard Arcade Collection.
From the late 2010s to 2022, Blizzard experienced a round of departures, with many employees going on to form their own development studios.[29]
Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase who had licensing agreements since 2008 to bring Blizzard games to China were unable to come to an agreement on the renewal terms for the license. The license expired on 24 January 2023, with games and software such as World of Warcraft and the Warcraft III Battle Platform shutting down until a new licensing agreement can be made with an another company.[30][31]
Teams[]
After the release of World of Warcraft, the company divided its development staff into numerically designated teams (e.g. Team 2 is the dev team for World of Warcraft), each team focusing on a specific project. While relatively small, each team is supported by a much larger cast of employees, as well as being overseen by other groups within the company.
In addition to the numerically designated teams, "strike teams" were formed, as a result of Chris Metzen's desire to keep the company's original culture intact. These teams are not assigned to any one project, but give feedback on separate projects. A "design council" also exists, a gathering of all of the game directors and lead designers throughout the company.[5] As of August 2017, most of Blizzard's development focus is on supporting its existing IPs, but is working on new IPs as well.[32] As of November 2018, Blizzard's current development model is to effectively have one team per IP and support indefinitely. As a team grows and reaches a certain size, elements of the team will be spun off to work on a new IP. Each team consists of around 100–300 people.[33]
The list of teams of current and past include:
- Team 1
- This team previously worked on titles including StarCraft, Warcraft III, StarCraft II, and Heroes of the Storm.
- Team 2 - World of Warcraft
- Formed after the release of World of Warcraft to continue development of the game.[5]
- There is a separate team working on the Classics, such as World of Warcraft: Classic.[34]
- Proletariat is another studio working alongside Team 2.
- Team 3 - Diablo franchise[5]
- Diablo IV team
- Diablo Immortal team
- Diablo Legacy[35] - Diablo III and Diablo II: Resurrected (Diablo II remaster)
- Team 4 - Overwatch
- Team 5 - Hearthstone[5]
- Formed in 2008 for the express purpose of creating Hearthstone, Team 5 was designed as a "small and nimble" team, comprising only 15 members for most of the game's initial development.[5]
- Classic Games †
- Formed c. 2015 to "restore" StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Diablo II.[36] They were responsible for StarCraft: Remastered and Warcraft III: Reforged. This team was dismantled in 2020.
- Incubation
- Formed in 2016 to cultivate new projects. Currently focusing on mobile games.[37]
- Cinematics team
- Headhunter
- Blizzard Albany - Diablo II: Resurrected (Diablo II remaster) and Diablo IV
Culture[]
- Main article: Service Awards
Relationship with Activision Blizzard[]
On December 2, 2007, Vivendi (Blizzard Entertainment's parent company) announced that their subsidiary Vivendi Games (of which Blizzard Entertainment was a part) would be merging with Activision to form Activision Blizzard. The deal was finalized on July 8, 2008. Vivendi later divested themselves of Activision Blizzard in July 2013, and it now exists as an independent holding company.
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. remains Blizzard's brand,[38] as it and Activision continue to exist as separate entities within the Activision Blizzard umbrella.[39]
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.[40]
Published games and applications[]
Non-franchise games[]
Company | Title | Year | Platform(s) | Genre |
---|---|---|---|---|
as Silicon & Synapse | RPM Racing | 1991 | SNES | Racing game |
The Lost Vikings | 1992 | Amiga, Amiga CD32, GBA, MS-DOS, Genesis, SNES, Windows (2014) | Puzzle platform game | |
Rock n' Roll Racing | 1993 | SNES, Genesis, GBA, Windows (2014) | Racing video game | |
as Blizzard Entertainment | The Death and Return of Superman | 1994 | SNES, Genesis | Beat 'em up |
Blackthorne | 1994 | SNES, Sega 32X, MS-DOS, GBA, Mac OS, Windows (2013) | Cinematic platformer | |
Justice League Task Force | 1995 | SNES, Genesis | Fighting game | |
The Lost Vikings 2 | 1997 | SNES, Saturn, PlayStation, Windows | Puzzle platform game | |
Heroes of the Storm | 2015 | Microsoft Windows, macOS | Team Brawler | |
Blizzard Arcade Collection | 2021 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Racing, Cinematic platformer, Puzzle platformer | |
Odyssey[41] | TBA | PC, console | Survival[42] | |
Untitled role-playing game[43] | TBA | TBA | Roleplaying game | |
Untitled FPS game[44] | TBA | TBA | First-person shooter |
Franchises[]
Universe | Title | Year | Platform(s) | Genre | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Warcraft universe | Warcraft: Orcs & Humans | 1994 (original) 2019 (GOG.com) |
MS-DOS, Mac OS, PC-98 | Real-time strategy | |
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | 1995 | MS-DOS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows | Real-time strategy | ||
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal | 1996 | Mac OS, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows | Expansion | Warcraft II expansion | |
Warcraft II: The Dark Saga | 1997 | Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn | Real-time strategy | ||
Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition | 1999 (original) 2019 (GOG.com) |
MS-DOS, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows | Real-time strategy | ||
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | 2002 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS | Real-time strategy | ||
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne | 2003 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS | Expansion | Warcraft III expansion | |
World of Warcraft | 2004 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, (Linux via Wine or Cedega) | MMORPG | ||
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade | 2007 | Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King | 2008 | Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm | 2010 | Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria | 2012 | Expansion | |||
Hearthstone | 2014 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone | CCG | ||
Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas | 2014 | CCG Adventure | |||
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor | 2014 | Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Goblins vs Gnomes | 2014 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Blackrock Mountain | 2015 | CCG Adventure | |||
Hearthstone: The Grand Tournament | 2015 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: The League of Explorers | 2015 | CCG Adventure | |||
Hearthstone: Whispers of the Old Gods | 2016 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: One Night in Karazhan | 2016 | CCG Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Legion | 2016 | Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Mean Streets of Gadgetzan | 2016 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Journey to Un'Goro | 2017 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne | 2017 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Kobolds & Catacombs | 2017 | CCG Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth | 2018 | Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: The Witchwood | 2018 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project | 2018 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Rastakhan's Rumble | 2018 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows | 2019 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum | 2019 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Tombs of Terror | 2019 | CCG Adventure | |||
World of Warcraft: Classic | 2019 | Microsoft Windows, macOS | MMORPG | Server option for the vanilla World of Warcraft experience | |
Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons | 2019 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Galakrond's Awakening | 2020 | CCG Adventure | |||
Warcraft III: Reforged | 2020 | Microsoft Windows, macOS | Real-time strategy | Remaster of the 2002 Warcraft III | |
Hearthstone: Ashes of Outland | 2020 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Scholomance Academy | 2020 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Madness at the Darkmoon Faire | 2020 | CCG Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands | 2020 | Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Darkmoon Races | 2021 | CCG mini-set | |||
Hearthstone: Forged in the Barrens | 2021 | CCG Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic | 2021 | Microsoft Windows, macOS | MMORPG | Server option for The Burning Crusade experience | |
Hearthstone: United in Stormwind | 2021 | CCG Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: Voyage to the Sunken City | 2022 | CCG Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic | 2022 | Microsoft Windows, macOS | MMORPG | Server option for the Wrath of the Lich King experience | |
Hearthstone: Murder at Castle Nathria | 2022 | CCG Expansion | |||
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight | 2022 | Expansion | |||
Hearthstone: March of the Lich King | 2022 | CCG Expansion | |||
Warcraft Rumble | 2023 | Android, iOS, iPadOS | Mobile action strategy | ||
Untitled mobile game[45] | TBA | Android, iOS, iPadOS | TBA | ||
StarCraft franchise | StarCraft | 1998 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Real-time strategy | |
StarCraft: Brood War | 1998 | Expansion | |||
StarCraft 64 | 2000 | Nintendo 64 | Real-time strategy | ||
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty | 2010 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Real-time strategy | ||
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm | 2013 | Expansion | |||
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void | 2015 | Expansion | |||
StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops | 2016 | Mission packs (1-3) | |||
StarCraft: Remastered | 2017 | Microsoft Windows, macOS | Real-time strategy | Remaster of the 1998 StarCraft | |
StarCraft II: Free to Play | 2017 | ||||
Diablo franchise | Diablo | 1996 2019 (GOG.com) |
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation (1998) | Action role-playing, hack and slash, dark fantasy | |
Diablo II | 2000 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Action role-playing, hack and slash | ||
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction | 2001 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
Diablo III | 2012 | Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlaySation 3/4 and Xbox 360/One (2013) | Action role-playing, hack and slash | ||
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls | 2014 | Microsoft Windows, OS X | Expansion | ||
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition | 2014 | PlayStation 3/4, Xbox 360/One | |||
Diablo III: Eternal Collection[46] | 2018 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 | |||
Diablo II: Resurrected | 2021 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, consoles | Action roleplaying, hack n' slash | Remaster of the 2000 Diablo II | |
Diablo Immortal | 2022 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, iOS | MMOARPG | ||
Diablo IV | 2023 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, consoles | Action roleplaying, hack n' slash | ||
Overwatch franchise | Overwatch | 2016 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Xbox One, Playstation 4 | Team-based multiplayer shooter | |
Overwatch 2 | 2022 | Microsoft Windows, macOS, consoles | Team-based multiplayer shooter | ||
Untitled mobile game | TBA | Mobile devices | TBA[47] |
Applications[]
Title | Release year | Platform(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Blizzard Downloader † | Windows, Mac OS | Replaced / Defunct | |
Blizzard Launcher † | 2005 | Windows, Mac OS | Introduced with patch 1.8.3, replaced and no longer used since 6.0.2 |
Blizzard Repair † | Windows, Mac OS | Replaced with the desktop app | |
Blizzard Updater † | Windows, Mac OS | Replaced with the desktop app | |
Blizzard Mobile Authenticator | 2009 | iOS, Android Windows, † Blackberry † |
Originally named Battle.net Mobile Authenticator |
BlizzCon Mobile | 2011 | iOS, Android | Originally BlizzCon Guide |
WoW Mobile Armory † | 2009 | iOS, Android | |
StarCraft WCS | 2013 | iOS, Android | Originally Blizzard WCS |
Blizzard Battle.net desktop app | 2013 | Windows, macOS | Originally named Battle.net desktop app and Blizzard desktop app |
Blizzard AR Viewer † | 2014 | iOS, Android | Defunct on iOS |
WoW Legion Companion App † | 2016 | iOS, Android | |
Blizzard Battle.net Mobile app | 2017 | iOS, Android | |
Overwatch League Mobile App | 2018 | iOS, Android | |
BlizzCon TV | 2018 | Fire TV, Apple TV | |
Blizzard Esports | 2018 | iOS, Android | |
WoW Companion App | 2018 | iOS, Android |
- † Defunct
Other[]
- Related pen-and-paper RPG materials
- Warcraft: The Board Game (Published: 2003)
- Expansion Set (Published: 2004)
- World of Warcraft: The Board Game (Published: 2005)
- Shadow of War (Published: 2006)
- BlizzCon Epic Armor Pack (Published: 2007)
- The Burning Crusade (Published: September 2007)
- Warcraft: The Board Game (Published: 2003)
Rumored games[]
Note: Blizzard has confirmed that they are NOT working on a StarCraft or Diablo MMORPG.[48]
- StarCraft III[49]
- Untitled first-person game (TBA)[50]
- Unannounced multiplayer game (TBA)[51]
- Warcraft IV[52][53][49]
- World of Warcraft 2[54]
Unreleased/Cancelled games[]
About 50% of all Blizzard games have been canceled during development.[33]
- Project Ares (codename for a StarCraft first-person shooter, cancelled on June 6, 2019 to put more resources into Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4)[55]
- Bloodlines (concepts later used for StarCraft)
- Crixa (2D shooter)[56]
- Crossroads (unused MMO concept)[57]
- Denizen[58]
- 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)[59]
- Diablo MMO (dropped concept)
- Games People Play (crossword puzzles, boggle, and other word games)[60]
- Hades (first Diablo IV iteration, cancelled)
- Neptune (Warcraft mobile MMO, cancelled)[61]
- Nomad (cancelled in favor of World of Warcraft)[60]
- Orbis (Warcraft mobile ARG, cancelled)[61]
- Pax Imperia II (rights sold to THQ, later released as Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain)[62]
- Raiko[58]
- Ronin[63]
- RPM II (sequel to RPM Racing, canceled in favor of Rock N' Roll Racing)[64]
- Shattered Nations (cancelled in favor of StarCraft)[58]
- Starblo (ARPG in a sci-fi setting)[65]
- StarCraft: Ghost (indefinitely postponed on March 24, 2006)[66]
- StarCraft: Frontiers (MMO, dropped concept)
- Titan was the project name for a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) that was being developed as a new IP. In September 2014, Blizzard co-founder and CEO, Mike Morhaime, confirmed with Polygon that the project had been canceled.[67] Some of the concepts would later be reworked into the original pitch for Overwatch.
- Untitled mobile game (cancelled in June, 2019)[55]
- Untitled pirate-themed ARPG (cancelled after a year of development)[68]
- Untitled project by Mike Booth (abandoned in June, 2015)[69]
- Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans (canceled on May 22, 1998)
- Warcraft Legends (canceled RPG, elements re-used in Warcraft III)
- World of Warcraft: The Board Game - Scion of Darkness (canceled in 2008)
- World of Warcraft: Clash of Champions (a deck building game by Cryptozoic,[70][71] game finished but never officially released by Blizzard)[72]
Employees[]
- Main article: Category:Blizzard Entertainment employees
Notable[]
- Mike Ybarra (president)
- Allen Adham (vice president and co-founder)
- Greg Canessa (Battle.net 2.0 project coordinator)[73]
- Tom Chilton
- Samwise Didier (art director)
- Peter Lee
- Mark Gibbons
- Frank Pearce (vice president and co-founder)
- Brian Holinka (WoW senior game designer)
- Chris Robinson (WoW senior art director)
- Ion Hazzikostas
- Glenn Rane
- Thammer
- Twincruiser (René Koiter and Michel Koiter)
- Dustin Browder (lead designer of StarCraft II)
- Brian Sousa (senior 3D artist for StarCraft II)
- Andy Chambers (creative director)
- Robert "the Voice" Simpson (esports coordinator)[74]
- David Kim (balance designer)
- Brian T. Kindregan (lead writer)
- Eric Dodds (Hearthstone lead game designer)
- Matt Samia (senior director of cinematics)
- Kevin Yu, aka Karune (battle.net representative)
Previous notable employees[]
- Michael Morhaime (strategic advisor)
- J. Allen Brack (president)
- Chris Metzen (vice president of creative development)
- Rob Pardo (vice president of game design)
- Bill Roper
- Paul Sams (Chief Creative Officer)
- Greg Street
- Ben Brode (Hearthstone game director)
Organizations[]
Notes and trivia[]
- Since their beginnings as a North American company focusing primarily on the English-speaking market, Blizzard has gone on to become a "global business".[5] As of 2014, more than half of its players are in Asia.[5]
- According to Hearthstone's Senior Producer Yong Woo, Blizzard employees receive some of their bonus money in "Blizzard bucks", which can be spent on company products such as card packs.[75]
- Blizzard's main location in Irvine, California was sometimes referred to as Blizzard South to not confuse it with Blizzard North.
Gallery[]
- Logos
Logo used for Overwatch content
Logo used for Warcraft and Hearthstone content
Logo used for Battle for Azeroth content
Logo used for Heroes of the Storm content
Logo used for Diablo content
Logo used for StarCraft content
Logo used for Destiny 2 and other generic content
Logo used for Call of Duty games and other generic content
The logo in the Warcraft film
Videos[]
References[]
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- ^ a b c d http://www.mobygames.com/company/blizzard-entertainment-inc
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- ^ a b Wesley Yin-Poole 2021-01-23. Vicarious Visions reportedly working on a Diablo 2 remake at Blizzard. Eurogamer. Retrieved on 2021-01-25.
- ^ a b Brendan Sinclair 2021-01-22. Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved on 2021-01-25.
- ^ a b Vicarious Visions on Twitter: "We've officially merged with Blizzard Entertainment. Our development team will remain in Albany, NY and fully dedicated to Blizzard games."
- ^ 2022-12-27, After Blizzard: The Big New AAA-to-Indie Exodus Is in Full Swing. IGN, retrieved on 2022-12-30
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