Blizzard Entertainment | |
---|---|
Computer and video game publisher | |
Main leader |
Michael Morhaime (president and co-founder) Frank Pearce (vice president and co-founder) Allen Adham (executive producer and co-founder) |
Secondary leaders |
Unknown (Chief Creative Officer) Unknown (vice president of Creative Development) J. Allen Brack (lead producer on World of Warcraft) Ion Hazzikostas (game director on World of Warcraft) |
Capital | Irvine, California, USA |
Theater of operations | Quality RTS and RPG video games |
Affiliation | Activision Blizzard |
Blizzard Entertainment® (often shortened to "Blizzard" or "Blizz" by players) is a video game developer & publisher that is responsible for the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo 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.[1][2] Five years later, in July 2013, Vivendi sold off most of its shares in Activision Blizzard, which now exists as an independent company.[3] As of October 2014, the company employs over 3,900 individuals.[4]
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[5]
History
Originally named Silicon & Synapse, the company was founded in 1990[6] in Irvine, California by Allen Adham and Michael Morhaime, with Brian Fargo, the CEO and founder of Interplay Entertainment, being granted a share in the company to improve the prospects of working jointly for the young studio. Frank Pearce also joined the studio upon inception as the first employee.[7]
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.[7]
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.[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.[7]
The company temporarily re-branded itself as Chaos Studios and released the game Blackthorne under that studio name, but conflicts with an unregistered trademark for the name "Chaos" caused the company leadership to consider a new name. Upon acquisition by Davidson & Associates, then the #3 North American educational software publisher, in February 1994, the company changed its name to Blizzard Entertainment.[7]
Blizzard turned 20 years old in 2012. Its history is recorded on a timeline on its own site here.[8]
Blizzard North
- Main: Blizzard North
Blizzard North was originally founded in 1993 as Condor Inc. by David Brevik, Erich Schaefer and Max Schaefer. The company was purchased and renamed later in March of 1996[6] and was the Bay Area division of Blizzard Entertainment, known for its Diablo series. The studio was originally based in Redwood City, California, before being moved a short distance away to San Mateo, California, with Blizzard proper being based in Irvine, southern California. On August 1, 2005, Blizzard Entertainment announced the closure of Blizzard North with a key reason for the closure was Blizzard's North poor development of what was to be Diablo III, which didn't meet Vivendi's expectations.
Games
As Condor
- Justice League Task Force (1995)
As Blizzard North
- Diablo (1996) - action role-playing game
- Diablo II (2000) - action role-playing game
- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001) - expansion pack
- Diablo III (in development 2000-2005 and later scrapped, remade from scratch by Blizzard Team 3) - originally was planned to be a massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Blizzard South
Blizzard South was known for the StarCraft and the Warcraft series. Though the name wasn't mentioned as much, it was to keep confusion from Blizzard North as Blizzard South is based in Irvine, California, Blizzard's main location.
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.[4] As of August 2017, most of Blizzard's development focus is on supporting its existing IPs, but is working on new IPs as well.[9]
- Team 1 - Heroes of the Storm
- This team previously worked on titles including StarCraft, Warcraft III and StarCraft II, but now work on the company's newest franchise, Heroes of the Storm.
- Team 2 - World of Warcraft
- Formed after the release of World of Warcraft to continue development of the game.[4]
- Team 3 - Diablo franchise[4]
- Team 4 - Formerly responsible for Titan[4]
- Formed in the "mid-2000s" to begin work on Titan, the company's big new IP, doomed to be scrapped in 2014.[4] The team's current focus is [Overwatch].
- Team 5 - Hearthstone[4]
- 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.[4]
- Classic Games
- Formed c. 2015 to "restore" StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Diablo II.[10]
Culture
Blizzard service awards
Blizzard presents its employees with special rewards to commemorate certain anniversaries at the company. The exact rewards continue to change over the years, but include rings, steins, swords, shields and a Lich King-esque helm, all exquisitely crafted to very high standards. These are often found on display at Blizzard, with swords and shields commonly hung on walls within the company's buildings.
Known rewards include:
- 2 years - Stein
- 5 years - Sword
- 10 years - Shield
- 15 years - Ring
- 20 years - Helm
For detailed images of rewards offered since 1996, see the official Swords and Shields Ceremony gallery.
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,[11] as it and Activision continue to exist as separate entities within the Activision Blizzard umbrella.[12] Despite many players' fears, there have been no major changes in Blizzard's operations as a result of these business deals.
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.[13]
Notes
Since their beginnings as a North American company focusing primarily on the English-speaking market, Blizzard has gone on to become a "global business".[4] As of 2014, more than half of its players are in Asia.[4]
Published games & applications
Non-franchise games
Company | Title | Release date | Platform(s) | Genre |
---|---|---|---|---|
as Silicon & Synapse | RPM Racing | 1991 | SNES | Racing video game |
The Lost Vikings | 1992 | Amiga, Amiga CD32, GBA, MS-DOS, Genesis, SNES | Side-scrolling video game | |
Rock N' Roll Racing | June 4, 1993 | SNES, Genesis, GBA | Racing video game | |
as Blizzard Entertainment | Blackthorne | 1994 | SNES, Sega 32X, MS-DOS, GBA, Mac OS, Windows (2013) | Platform game |
The Death and Return of Superman | 1995 | SNES, Genesis | Side-scrolling video game | |
Justice League Task Force | 1995 | Genesis, SNES | Versus fighting game | |
The Lost Vikings 2 | February 27, 1997 | SNES, Saturn, PlayStation, Windows | Side-scrolling video game | |
Heroes of the Storm | June 2, 2015 | Windows, Mac OS | Team Brawler | |
[Overwatch] | May 24, 2016 | Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Playstation 4 | Team-based multiplayer shooter |
Franchises
Universe | Title | Release date | Platform(s) | Genre | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Warcraft universe | Warcraft: Orcs & Humans | 1994 | MS-DOS, Mac OS, PC-98 | Real-time strategy | Port/remake (TBA)[14][15] |
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | 1995 | MS-DOS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows | Real-time strategy | Port/remake (TBA)[14][15] | |
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal | April 30, 1996 | Mac OS, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows | Real-time strategy | ||
Warcraft II: The Dark Saga | August 31, 1997 | Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn | Real-time strategy | ||
Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition | September 30, 1999 | MS-DOS, Mac OS, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows | Real-time strategy | ||
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | July 3, 2002 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Mac OS X | Real-time strategy | Port/remake (TBA)[14][15] | |
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne | July 1, 2003 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Mac OS X | Real-time strategy | ||
World of Warcraft | November 24, 2004 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, (Linux via Wine or Cedega) | MMORPG | ||
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade | January 16, 2007 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, (Linux via Wine or Cedega) | Expansion pack | ||
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King | November 13, 2008 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm | December 7, 2010 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria | September 25, 2012 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
Hearthstone | March 11, 2014 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG | ||
Curse of Naxxramas | July 22, 2014 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | Adventure pack | ||
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor | November 13, 2014 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
Goblins vs Gnomes | December 8, 2014 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
Blackrock Mountain | April 2, 2015 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | Adventure pack | ||
The Grand Tournament | August 24, 2015 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
The League of Explorers | November 12, 2015 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | Adventure pack | ||
Whispers of the Old Gods | 2016 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
One Night in Karazhan | 11 August, 2016 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
World of Warcraft: Legion | 30 August, 2016 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
Mean Streets of Gadgetzan | 1 December, 2016 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
Journey to Un'Goro | 6 April, 2017 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
Knights of the Frozen Throne | Early August, 2017 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
Kobolds and Catacombs | 2017 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad, Android, iPhone (current) | CCG Expansion pack | ||
Untitled Warcraft mobile game[16] | TBA | Mobile platforms | MMORTS[17] | ||
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth | TBA | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
World of Warcraft eighth expansion | TBA[18] | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
StarCraft franchise | StarCraft | March 31, 1998 | Windows, Mac OS | Real-time strategy | |
StarCraft: Insurrection | July 31, 1998 | Windows, Mac OS | Expansion pack | Blizzard did not make this expansion, but it was authorized. This one does not require the official Brood War expansion pack. | |
StarCraft: Brood War | November 30, 1998 | Windows, Mac OS | Expansion pack | ||
StarCraft: Retribution | 1998 | Windows, Mac OS | Expansion pack | Blizzard did not make this expansion, but it was authorized. Requires Brood War expansion pack. | |
StarCraft 64 | 2000 | Nintendo 64 | Real-time strategy | ||
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty | July 27, 2010 | Microsoft Windows, OS X | Real-time strategy | ||
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm | March 12, 2013 | Microsoft Windows, OS X | Expansion pack | ||
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void | November 10, 2015 | Microsoft Windows, OS X | Real-time strategy | ||
StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops | March 29, 2016 | Microsoft Windows, OS X | Mission packs (1-3) | ||
StarCraft: Remastered | August 14, 2017 | Microsoft Windows, OS X | Real-time strategy | ||
Diablo franchise | Diablo | December 31, 1996 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation (1998) | Action role-playing, hack and slash, dark fantasy | |
Diablo: Hellfire | November 24, 1997 | Microsoft Windows | Expansion pack | Blizzard did not make this expansion, but it was authorized. | |
Diablo II | June 29, 2000 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X | Action role-playing, hack and slash | ||
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction | June 27, 2001 | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X | Expansion pack | ||
Diablo III | May 15, 2012 | Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlaySation 3/4 and Xbox 360/One (2013) | Action role-playing, hack and slash | ||
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls | March 25, 2014 | Microsoft Windows, OS X | Expansion pack | ||
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition | August 19, 2014 | PlaySation 3/4, Xbox 360/One | |||
Untitled Diablo game | TBA[19] |
Applications
Title | Release date | Platform(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Blizzard Downloader | Windows, Mac OS | Replaced/No longer used | |
Blizzard Launcher | November 15, 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/No longer used | |
Blizzard Mobile Authenticator | March 27, 2009 | iOS, Android | Originally named Battle.net Mobile Authenticator; supported Windows and Blackberry before being scrapped |
WoW Mobile Armory | July 2009 | iOS, Android | |
Blizzard Battle.net desktop app | August 2013 | Windows, OS X | Originally named Battle.net desktop app and Blizzard desktop app |
WoW Legion Companion App | September 6, 2016 | iOS, Android | |
Blizzard Battle.net Mobile app | September 26, 2017 | iOS, Android |
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)
- Scion of Darkness (Canceled: 2008)
- Warcraft: The Board Game (Published: 2003)
- Related to StarCraft
- Arcade Workshop (Published: 2014)
Rumored games
Note: Blizzard has confirmed that they are NOT working on a StarCraft or Diablo MMORPG.[20]
- Diablo IV[21]
- StarCraft III[22]
- Untitled first-person game (TBA)[23]
- Warcraft IV[24][25][22]
- World of Warcraft 2[26]
Unreleased/Canceled games
- Bloodlines (concepts later used for StarCraft)
- Crixa (2D shooter)[27]
- Crossroads (cancelled MMO)[28]
- Denizen[29]
- 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)[30]
- Diablo MMO (dropped concept)
- Games People Play (crossword puzzles, boggle, and other word games)[31]
- Nomad (Canceled in favor of World of Warcraft)[31]
- Pax Imperia II (rights sold to THQ, later released as Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain)[32]
- Raiko[29]
- Ronin[33]
- Shattered Nations (canceled in favor of StarCraft)[29]
- Starblo (ARPG in a sci-fi setting)[34]
- Starcraft: Ghost (indefinitely postponed on March 24, 2006)[35]
- StarCraft 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.[36]
- Untitled pirate-themed ARPG (canceled after 1 year of development)[37]
- Untitled project by Mike Booth (abandoned by June, 2015)[38]
- Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans (Canceled on May 22, 1998)
Awards
These are the following awards received for Blizzard Entertainment and the Warcraft related games.[39] Diablo and StarCraft are excluded from the list below.
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
- Editor's Choice - IGN
- People's Choice: Best Game Expansion/Add On - IGN
Hearthstone
- Mobile & Handheld in 2015 - BAFTA
- Multiplayer in 2015 - BAFTA
- Top 10 Video Games of 2014 - Time
- Best Video Games of 2014 - Forbes
- Best Games of 2014 - Wired
- 10 Great Games for Your Smartphone or Tablet - USA Today
- Top 10 Must-Play Games of 2014 - Mashable
- The Best Mobile Games of 2014 - Mashable
- Top 50 Video Games of 2014 - NY Daily News
- The 10 Best Apps for Your new iPad - Yahoo
- Game of the Year #6: Hearthstone - Polygon
- Best Mobile Game Winner - IGN
- Game Informer Best of 2014 Awards - Game Informer
- Eli’s Top Ten Games of 2014 - Touch Arcade
- Staff Picks: The Best Games of 2014 - GamesBeat
- The 12 Best Video Games of 2014 - Kotaku
- The VG247 Games of the Year - VG 24/7
- Five Favorites from the Video Games Channel - The Escapist
- GT Best of 2014 Awards - Game Trailers
- 2014 GOTY #8: Hearthstone - ShackNews
- Best Online Game - 32nd Golden Joystick Awards
- Best Mobile Game - 32nd Golden Joystick Awards
- People's Choice - Best Mobile Game 2014 - IGN
- People's Choice - Best Tactics/Strategy Game of 2014 - IGN
- IGN Official Best Tactics/Strategy Game - IGN
- Best Digital Card Game of 2013 – Forbes
- Best Strategy Game of 2013 – ZAM
- 2013 New Game of the Year – ZAM
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
- Top 50 of 2012 - Game Informer
- Readers' Top 50 Games of 2012 - Eurogamer
- Best MMOs of 2012 - GamesBeat
- Best Additional Content - Machinima.com Inside Gaming Awards 2012
- Editors' Choice - GameTrailers
- 5 out of 5 - Escapist
- 4.5 out of 5 - G4
- 8.7 out of 10 - IGN
- "WoW's best expansion to date" (unstarred review) - USA Today
- "Best expansion for World of Warcraft yet" (unstarred review) - PC World
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
- MMO Game of the Year - GameSpy
- Best MMO (PC) - IGN
- Best MMORPG - 1UP
- Best MMO of the Year - G4TV
- Readers' Choice: Best Fantasy Game (PC) - IGN
- Best Expansion/DLC - Game Banshee
- Best Multiplayer - RPGamer
- 2010 Gaming Awards - Maximum PC
- Best Expansion - GameTrailers
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
- Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year - 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards
- Best Expansion Pack - GameSpot
- Top 10 Games of the Year 2008, PC and Overall - GameSpy.com
- Best of 2008 - Top 5 PC Games - Wired
- Best Games of 2008 - Metacritic
- Top 50 Games of the Year - Eurogamer
- Top 50 Games of the Year - Game Informer
- Favorite Expansion of 2008 - Massively
- Best MMORPG - VGChartz
- Best Expansion of 2008 - GameStooge.com
- Editors' Choice - Gamespot
- Editors' Choice - GameSpy.com
- Editors' Choice - IGN
- Editors' Choice - PC Gamer
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
- Development of Massively Multiplayer Online Graphical Role Playing Games - 59th Engineering and Scientific Emmy Awards
- Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year - Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Interactive Achievement
- Design Award: Best Mac OS X Game - Apple
- Visual Effects Society Award - Pre-rendered Visuals in a Video Game
- Expansion Pack of the Year - GameSpot
- Expansion Pack of the Year - GameZone
- Game Informer's Top 50 of 2007
- Top 50 Games of 2007 and Readers' Top 50 Games of 2007 - Eurogamer
- #5 overall on PC, #7 across all platforms, and Gamers' Choice PC RPG of the Year - GameSpy
- Editors' Choice - Gamespot
- Editors' Choice - IGN
- Editors' Choice - MacWorld
- Editors' Choice - GameSpy
- PC Game of the Month - Game Informer
- IGN Readers' Choice Award - Best Expansion - IGN
World of Warcraft
- Best Game of the Year Award - GameSpot
- Best PC Game of the Year - GameSpot
- Best Massively Multiplayer Online Game - GameSpot
- Editor's Choice Award - GameSpot
- Best Role-Playing (RPG or MMORPG) - GameSpy
- PC RPG / MMORPG Gamers' Choice Awards - GameSpy
- Special Achievement in Art Direction - GameSpy
- Editor's Choice Award - GameSpy
- Best Persistent World Game - IGN
- Editor's Choice Award - IGN
- Best PC RPG - FileFront
- Best Massively Multiplayer Game - VoodooExtreme
- Best of Show (E3 2003) - Wargamer
- Best Persistent Online Title (E3 2003) - IGN PC
- Runner up for Best Graphics (E3 2003) - IGN Vault
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
- Best Expansion Pack - Gamespot
- Best Multiplayer Game - Gamespot
- Best PC Strategy Game (Readers' Choice) - GameSpot
- Game of the Month - IGN PC
- Editor's Choice (90 out of 100 rating) - Games Xtreme
- Editor's Choice (9 out of 10 rating) - Strategy Gaming Online
- PC Strategy Gamers' Choice - GameSpy
- 94 out of 100 rating - Next Level Gaming
- 94 out of 100 rating - Gamer Play Networks
- 94 out of 100 rating - Game Marshal
- 94 out of 100 rating - GameAxis
- 92 out of 100 rating - The Gamer's Temple
- 91 out of 100 rating - Action Trip
- 90 out of 100 rating - Gameguru Mania
- 88 out of 100 rating - GameSpy
- 10 out of 10 rating - Game Chronicles Magazine
- 9.4 out of 10 rating - GameZone
- 9.2 out of 10 rating - GameSpot
- 9 out of 10 rating - IGN PC
- 8.9 out of 10 rating - Worthplaying
- 8.8 out of 10 rating - Gamer's Hell
- 5 out of 5 rating - GamePro
- A- rating - UGO
Warcraft III
- Computer Strategy Game of the Year - Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
- Game of the Year - Gamespot
- Game of the Year - Macworld
- Game of the Year - XSages
- Game of the Year - Fragland
- Game of the Year - Cinescape
- Game of the Year - Gaming Illustrated
- Best PC Game of the Year - GameNOW
- Best Real-Time Strategy Game of the Year - PC Gamer
- Best Multiplayer Strategy Game of the Year - Gamespot
- Best PC Strategy Game of the Year - GameNOW
- Best PC Strategy Game of the Year - Game Revolution
- Best PC Strategy Game of the Year - Telefragged
- Best PC Strategy Game of the Year - OCAddiction
- Best PC Strategy Game of the Year (Reader's Choice) - GameSpot
- Readers Choice 2002: Best PC Game of the Year - GamePro
- Strategy Game of the Year - Gamer's Pulse
- Gamer's Choice: Overall PC Game of the Year - Gamespy
- Gamer's Choice: PC Strategy Game of the Year - Gamespy
- Best Non-Interactive 3D Game Cinematics - International 3D Awards
- Best Cinematic - IGN
- Best CG Cinematics (tie) - Gamespy's Best of E3 2002 Awards
- Best Opening Movie - Game Chronicles
- Editor's Choice (10 out of 10 rating) - Game Chronicles
- Editor's Choice (9.6 out of 10 rating) - Gaming Illustrated
- Editor's Choice (9.5 out of 10 rating) - SLCCentral
- Editor's Choice (9.5 out of 10 rating) - The Entertainment Depot
- Editor's Choice (95 out of 100 rating) - Action Trip
- Editor's Choice (94 out of 100 rating) - PC Gamer
- Editor's Choice (93 out of 100 rating) - Gaming Excellence
- Editor's Choice (93 out of 100 rating) - Invisible Dream
- Editor's Choice (9.3 out of 10 rating) - IGN
- Editor's Choice (92 out of 100 rating) - Gamitopia
- Editor's Choice (9.1 out of 10 rating) - Firing Squad
- Editor's Choice (8.7 out of 10 rating) - Strategy Gaming Online
- 5 out of 5 rating - Games First
- 5 out of 5 rating (Award for Excellence) - Wargamer
- 5 out of 5 rating (Seal of Excellence) - The Adrenaline Vault
- 6 out of 6 rating (Drool Award) - Gamers Depot.com
- 9.7 out of 10 rating (Outstanding Game Award) - GameZone.com
- 97 out of 100 rating - Wired Play
- 96 out of 100 rating (Award of Excellence) - The Gamers Temple
- 95 out of 100 rating (GG Platinum Award) - Gone Gold
- 93 out of 100 rating - Game Rankings
- 9.3 out of 10 rating - Geek Haven
- 9.3 out of 10 rating (Game of the Month July 2002) - GameSpot
- 92 out of 100 rating (AOG Approved) - All Out Games
- 9 out of 10 rating (Mindless Choice Award) - Mindless Games
- 90 out of 100 rating (Gamers' Choice Award) - Game Over
- 8.9 out of 10 rating (Silver Hell Award) - Gamer's Hell
- 4 out of 5 rating (Top Game) - Games Domain
- Best Animation 2003 - Digital Media World
- Best Cut Scenes 2002 - XSages
- Best Cinematic/Cut-Scene Audio - Music4Games.net
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal
- 1997 Game add-on of the year - Computer Gaming World
- 1996 Best Enhancement of an Existing game - Computer Gaming World
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
- Hall of Fame Inductee - Computer Gaming World
- Game of the Year - PC Gamer
- Game of the Year finalist - Computer Games Strategy Plus
- Best Multiplayer Game of the Year - PC Gamer
- Best On-line Game - c|net Award of Internet Excellence
- Best Strategy Game - MacWorld Macintosh Hall of Fame 1997
- Best New Game - MacUser Editors' Choice Awards
- Best Internet Game - Video Game Advisor
- Europe Software of Excellence Award - Ziff-Davis UK
- 1996 Innovations Award - Consumer Electronics Show, Winter 1996
- 1996 Eddy Award: Best Game - MacUser
- 1996 "Best of After Hours" - PC Magazine
- Real-Time Strategy Game of the Year runner-up - Computer Games Strategy Plus
- Game of the Year finalist - Computer Games Strategy Plus
- Number-one selling entertainment CD-ROM of 1996 - PC Data
- Strategy Hall of Fame award - MacWorld magazine
- #2 Reader's Top 50 - PC Gamer
- Editors' Choice Award - PC Gamer
- CG Choice Award - Computer Gaming World
- Golden Triad Award - Computer Game Review
- 96-percent rating - PC Gamer
- 93-percent rating - Computer Game Review
- 4.5 out of 5 rating - Computer Gaming World
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
- 1995 Premier finalist - Computer Gaming World
- Editors' Choice Award - PC Gamer
- Strategy Game of the Year runner-up - PC Gamer
- Critics' Pick - Computer Life
- 1995 Best Strategy finalist - Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
- 1995 Innovations Award - Consumer Electronics Show, Winter 1995
- Four out of five rating - Computer Gaming World
- 92-percent rating - PC Gamer
- Four out of five rating - Computer Life
Blizzard Entertainment
- Developer Awards
- Time Lists All-Time 100 Video Games - Time
- 100 Best Companies to Work For 2015 - Fortune
- Top 10 Innovative Companies in Gaming 2015 – Fast Company
- Top Places to Work 2011 - Orange County Register
- Spike TV Video Game Awards 2011 - "Gamer God" - "Additional honors included the second ever Gamer God Award, which was bestowed upon Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the "World of Warcraft," "Starcraft" and "Diablo" series. Original founders Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce were all on hand to accept the prestigious award."
- Top Places To Work 2010 - Orange County Register
- Top Places to Work 2009 - County Register
- OC's Best Places to Work 2009 - Orange County Business Journal
- Company of the Year 2009 - Technology Council
- Top Places to Work 2008 - Orange County Register
- OC Metro's Top Places to Work For 2008
- German Award for Computergames
- Best Multimedia Company of 1999 - SC Software Publishers Association
- Best Software Developer of 1993 - VideoGames Magazine
- Developer's Spotlight Award - Computer Game Developer's Association
- Best Director of Animation: StarCraft - 1997 World Animation Celebration
- Award of Merit: Lifetime Achievement for Mike Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce - IGN
Employees
Notable
- Allen Adham (vice president and co-founder)
- Greg Canessa (Battle.net 2.0 project coordinator)[40]
- Tom Chilton
- Samwise Didier (art director)
- Drawgoon
- Mark Gibbons
- Michael Morhaime (president and co-founder)
- Frank Pearce (vice president and co-founder)
- Brian Holinka (WoW senior game designer, PvP)
- J. Allen Brack (WoW production director)
- Chris Robinson (WoW senior art director)
- Ion Hazzikostas
- Raneman
- 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)[41]
- David Kim (balance designer)
- Brian T. Kindregan (lead writer)
- Ben Brode (Hearthstone senior game designer)
- Eric Dodds (Hearthstone lead game designer)
- Matt Samia (senior director of cinematics)
- Kevin Yu, aka Karune (battle.net representative)
Organizations
Previous employees
- Chris Metzen (vice president of creative development)
- Rob Pardo (vice president of game design)
- Bill Roper
- Paul Sams (Chief Creative Officer)
- Greg Street
Company's ownership
The company's ownership has shifted many times over the years, through mergers, name changes or acquisitions:[7]
- Davidson & Associates (1994-1996)
- CUC International (1996-1997)
- Cendant Software (1997-1998)
- Havas (1998)
- Vivendi (1998-2007)
- Activision Blizzard (2007-present)
Trivia
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.[42]
References
- ^ http://www.activisionblizzard.com/pressReleases/pr120207.php
- ^ Rob Purchese 2008-06-30. Eurogamer: Blizzard Worldwide Invertational. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
- ^ Elsa Keslassy 2013-07-26. Vivendi Sells Majority Stake in Activision Blizzard for $8.2 Billion. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Phillip Kolar. The Three Lives of Blizzard Entertainment. Polygon. Retrieved on 2014-10-04.
- ^ Mission Statement. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2009-11-16.
- ^ a b http://web.archive.org/web/19991012192528/http://blizzard.com:80/info.shtml
- ^ a b c d e f http://www.mobygames.com/company/blizzard-entertainment-inc
- ^ Blizzard Timeline. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2012-07-05.
- ^ 2017-08-04, Blizzard Has Multiple New IPs Incubating But Won't Rush Them Out. GameSpot, retrieved on 2017-08-05
- ^ 2015-11-04, Blizzard Looking to Revive These Classic Games. GameSpot, retrieved on 2017-04-01
- ^ Ordinn 2007-12-02. 0. Activision Blizzard FAQ. WoW General Discussion Forum. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
- ^ Activision Blizzard FAQ.
- ^ Worldwide Invitation 2008.
- ^ a b c Kyle Hilliard 2013-11-10. Blizzard Working On Bringing Warcraft & Warcraft II To Modern PCs. Gameinformer. Retrieved on 2014-01-03.
- ^ a b c BlizzCon 2013 World of Warcraft Q&A Panel
- ^ 2017-06-16, Blizzard’s Unannounced Warcraft Mobile Game. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2017-06-19
- ^ 2017-09-27, Breaking: Blizzard Unannounced Game is a MMO RTS Mobile Game. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2017-10-06
- ^ WoW's Next Expansions Already Planned. GameSpot (2015-08-07). Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
- ^ ART DIRECTOR, UNANNOUNCED PROJECT, Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2015-08-06
- ^ Blizzard freezes non-WOW MMOG rumors. GameSpot (2006-06-14). Retrieved on 2013-11-13.
- ^ Travis Day guaranteed players that the Diablo 4 will Certainly Come. MMORPG Champion (2013-05-21). Retrieved on 2014-04-12.
- ^ a b 2015-08-12, GAMESCOM 2015: BLIZZARD WILL 'CONSIDER WARCRAFT' RTS ONCE STARCRAFT 2 IS DONE. IGN, retrieved on 2015-08-12
- ^ November, 2016, Blizzard Working on New First Person Game. Gamerant, retrieved on 2016-12-01
- ^ Warcraft IV Confirmed, Starcraft II to be split into a Trilogy. NG4 (2008-04-19). Retrieved on 2013-05-29.
- ^ Warcraft IV somewhat confirmed at BlizzCon. SK Gaming (2011-10-11). Retrieved on 2013-05-29.
- ^ Eddie Makuch 2014-08-15. Blizzard Has Considered WoW 2 -- What Would You Like to See?. Gamespot.
- ^ A brief history of Blizzard's canceled and unreleased games. Polygon (2014-09-23). Retrieved on 2014-09-24.
- ^ 2017-05-11, BlizzCon 2017: How Overwatch rose from Titan’s failure. Blizzard Watch, accessed on 2017-11-05
- ^ a b c D.I.C.E. '08: Blizzard talks about blowing up. GameSpot (2008-02-07). Retrieved on 2013-05-29.
- ^ Blizzard North considered making Diablo Junior for the Game Boy Color. Joystiq (2012-10-12). Retrieved on 2013-05-29.
- ^ a b Blizzard Entertainment Inc.. Moby Games. Retrieved on 2013-05-28.
- ^ Pax Imperia II. JudgeHype. Retrieved on 2013-05-28.
- ^ The Art of Blizzard Entertainment (book) review…. Inside the Box (2013-02-04). Retrieved on 2013-05-28.
- ^ Diablo in space? Blizzard actually worked on "Starblo". Neowin.net (2012-10-23). Retrieved on 2013-05-29.
- ^ 'StarCraft: Ghost' (PS2/Xbox) Cancelled But Goes Next-Gen. Worthplaying (2006-03-24). Retrieved on 2013-11-13.
- ^ Ross Miller 2014-09-23. Blizzard cancels its 'World of Warcraft' successor. The Verge.
- ^ 2016-01-09, Marvel Heroes 2015 (January 8 2016). YouTube, retrieved on 2016-01-11
- ^ 2015-07-31, THE UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF MIKE BOOTH. Blizzpro, retrieved on 2015-08-01
- ^ Awards - Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard Entertainment.
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment staff, Greg Canessa 2010-02-09. Battle.net Preview. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2010-02-09.
- ^ Blizzcon Video Archive (Sonkie vs Yellow). Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-10-19.
- ^ Yong Woo, live on stream (2014-12-13).
External links
- Wikipedia Blizzard Entertainment
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