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Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American
video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...
and
publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
based in
Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...
. A subsidiary of
Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Vivendi ...
, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduates of the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
:
Michael Morhaime Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and th ...
, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham. The company originally concentrated on the creation of game ports for other studios' games before beginning development of their own software in 1993 with games like '' Rock n' Roll Racing'' and '' The Lost Vikings''. In 1993, the company became Chaos Studios, Inc., and eventually Blizzard Entertainment after being acquired by distributor
Davidson & Associates Davidson & Associates, Inc. was an American developer of educational software based in Torrance, California. The company was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson, the latter of whom led the company as president until Januar ...
. Shortly thereafter, Blizzard released '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans''. Since then, Blizzard Entertainment has created several ''
Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chao ...
'' sequels, including highly influential
massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character ( ...
''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' in 2004, as well as three other multi-million selling video game franchises: '' Diablo,'' ''
StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
'' and ''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and '' Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
''. (until 2009: 20M) Their most recent projects include the expansion for ''
Diablo III ''Diablo III'' is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the ''Diablo'' franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, PlayStation 3 and ...
'', '' Reaper of Souls''; the online collectible card game ''
Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by ...
;'' the
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that i ...
''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various ...
;'' the third and final expansion for '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', '' Legacy of the Void''; the
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
first-person hero shooter ''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and '' Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
;'' and the eighth expansion for ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'', '' Shadowlands.'' The games are operated through online gaming service
Battle.net Battle.net is an Internet-based online game, social networking service, digital distribution, and digital rights management platform developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The service was launched on December 31, 1996, followed a few days later ...
. On July 9, 2008,
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
merged with
Vivendi Games Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Asso ...
, culminating in the inclusion of the Blizzard brand name in the title of the resulting holding company. On July 25, 2013, Activision Blizzard announced the purchase of 429 million shares from majority owner Vivendi. As a result, Activision Blizzard became a completely independent company. Since 2018, the company's reputation has suffered from a series of poorly received games, controversies involving players and staff, and allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct against leading Blizzard employees. Blizzard Entertainment hosts annual
gaming convention A gaming convention is a gathering centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either ...
s for fans to meet and to promote their games: the first
BlizzCon BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and '' Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was he ...
was held in October 2005, and since then, all of the conventions have been held at the
Anaheim Convention Center The Anaheim Convention Center is a major convention center in Anaheim, California and is the largest exhibition facility on the West Coast of the United States. It is located across from the Disneyland Resort on Katella Avenue. The original co ...
in
Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...
. BlizzCon features game-related announcements, previews of upcoming Blizzard Entertainment games and content, Q&A sessions and panels, costume contests, and playable versions of various Blizzard games. Blizzard WorldWide Invitationals were events similar to BlizzCon held in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
between 2004 and 2008.


History


Founding (1991–1994)

Blizzard Entertainment was founded by
Michael Morhaime Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and th ...
, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce as Silicon & Synapse in February 1991, after all three had earned their
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
s from the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
, the year prior. The name "Silicon & Synapse" was a high concept from the three founders, with "silicon" representing the building block of a computer, while "synapse" the building block of the brain. The initial logo was created by Stu Rose. To fund the company, each of them contributed about $10,000, Morhaime borrowing the sum interest-free from his grandmother. During the first two years, the company focused on creating game ports for other studios. Ports include titles such as '' J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I'' and ''Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess''. In 1993, the company developed games such as '' Rock n' Roll Racing'' and '' The Lost Vikings'' (published by
Interplay Productions Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca ...
). Around 1993, co-founder Adham told the other executives that he did not like the name "Silicon & Synapse" anymore, as people outside the company were confusing the meaning of silicon the chemical element used in microchips with silicone the materials used in breast implants. By the end of 1993, Adham changed the name to "Chaos Studios", reflecting on the haphazardness of their development processes. In early 1994, they were acquired by distributor
Davidson & Associates Davidson & Associates, Inc. was an American developer of educational software based in Torrance, California. The company was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson, the latter of whom led the company as president until Januar ...
for $6.75 million ($ million today). Shortly after this point, they were contacted by a Florida company, Chaos Technologies, who wanted the company to pay () to keep the name. Not wanting to pay that sum, the executives decided to change the studio's name to "Ogre Studios" by April 1994. However, Davidson & Associates did not like this name, and forced the company to change it. According to Morhaime, Adham began running through a dictionary from the start, writing down any word that seemed interesting and passing it to the legal department to see if it had any complications. One of the first words they found to be interesting and cleared the legal check was "blizzard", leading them to change their name to "Blizzard Entertainment" by May 1994. Shortly thereafter, Blizzard Entertainment shipped their breakthrough hit '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', a
real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...
(RTS) game in a high-fantasy setting.


Acquisition by Vivendi and ''World of Warcraft'' (1995–2007)

Blizzard Entertainment has changed hands several times since then. Davidson was acquired along with Sierra On-Line by a company called
CUC International CUC (Comp-U-Card) International Inc. was a membership-based consumer services conglomerate with travel, shopping, auto, dining, home improvement and financial services offered to more than 60 million customers worldwide based in Stamford, Connectic ...
in 1996. CUC then merged with a hotel, real-estate, and car-rental franchiser called HFS Corporation to form Cendant in 1997. In 1998 it became apparent that CUC had engaged in accounting fraud for years before the merger. Cendant's stock lost 80% of its value over the next six months in the ensuing widely discussed accounting scandal. The company sold its consumer software operations, Sierra On-line (which included Blizzard) to French publisher
Havas Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of ...
in 1998, the same year Havas was purchased by
Vivendi Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
. Blizzard, at this point numbering about 200 employees, became part of the
Vivendi Games Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Asso ...
group of Vivendi. In 1996, Blizzard Entertainment acquired Condor Games of
San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame, California, Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough, California, Hillsboro ...
, which had been working on the
action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the playe ...
(ARPG) '' Diablo'' for Blizzard at the time. Condor was renamed Blizzard North, with Blizzard's main headquarters in Irvine renamed to Blizzard South to distinguish the two. ''Diablo'' was released at the very start of 1997 alongside
Battle.net Battle.net is an Internet-based online game, social networking service, digital distribution, and digital rights management platform developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The service was launched on December 31, 1996, followed a few days later ...
, a matchmaking service for the game. Blizzard North developed the sequel '' Diablo II'' (2000), and its expansion pack '' Lord of Destruction'' (2001). Following these releases, a number of key staff from Blizzard North departed for other opportunities, such as Bill Roper. Blizzard's management mentioned made the decision August 2005 to consolidate Blizzard North into Blizzard South, relocating staff to the main Blizzard offices in Irvine, and subsequently dropping the "Blizzard South" name. Following the success of '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', Blizzard began development on a science-fiction themed RTS ''
StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
'' and released the title in March 1998. The title was the top-selling PC game for the year, and led to further growth of the Battle.net service and the use of the game for esports. Around 2000, Blizzard engaged with
Nihilistic Software nStigate Games (formerly Nihilistic Software) was an American video game developer based in Novato, California. History Nihilistic was founded in March 1998 by Ray Gresko, Robert Huebner, and Steve Tietze. Gresko and Huebner had formerly worked ...
to work on a version of ''StarCraft'' for home consoles for Blizzard. Nihilisitic was co-founded by Robert Huebner, who had worked on ''StarCraft'' and other games while a Blizzard employee before leaving to found the studio. The game, '' StarCraft: Ghost'', was a stealth-oriented game compared to the RTS features of ''StarCraft'', and was a major feature of the 2002
Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. Th ...
. However, over the next few years, the game entered
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game en ...
with conflicts between Nihilisitic and Blizzard on its direction. Blizzard ordered Nihilistic to stop work on ''StarCraft: Ghost'' in July 2004, and instead brought on Swingin' Ape Studios, a third-party studio that had just successfully released '' Metal Arms: Glitch in the System'' in 2003, to reboot the development of ''Ghost''. Blizzard fully acquired Swingin' Ape Studios in May 2005 to continue on ''Ghost''. However, while the game was scheduled to be released in 2005, it was targeted at the consoles of the sixth generation, such as the PlayStation 2 and original
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...
, while the industry was transitioning to the seventh generation. Blizzard decided to cancel ''Ghost'' rather than extend its development period to work on the newer consoles. Blizzard started to work on a sequel to the ''Warcraft II'' in early 1998, which was announced as a "role-playing strategy" game. '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos,'' the third title set in the ''Warcraft'' fictional universe, was released in July 2002. ''Warcraft III'' has inspired many future games, having the influence on
real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...
and
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that i ...
genre. Many of the characters, locations and concepts introduced in ''Warcraft III'' and its expansion went on to play major roles in numerous future Blizzard's titles. In 2002, Blizzard was able to reacquire rights for three of its earlier Silicon & Synapse titles, '' The Lost Vikings'', '' Rock n' Roll Racing'' and ''
Blackthorne ''Blackthorne'' (released as ''Blackhawk'' in some European countries) is a cinematic platform game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for the Super NES and MS-DOS in 1994. The cover art for the SNES version was drawn by Jim ...
'', from
Interplay Entertainment Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca ...
and re-release them for the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
handheld console. In 2004, Blizzard opened European offices in the Paris suburb of Vélizy, Yvelines, France. Blizzard Entertainment released ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'', a
massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character ( ...
(MMORPG) based on the ''Warcraft'' franchise, on November 23, 2004, in North America, and on February 11, 2005, in Europe. By December 2004, the game was the fastest-selling PC game in the United States, and by March 2005, had reached 1.5 million subscribers worldwide. Blizzard partnered with Chinese publisher The9 to publish and distribute ''World of Warcraft'' in China, as foreign companies could not directly publish into the country themselves. ''World of Warcraft'' launched in China in June 2005. By the end of 2007, ''World of Warcraft'' was considered a global phenomenon, having reached over 9 million subscribers and exceeded in revenue since its release. In April 2008, ''World of Warcraft'' was estimated to hold 62 percent of the MMORPG subscription market. Blizzard's staff quadrupled from around 400 employees in 2004 to 1600 by 2006 to provide more resources to the game and its various expansions, and Blizzard moved their headquarters to 16215 Alton Parkway in Irvine, California in 2007 to support the additional staff. With the success of ''World of Warcraft'', Blizzard Entertainment organized the first
BlizzCon BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and '' Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was he ...
fan convention in October 2005 held at the
Anaheim Convention Center The Anaheim Convention Center is a major convention center in Anaheim, California and is the largest exhibition facility on the West Coast of the United States. It is located across from the Disneyland Resort on Katella Avenue. The original co ...
. The inaugural event drew about 6,000 people and became an annual event which Blizzard uses to announce new games, expansions, and content for its properties.


Vivendi merger with Activision and continued growth (2008–2017)

Up through 2006, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
, had been working to rebound the company from near-bankruptcy, and had established a number of new studios. However, Activision lacked anything in the MMO market. Kotick saw that ''World of Warcraft'' was bringing in over a year in subscription fees, and began approaching Vivendi's CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy about potential acquisition of their struggling Vivendi Games division, which included Blizzard Entertainment. Lévy was open to a merger, but would only allow it if he controlled the majority of the combined company, knowing the value of ''World of Warcraft'' to Kotick. Among those Kotick spoke to for advice included Blizzard's Morhaime, who told Kotick that they had begun establishing lucrative in-roads into the
Chinese market The China, People's Republic of China has an upper middle income Developing country, developing Mixed economy, mixed socialist market economy that incorporates economic planning through Industrial policy, industrial policies and strategic Five- ...
. Kotick accepted Lévy's deal, with the deal approved by shareholders in December 2007. By July 2008, the merger was complete, with Vivendi Games effectively dissolved except for Blizzard Entertainment, and the new company was named
Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Vivendi ...
. Blizzard established a distribution agreement with the Chinese company
NetEase NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce. The company was founded in 1997 by Ding Lei. NetEase develops and operates online PC and mobile gam ...
in August 2008 to publish Blizzard's games in China. The deal focused on ''
StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...
'' which was gaining popularity as an esport within southeast Asia, as well as for other Blizzard games with the exception of ''World of Warcraft'', still being handled by The9. The two companies established the Shanghai EaseNet Network Technology for managing the games within China. Blizzard and The9 prepared to launch the ''World of Warcraft'' expansion '' Wrath of the Lich King'', but the expansion came under scrutiny by China's content regulation board, the
General Administration of Press and Publication General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP; ) is the administrative agency responsible for regulating and distributing news, print and Internet publications in China. This includes granting publication licenses for periodicals and book ...
, which rejected publication of it within China in March 2009, even with preliminary modifications made by The9 to clear it. Rumors of Blizzard's dissatisfaction with The9 from this and other previous complications with ''World of Warcraft'' came to a head when, in April 2009, Blizzard announced it was terminating its contract with The9, and transferred operation of ''World of Warcraft'' in China to NetEase. They released an improved version of
Battle.net Battle.net is an Internet-based online game, social networking service, digital distribution, and digital rights management platform developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The service was launched on December 31, 1996, followed a few days later ...
(Battle.net 2.0) in March 2009 which included improved matchmaking, storefront features, and better support for all of Blizzard's existing titles particularly ''World of Warcraft''. Having peaked at 12 million monthly subscriptions in 2010, ''World of Warcraft'' subscriptions sunk to 6.8 million in 2014, the lowest number since the end of 2006, prior to ''
The Burning Crusade ''World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade'' is the first expansion set for the MMORPG '' World of Warcraft''. It was released on January 16, 2007 at local midnight in Europe and North America, selling nearly 2.4 million copies on release day alo ...
'' expansion. However, ''World of Warcraft'' is still the world's most-subscribed MMORPG,MMOG Active Subscriptions 21.0
", MMOGCHART.COM, June 29, 2006.
and holds the
Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for the most popular MMORPG by subscribers. In 2008, Blizzard was honored at the 59th Annual
Technology & Engineering Emmy Award The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, or Technology and Engineering Emmys, are one of two sets of Emmy Awards that are presented for outstanding achievement in engineering development in the television industry. The Technology and Enginee ...
s for the creation of ''World of Warcraft''.
Mike Morhaime Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and th ...
accepted the award. Following the merger, Blizzard found it was relying on its well-established properties, but at the same time, the industry was experiencing a shift towards
indie game An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...
s. Blizzard established a few small teams within the company to work on developing new concepts based on the indie development approach that it could potentially use. One of these teams quickly came onto the idea of a collectible card game based on the ''Warcraft'' narrative universe, which ultimately became ''
Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by ...
'', released as a free-to-play title in March 2014. ''Hearthstone'' reached over 25 million players by the end of 2014, and exceeded 100 million players by 2018. Another small internal team began work around 2008 on a new intellectual property known as ''
Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
'', a more contemporary or near-future MMORPG that would have co-existed alongside ''World of Warcraft''. The project gained more visibility in 2010 as a result of some information leaks. Blizzard continued to speak on ''Titan''s development over the next few years, with over 100 people within Blizzard working on the project. However, ''Titan''s development was troubled, and, internally, in May 2013, Blizzard cancelled the project (publicly reporting this in 2014), and reassigned most of the staff but left about 40 people, led by Jeff Kaplan, to either come up with a fresh idea within a few weeks or have their team reassigned to Blizzard's other departments. The small team came upon the idea of a team-based multiplayer shooter game, reusing many of the assets from ''Titan'' but set in a new near-future narrative. The new project was greenlit by Blizzard and became known as ''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and '' Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
'', which was released in May 2016. ''Overwatch'' became the fourth main intellectual property of Blizzard, following ''Warcraft'', ''Starcraft'', and ''Diablo''. In addition to ''Hearthstone'' and ''Overwatch'', Blizzard Entertainment continued to produce sequels and expansions to its established properties during this period, including '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'' (2010) and ''
Diablo III ''Diablo III'' is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the ''Diablo'' franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, PlayStation 3 and ...
'' (2012). Their major crossover title, ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various ...
'', was released as a MOBA game in 2015. The game featured various characters from Blizzard's franchises as playable heroes, as well as different battlegrounds based on ''Warcraft'', ''Diablo'', ''StarCraft'', and ''Overwatch'' universes. In the late 2010s, Blizzard released '' StarCraft: Remastered'' (2017) and '' Warcraft III: Reforged'' (2020)'',''
remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...
ed versions of the original ''StarCraft'' and ''Warcraft III,'' respectively''.'' The May 2016 release of ''Overwatch'' was highly successful, and was the highest-selling game on PC for 2016. Several traditional esport events had been established within the year of ''Overwatch'' release, such as the Overwatch World Cup, but Blizzard continued to expand this and announced the first esports professional league, the
Overwatch League The Overwatch League (OWL) is a professional esports league for the video game '' Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The Overwatch League follows the model of other traditional North American professional sporting l ...
at the 2016 BlizzCon event. The company purchased a studio at
The Burbank Studios The Burbank Studios (formerly known as NBC Studios) is a television production facility located in Burbank, California. The studio is home to ''Days of Our Lives'', '' Extra'', the '' IHeartRadio Theater'', and was formerly home to the Blizzar ...
in
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, wh ...
, that it converted into a dedicated esports venue, the Blizzard Arena, to be used for the Overwatch League and other events. The inaugural season of the Overwatch League launched on January 10, 2018, with 12 global teams playing. By the second season in 2019 it had expanded the League to 20 teams, and with its third season in 2020, it will have these teams traveling across the globe in a transitional home/away-style format. In 2012, Blizzard Entertainment had 4,700 employees, with offices across 11 cities including
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, and countries around the globe. , the company's headquarters in Irvine, California had 2,622 employees.


Change of leadership (2018–present)

On October 3, 2018, Mike Morhaime announced his plans to step down as the company president and CEO while remaining an advisor to the company; he formally left on April 7, 2019. Morhaime was replaced by J. Allen Brack, the executive producer on ''World of Warcraft''. Frank Pearce announced he would be stepping down as Blizzard's Chief Development Officer on July 19, 2019, though will remain in an advisory role similar to Morhaime. Michael Chu, lead writer on many of Blizzard's franchises including ''Diablo'', ''Warcraft'', and ''Overwatch'', announced he was leaving the company after 20 years in March 2020. On January 22, 2021, Activision transferred Vicarious Visions over to Blizzard Entertainment, stating that the Vicarious Visions team had better opportunity for long-term support for Blizzard. Vicarious had been working with Blizzard for about two years prior to this announcement on the planned
remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...
of '' Diablo II'', '' Diablo II: Resurrected'', and according to Brack, it made sense to incorporate Vicarious into Blizzard for ongoing support of the game and for other ''Diablo'' games including '' Diablo IV''. Vicarious was completely merged into Blizzard by April 12, 2022. In celebration of the company's 30th anniversary, Blizzard Entertainment released a compilation called ''Blizzard Arcade Collection'' in February 2021, for various video game platforms. The collection includes their three classic video games: '' The Lost Vikings'', '' Rock n' Roll Racing,'' and ''
Blackthorne ''Blackthorne'' (released as ''Blackhawk'' in some European countries) is a cinematic platform game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for the Super NES and MS-DOS in 1994. The cover art for the SNES version was drawn by Jim ...
,'' each of which containing additional upgrades and numerous modern features.'''' Activision Blizzard was the subject of a lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in July 2021, asserting that for several years the management within Blizzard as well as Activision promoted a "frat boy" atmosphere that allowed and encouraged sexual misconduct towards female employees and discrimination in hiring practices. The lawsuit drew a large response from employees and groups outside of Activision Blizzard. In the wake of these events, Brack, one of the few individuals directly named in the suit, announced he was leaving Blizzard to "pursue new opportunities", and will be replaced by co-leads Jen Oneal, the lead of Vicarious Visions and the first woman in a leadership role for the company, and Mike Ybarra, a Blizzard executive vice president. Oneal announced in November 2021 that she would be leaving the company by the end of 2021, leaving Ybarra as the sole leader of Blizzard. As a result of the California lawsuit and of delays and release issues with their more recent games, Activision Blizzard's stock faced severe pressure. Subsequently,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
seized the opportunity to become one of the largest video game companies in the world and announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard and its subsidiaries, including Blizzard, for in January 2022. This exchange marks the largest acquisition in tech history, surpassing the $67 billion Dell-EMC merger from 2016. The deal is expected to close by mid-2023, during which Activision Blizzard will remain its own company and, once finalized, will be moved into the Microsoft Gaming division. Blizzard acquired
Proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...
, the developers of ''
Spellbreak ''Spellbreak'' was a free-to-play, class-based third-person shooter video game developed by Proletariat for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, released on September 3, 2020. On June 28, 2022, it was announced that Sp ...
'', in June 2022 as to help support ''World of Warcraft''. The 100-employee studio remained in Boston but will shutter ''Spellbreak'' as they move onto ''Warcraft''. Ahead of their license renewal in January 2023, Blizzard and NetEase stated in November 2022 that they had been unable to come to an agreement on the renewal terms for their license, and thus most Blizzard games will cease operations in January 2023 until the situation can be resolved.


Games

Blizzard Entertainment has developed 19 games since 1991, the majority of which are in the ''
Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chao ...
'', '' Diablo'', and ''
StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
'' series. Since the release of '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'' (1994), '' Diablo'' (1997), and ''
StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
'' (1998), the focus has been almost exclusively on those three franchises, with the ''
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and '' Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
'' (2016) as sole exception, On October 4, 2022
Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and '' Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
servers were officially shut off, Later Overwatch 2 (2022) servers went up. Additionally, Blizzard has released two
spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
to the main franchises: ''
Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by ...
'' (2014), and ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various ...
'' (2015). The company announced in January 2022 that it was near release of another new intellectual property, a survival game that had been at work at the studio for nearly five years.


Main franchises

Currently, Blizzard Entertainment has four main franchises: ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', ''Diablo,'' and ''Overwatch''. Each franchise is supported by other media based around its intellectual property such as novels, collectible card games, comics and video shorts. Blizzard announced in 2006 that they would be producing a ''Warcraft'' live-action movie. The movie was directed by Duncan Jones, financed and produced by Legendary Pictures,
Atlas Entertainment Atlas Entertainment is an American film financing and production company, started by Charles Roven, Bob Cavallo and Dawn Steel in 1995. History In 1990, Charles Roven and partner Bob Cavallo formed Roven/Cavallo Entertainment. At the same ...
, and others, and distributed by
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
. It was released in June 2016.


Remasters

In 2015, Blizzard Entertainment formed "Classic Games division", a team focused on updating and
remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...
ing some of their older titles, with an initially announced focus on '' StarCraft: Remastered'' (2017), '' Warcraft III: Reforged'' (2020)'','' and '' Diablo II: Resurrected'' (2021)''.''


Re-released games

In February 2021, Blizzard Entertainment released a compilation called ''Blizzard Arcade Collection'' for Microsoft Windows,
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...
. The collection includes five Blizzard's classic video games: '' The Lost Vikings'', '' Rock n' Roll Racing,'' ''
Blackthorne ''Blackthorne'' (released as ''Blackhawk'' in some European countries) is a cinematic platform game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for the Super NES and MS-DOS in 1994. The cover art for the SNES version was drawn by Jim ...
'', '' The Lost Vikings 2'' and ''
RPM Racing ''RPM Racing'' (short for ''Radical Psycho Machine Racing'') is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System racing game developed by Silicon & Synapse (now known as Blizzard Entertainment) and published by Interplay Productions. ''RPM'' was a succe ...
'', with the last two games added in April 2021. Some of the modern features include 16:9 resolution, 4-player split-screen, rewinding and saving of game progress, watching replays, and adding graphic filters to change the look of player's game. Additionally, it contains upgrades for each game such as enhanced local multiplayer for ''The Lost Vikings'', new songs and artist performances for ''Rock n' Roll Racing'', as well as a new level map for ''Blackthorne.'' A digital museum, which is included in the collection, features game art, unused content, and interviews.


Unreleased games

Notable unreleased titles include '' Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans'', which was canceled on May 22, 1998, ''Shattered Nations'', and '' StarCraft: Ghost'', which was "Postponed indefinitely" on March 24, 2006, after being in
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game en ...
for much of its lifespan. After seven years of development, Blizzard revealed the cancellation of an unannounced MMO codenamed ''Titan'' on September 23, 2014. The company also has a history of declining to set release dates, choosing to instead take as much time as needed, generally saying a given product is "done when it's done." ''Pax Imperia II'' was originally announced as a title to be published by Blizzard. Blizzard eventually dropped ''Pax Imperia II'', though, when it decided it might be in conflict with their other space strategy project, which became known as ''
StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
''. THQ eventually contracted with Heliotrope and released the game in 1997 as '' Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain''.


Ports

The company, known at the time as the Silicon & Synapse, initially concentrated on
porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally des ...
other studio's games to computer platforms, developing 8 ports between 1992 and 1993.


Company structure

As with most studios with multiple franchises, Blizzard Entertainment has organized different departments to oversee these franchises. Formally, since around the time of ''World of Warcraft'' in 2004, these have been denoted through simply numerical designations. The original three teams were: * Team 1 manages the ''StarCraft'' property. The team also oversaw the development of the ''StarCraft'' spin-off ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various ...
''. Team 1 also included the Classics Team to work on remastering Blizzard's earlier properties for modern computers, which have included '' StarCraft: Remastered'' and '' Warcraft III: Reforged''. The Classic Games team was disbanded around August 2020, about eight months after ''Warcraft III: Reforged'' was released; according to Jason Schreier of ''
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
'', this was due to Activision driving Blizzard away from remastering its old properties, which figured into the launch issues with ''Warcraft III: Reforged''. * Team 2 continues to manage and create content for ''World of Warcraft''. * Team 3 oversees the ''Diablo'' franchise. Since 2004, two new teams were created: * Team 4 was created around 2007 to work on Blizzard's first new IP since ''World of Warcraft'', that being ''
Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
''. ''Titan'' had development difficulties near 2013, and most of Team 4 was reallocated to the other teams, but the remaining members, led by Jeff Kaplan, revised ''Titan''s concept into ''Overwatch'', which remains in Team 4's hands since its release in 2016. * Team 5 was created in 2008 to explore smaller games that could fit into Blizzard's portfolio. This resulted in the creation of ''
Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by ...
'', a collectible card game based on the ''Warcraft'' property, which became Team 5's priority.


Technology


Warden client

Blizzard Entertainment has made use of a special form of software known as the 'Warden Client'. The Warden client is known to be used with Blizzard's online games such as ''Diablo'' and ''World of Warcraft'', and the Terms of Service contain a clause consenting to the Warden software's RAM scans while a Blizzard game is running. The Warden client scans a small portion of the
code segment In computing, a code segment, also known as a text segment or simply as text, is a portion of an object file or the corresponding section of the program's virtual address space that contains executable instructions. Segment The term "segment ...
of running processes in order to determine whether any third-party programs are running. The goal of this is to detect and address players who may be attempting to run unsigned code or third party programs in the game. This determination of third party programs is made by hashing the scanned strings and comparing the hashed value to a list of hashes assumed to correspond to banned third party programs. The Warden's reliability in correctly discerning legitimate versus illegitimate actions was called into question when a large-scale incident happened. This incident banned many Linux users after an update to Warden caused it to incorrectly detect Cedega as a cheat program. Blizzard issued a statement claiming they had correctly identified and restored all accounts and credited them with 20 days' play. Warden scans all processes running on a computer, not just the game, and could possibly run across what would be considered private information and other
personally identifiable information Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The abbreviation PII is widely accepted in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates ha ...
. It is because of these peripheral scans that Warden has been accused of being
spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their privac ...
and has run afoul of controversy among
privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
advocates.


Battle.net 2.0

Blizzard Entertainment released its revamped Battle.net service in 2009. The platform provides online gaming,
digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and othe ...
,
digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted work ...
, and
social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, ac ...
. Battle.net allows people who have purchased Blizzard products to download digital copies of games they have purchased, without needing any physical media. On November 11, 2009, Blizzard required all ''World of Warcraft'' accounts to switch over to Battle.net accounts. This transition means that all current Blizzard titles can be accessed, downloaded, and played with a singular Battle.net login. Battle.net 2.0 is the platform for matchmaking service for Blizzard games, which offers players a host of additional features. Players are able to track their friend's achievements, view match history, avatars, etc. Players are able to unlock a wide range of achievements for Blizzard games. The service provides the user with community features such as friends lists and groups, and allows players to chat simultaneously with players from other Blizzard games using
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Interne ...
and
instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
. For example, players no longer need to create multiple user names or accounts for most Blizzard products. To enable cross-game communication, players need to become either Battletag or Real ID friends.


Controversies and legal disputes


Privacy controversy and Real ID

On July 6, 2010, Blizzard Entertainment announced that they were changing the way their forums worked to require that users identify themselves with their real name. The reaction from the community was overwhelmingly negative with multiple game magazines calling the change "foolhardy" and an "epic fail". It resulted in a significant user response on the Blizzard forums, including one thread on the issue reaching over 11,000 replies. This included personal details of a Blizzard employee who gave his real name "to show it wasn't a big deal". Shortly after revealing his real name, forum users posted personal information including his phone number, picture, age, and home address. Some technology media outlets suggested that displaying real names through Real ID is a good idea and would benefit both Battle.net and the Blizzard community. But others were worried that Blizzard was opening their fans up to real-life dangers such as stalking, harassment, and employment issues, since a simple Internet search by someone's employer can reveal their online activities. Blizzard initially responded to some of the concerns by saying that the changes would not be retroactive to previous posts, that parents could set up the system so that minors cannot post, and that posting to the forums is optional. However, due to the significant negative response, Blizzard President
Michael Morhaime Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and th ...
issued a statement rescinding the plan to use real names on Blizzard's forums for the time being. The idea behind this plan was to allow players who had a relationship outside of the games to find each other more easily across all the Blizzard game titles.


''Hearthstone'' ban and Hong Kong protests

During an October 2019 ''Hearthstone Grandmasters'' streaming event in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
, one player Ng Wai Chung, going by his online alias "Blitzchung" used an interview period to show support for the protestors in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. Shortly afterwards, on October 7, 2019, Blitzchung was disqualified from the current tournament and forfeited his winnings to date, and banned for a one-year period. The two shoutcasters engaged in the interview were also penalized with similar bans. Blizzard justified the ban as from its ''Grandmasters'' tournament rules that prevents players from anything that "brings hemselvesinto public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages lizzard'simage". Blizzard's response led to several protests from current ''Hearthstone'' players, other video game players, and criticism from Blizzard's employees, fearing that Blizzard was giving into the censorship of the Chinese government. Protests were held, including through the 2019
BlizzCon BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and '' Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was he ...
in early November, to urge Blizzard to reverse their bans. The situation also drew the attention of several U.S. lawmakers, fearing that Blizzard, as a U.S. company, was letting China dictate how it handled speech and also urged the bans to be reversed. Blizzard CEO J. Allen Brack wrote an open letter on October 11, 2019, apologizing for the way Blizzard handled the situation, and reduced the bans for both Blitzchung and the casters to six months. Brack reiterated that while they support free speech and their decision was in no way tied to the Chinese government, they want players and casters to avoid speaking beyond the tournament and the games in such interviews.


''StarCraft'' privacy lawsuit

In 1998, Donald P. Driscoll, an
Albany, California Albany ( ) is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northwestern Alameda County, California. The population was 20,271 at the 2020 census. History In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of Berkeley garbage in thei ...
attorney filed a suit on behalf of Intervention, Inc., a California consumer group, against Blizzard Entertainment for "unlawful business practices" for the action of collecting data from a user's computer without their permission.


''FreeCraft''

On June 20, 2003, Blizzard issued a
cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
letter to the developers of an
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
clone of the Warcraft engine called ''FreeCraft'', claiming
trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may ...
. This hobby project had the same gameplay and characters as ''Warcraft II'', but came with different graphics and music. As well as a similar name, ''FreeCraft'' enabled players to use ''Warcraft II'' graphics, provided they had the ''Warcraft II'' CD. The programmers of the clone shut down their site without challenge. Soon after that the developers regrouped to continue the work by the name of '' Stratagus''.


Founder Electronics infringement lawsuit

On August 14, 2007,
Beijing University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
Founder Electronics Founder Group () is a major Chinese technology conglomerate that deals with information technology, pharmaceuticals, real estate, finance, and commodities trading. It is divided into five major industry groups, each covering a separate industr ...
Co., Ltd. sued Blizzard Entertainment Limited for copyright infringement claiming 100 million yuan in damages. The lawsuit alleged the Chinese edition of ''World of Warcraft'' reproduced a number of Chinese typefaces made by Founder Electronics without permission.


''MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.''

On July 14, 2008, the
United States District Court for the District of Arizona The United States District Court for the District of Arizona (in case citations, D. Ariz.) is the U.S. district court that covers the state of Arizona. It is under the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The District was esta ...
ruled on the case ''MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.''. The Court found that MDY was liable for
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...
since users of its Glider bot program were breaking the End User License Agreement and Terms of Use for ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
''. MDY Industries appealed the judgment of the district court, and a judgment was delivered by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 14, 2010, in which the summary judgment against MDY for contributory copyright infringement was reversed. Nevertheless, they ruled that the bot violated the
DMCA The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
and the case was sent back to the district court for review in light of this decision. ''MDY v. Blizzard''s decision did affirm a prior Ninth Circuit ruling in '' Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc.'' that software licenses, such as the one used by Blizzard for ''WoW'', were enforceable and enshrined the principle that video games could be sold as licenses to players rather than purchased. This ruling, though limited to the states of the Ninth Circuit, has been used by the industry to continue to sell games as licenses to users.


''World of Warcraft'' private server complications

On December 5, 2008, Blizzard Entertainment issued a
cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
letter to many administrators of high population ''
World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' private servers (essentially slightly altered hosting servers of the actual ''World of Warcraft'' game, that players do not have to pay for). Blizzard used the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
to influence many private servers to fully shut down and cease to exist.


Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. v. Valve Corporation

Shortly after
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
filed its trademark for "Dota" to secure the franchising rights for ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to '' Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota ...
'', DotA-Allstars, LLC, run by former contributors to the game's predecessor, ''
Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne''. The objective of the game is for each team to destroy ...
'', filed an opposing trademark in August 2010. DotA All-Stars, LLC was sold to Blizzard Entertainment in 2011. After the opposition was over-ruled in Valve's favor, Blizzard filed an opposition against Valve in November 2011, citing their license agreement with developers, as well as their ownership of DotA-Allstars, LLC. Blizzard conceded their case in May 2012, however, giving Valve undisputed commercial rights to ''Dota'' name, while Blizzard would rename their ''StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm'' mod "Blizzard All-Stars", which would eventually become the stand-alone game, ''
Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various ...
''.


''California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard''

Following a two-year investigation, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in July 2021 for gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment, principally within the Blizzard Entertainment workplace. The DFEH alleges that female employees were subjected to constant sexual harassment, unequal pay, retaliation, as well as discrimination based on pregnancy. The suit also described a "pervasive frat boy workplace culture" at Blizzard that included objectification of women's bodies and jokes about rape. Activision Blizzard's statement described the suit as meritless, contending that action had been taken in any instances of misconduct. The company also objected to the DFEH not approaching them prior to filing. The lawsuit prompted an employee walkout, as well as leading J Allen Brack, and head of human resources, Jesse Meschuk, to step down. Because of these allegations, Blizzard changed names that referenced employees in multiple of its franchises, including ''Overwatch'' and ''World of Warcraft''.


Related companies

Over the years, some former Blizzard Entertainment employees have moved on and established gaming companies of their own. Several of these occurred following the merger between Activision Holdings and Blizzard's parent company at the time,
Vivendi Games Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Asso ...
in 2008, and more recently as Activision Blizzard has directed Blizzard away from properties like ''Warcraft'' and ''Starcraft'' properties that are not seen as financial boons to the larger company. These employees left to form their smaller studios to give themselves the creative freedom that they were lacking at Blizzard. Collectively these studios are known as "Blizzard 2.0". *
Flagship Studios Flagship Studios was a computer game company founded by Bill Roper along with , , and David Brevik, former high level Blizzard North executives. The core personnel of Flagship Studios had been collaborating as a team since 1993 when they found ...
, now defunct, creators of '' Hellgate: London'', also worked on '' Mythos''. *
ArenaNet ArenaNet, LLC is an American video game developer and subsidiary of NCsoft, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington. They are most notable as developers of the online role-playing g ...
, creators of the ''
Guild Wars ''Guild Wars'' is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplay ...
'' franchise. * Ready at Dawn Studios, creators of '' The Order: 1886'', '' Daxter'', '' God of War: Chains of Olympus'' and an ''
ÅŒkami is an action-adventure video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan and North America, and in 2007 in Europe and Australia. After the closure of Clover Studio a few months ...
'' port for the Wii. * Red 5 Studios, now defunct, creators of ''
Firefall Firefall is an American country rock band that formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1974. It was founded by Rick Roberts, former member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Jock Bartley, who had been Tommy Bolin's replacement in Zephyr. The band ...
'', a free to play game MMOG. * Castaway Entertainment, now defunct, after working on a game similar to the ''Diablo'' series, ''Djinn''. *
Carbine Studios Carbine Studios was a video game developer and subsidiary of NCSOFT, founded in 2005 by former members of Blizzard Entertainment. They were the developers of the online role-playing game '' WildStar''. History Carbine's founders were 17 former ...
, now defunct as of September 2018, after releasing a massively multiplayer title '' WildStar''. * Hyboreal Games, founded by Michio Okamura. * Runic Games, now defunct, founded by Travis Baldree, Erich Schaefer, and Max Schaefer; creators of '' Torchlight''. *
Bonfire Studios Bonfire Studios is a video game development studio located in Orange County, California. It was founded in 2016 with funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Riot Games. Games Bonfire has not officially announced their first project. However in ...
, founded by Rob Pardo. * Second Dinner, founded by Ben Brode, creators of ''
Marvel Snap ''Marvel Snap'' is a digital collectible card game developed by Second Dinner and published by Nuverse for Microsoft Windows, Android and iOS. The game features a collection of different Marvel characters from the Marvel Universe. The game was ...
''. * Dreamhaven, founded by
Michael Morhaime Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and th ...
. * Frost Giant Studios, founded by Tim Morten and Tim Campbell, currently developing real-time strategy game '' Stormgate''. * Uncapped Games, founded by David Kim and Jason Hughes.


References


Further reading

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External links

* {{Authority control Companies based in Irvine, California Former Vivendi subsidiaries Video game companies established in 1991 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Video game publishers Spike Video Game Award winners