Blizzard loses four. (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

Here is the story folks:

According to a Reuters report, four key figures at Blizzard North have "resigned from the company to pursue other opportunities." Blizzard Entertainment told Reuters that the Blizzard North cofounders Erich Schaefer, Max Schaefer, and David Brevik, plus Blizzard vice president Bill Roper, recently left the company. The report also quotes a VU Games executive as saying that Vivendi Universal's public efforts to sell its game division, including Blizzard, has had some effect on employee morale.

Can be found here:

Blizzard news

Big news for Blizzard fans.

 

[Damian James]

Now that is some crazy timing... The new WC3 expansion is going to fly off the shelves, according to the guy handling the preorders at my local EB.

 

[Dave F]

Big BAD news for Blizzard fans. :frowning:

I'm really looking forward to Ghost - I hope this doesn't have a huge negative effect on that game. Hmmm...World of Warcraft also...

-Dave

 

[Jeffrey D Smith]

Agreed, very bad news. I had read some discontent stories at blizzard in other forums, but figured they were specualtion.

Does anyone know how large Blizzard is these days?

Side note: Rock n' Roll racing fr GBA, awesome...

 

[Graeme Clark]

Keep in mind that 3 of the 4 are from Blizzard North, who have primarily done the Diablo games (although I can't recall what they're current project is... if it's even been announced yet. They aren't doing WOW are they?).

I can't see how their leaving would possibly affect Ghost in any way.

Bill Roper though... it's hard to know. He was a producer who's hands were in every game that Blizzard released. Obviously he wasn't the lead on any of these projects, but it's hard to know just what his leaving may change.

Certainly they'll need a new spokesperson as Billy was the one who did most interviews and PR for Blizzard.

I will miss Bill though, and the voices and personality he provided to both the games and the company.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

I'm really looking forward to Ghost - I hope this doesn't have a huge negative effect on that game.

I'm assuming the actual role of Blizzard as developer wasn't that big.

 

[Brian Kleinke]

Nah this isn't bad news for Blizzard, it's good news for us... give em 2 years and we'll get another outfit like Blizzard

I'm sure they left cuz they want to do something original and not just more WarCraft, StarCraft and Diablo stuff.

The head honchos of Blizzard are still in charge