Mike Morhaime, the boss of Blizzard Entertainment, has stepped down.
He hands his presidency to longtime World of Warcraft steward (Blizzard’s rather nice choice of words) J. Allen Brack, effective immediately. Morhaime will stick around as advisor.
“After many years of working with some of the industry’s most talented people to create games and worlds for you to play in, I’ve decided it’s time for someone else to lead Blizzard Entertainment,” wrote Morhaime.
“J. is an inspiring leader who has shown unwavering commitment to Blizzard’s community in his 12 years with the company. His leadership on World of Warcraft leveraged his vision, creativity, and commitment to quality, and together with the rest of the dev team helped deliver an experience that is unprecedented in our industry. I couldn’t be happier for J. and know that Blizzard will continue to make great games with him at the helm.”
“We’re working on more games now than at any point in Blizzard’s history.” -J. Allen Brack
“Today has been a swirl of emotions,” J. Allen Brack responded in a fuller statement, which I’ve chopped down for brevity. “To be chosen to lead Blizzard into the future is both a huge honor, and a tremendous responsibility.
“I’m pleased to announce two additions to our executive leadership team who will be instrumental as we move forward. Ray Gresko, a 10-year veteran of Blizzard who helped create both Overwatch and Diablo 3, is now our chief development officer. Allen Adham, Blizzard’s original founder and lead designer of World of Warcraft, will join the executive team while continuing to oversee development of several new games.”
Hang on – “several new games”? He didn’t elaborate, but he did remark, “we’re working on more games now than at any point in Blizzard’s history”. Perhaps he’ll say more 2nd November when he steps out for his first presidential BlizzCon address..
Morhaime steps down after 14 years as president and after 27 years at the company he co-founded with Allen Adham and Frank Pearce. Back then they were Silicon & Synapse, building a game called The Lost Vikings for Brian Fargo’s Interplay. I remember playing that on SNES – how time flies.
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