Shakeup at Blizzard!

[Bolty]

http://www.diabloii.net/pressdesk/030630.php has it all...

Blizzard North just had a heck of a shakeup. Duck!

-Bolty

[--Pete]

Hi,

Other than the fabled 1.10 patch, what has Buzzard been working on? The WarCraft and StarCraft properties are Blizzard. So I would guess that WoW is a Blizzard property, too.

Could it be that the scramble to leave is because they don't have a worthwhile project?

--Pete

[Bolty]

General fanboy thoughts: seems clear that the founders of North got tired of something - perhaps South bossing them around, or bad tidings from the possible impending sale of Vivendi Universal games' unit. What surprises me is Roper, though. He's a South guy, really - sounds to me like they're looking to make a new company.

How many Blizzard North employees they'll be taking with them remains to be seen...so there's three ways to look at this:

1) Good riddance to bad rubbish, welcome in some new blood to manage the North team or
2) This is the beginning of the end for North
3) Things will still run status quo since these four didn't have tremendous impact

I'm currently leaning towards option 2, but who knows what the internal politics over there is like.

-Bolty

[TaiDaishar]

I'm having thoughts whether this article is real or not... mainly because this kind of article was conducted before as an April's fools joke.

I think I'll wait and see if there are any more reliable resources to confirm this (I have a great deal of respect to the warcraft/diablo/WoW.net sites but I still doubt the source of this)

[Bun-Bun]

Bolty,

It does sound like the new-company itch. Game companies reproduce by fission these days. Sometimes I think Austin is like a nuclear reactor that way. :)

I saw something similar happen to Origin, after they sold out to EA. Remind me to tell you the Legend of Pirt Snikwah some time.

Option 2 has my predictive vote.

[Bolty]

This is real.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030630/media_viven...di_games_1.html

-Bolty

[TaiDaishar]

This is real.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030630/media_viven...di_games_1.html

-Bolty

Well then... crap, hopefully it won't harm Blizzard too much and maybe spawn a new company of same quality of Blizzard, who knows.

And eh... hmm... weren't Roper the Vice President of Blizzard? Not just Blizzard north?

[Thecla]

Wow! Pretty big news...I can't imagine it's good for Blizzard though (or Vivendi come to that), but who knows? Did they have a falling out (were they happy with the direction Blizzard has been going in?), or do they just want to strike out on their own? Did they fall, or were they pushed? Will they succeed in a new company without all of Bliz's resources behing them, or was Diablo 1 just an unrepeatable event? WIll they make their own MMORPG (let's hope not)? Will Bliz continue to be as successful as they've been in the past? Stay tuned...

[Guest]

1 They had to have left of their own. It would be maddness to get rid of a companies most famous names and core when your trying to sell it.

2 Either these guys saw that something bad for the bussiness was in the air(something terrible like being sold to EA) or they got an awsome offer.


Best case senerio - Mythic hires all 4 and makes a second division. Few companies out there have the commitment o success and pay attention to cutomers like Mythic does and Blizzard did.

[Guest]

There really isnt much reason to exspect them to stay successful.

All companies with a great name eventuallly lose their luster once they lose their core.

Occassionally a new strong leader shows up and keeps a cpmapny strong - but that almost never happens when the company is part of something as large and VE.

[Striker]

Folks over at Dii.net posted an update with a statement from Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment:

"I speak for everyone in our company when I say how grateful we are to have had the opportunity to work closely with this group of individuals. Each one of them has made valuable contributions to many of our games, and we would like to thank them for all of their hard work over the years. We wish them nothing but the best and are confident that they will be successful in their future endeavors. At the same time, we want to convey that Blizzard's success has never been attributable to any one person or small group of individuals, and I am confident that we have the teams in place to continue creating some of the best games in the world."

I'm particularly intrigued by the last sentence. Final jab at the departing crew?

The timing does seem odd, what with the fansite chat just a few days ago. Maybe something was said or leaked that shouldn't have been?

Whatever the case, my money is on Bolty's second choice of this being the beginning of the end for Blizz North.

[bschultz]

holy crap! bill roper is leaving?? he is the face of blizzard. what are they going to do without him? who will they get to dodge questions now?

[jms]

It doesn't sound like a jab to me. I think it's understandable and necessary for Blizzard to release a statement like this to quell some fears, and reaffirm their ability to develop great games. What worries me is whether Blizzard North will now have the creative spark to make the best Diablo 3 in the world down the road...

[thread hijack]
So, anyone looking forward to this game by a few ex-Blizzard employees?
[/thread hijack]

[Skandranon]

I can see it now...

"...and with great sorrow and regret, Blizzard North is saddened to say that their recent departure is delaying the release of Diablo II 1.10..."

Not that they've needed excuses before.

-Skan

[Striker]

It doesn't sound like a jab to me. I think it's understandable and necessary for Blizzard to release a statement like this to quell some fears, and reaffirm their ability to develop great games.

Granted, companies always make PR statements that try to limit the "scare factor", but to me, this one seemed like it was squarely directed towards those that are leaving. Like they are trying to convey the fact that, while they were big cheeses in the company, the reason for their success came from the team concept, and not from well-known individuals.

*shrugs*

The sentence just seemed like it could have been worded differently. Or maybe I'm just too paranoid. ;)

[Guest]

When key people leave you pretty much have to say that your still capable. If anything that was a real compliment.


Ive seen many press releases full of backhanded compliments and digs, that was pretty nice IMO.

[kandrathe]

Bill Roper interview
 

News 
 

We speak to former Blizzard North vice-president Bill Roper about the sudden departure of the studio's management and these former Blizzard employees' new plans.

Earlier today, Blizzard Entertainment revealed that the Blizzard North cofounders Erich Schaefer, Max Schaefer, and David Brevik, plus Blizzard vice president Bill Roper, have left the studio responsible for the Diablo series, which has sold more than 10 million units worldwide. The four held the key management positions at Blizzard North, with Brevik as president and the others holding vice-president titles. We talked with Bill Roper on the phone this afternoon to get his perspective on the group's departure and their plans to form a new game company.

As surprising as the announcement may be for fans of the Diablo games, it may be even more surprising to know how quickly the group made the decision to leave. Roper said that the departures were the result of a series of very quick events. Indeed, the first time the group will meet to discuss their company plans in depth will be tomorrow morning. But what they do know for sure is that they want to start a new game project.

Roper said, "We made a very difficult decision. We love everyone at Blizzard... at the San Mateo office and at Blizzard in Irvine." And in addition to this personal well-wishing, he did reveal other reasons for wanting to see Blizzard North continue on, and said, "I want to play Diablo."

Asked what role Vivendi Universal's corporate management had to play in the decision, Roper admitted that was a big part of it: "We wanted to have a level of involvement [in deciding the studio's direction] that was not going to be made available. For the interests of the people that we work with, we should have been able to talk to the people that make the decisions and that knew what was going on." But in further describing Blizzard's situation, he said, "It's the same challenges we always faced. I have absolutely no doubt that they will keep fighting the good fight. We tried to leave them in a good place, and I honestly expect that Blizzard will continue to make great games."

The group's future isn't limited by employment contracts or non-compete agreements. Roper said that there's nothing "to stop us from approaching this any way we'd want." Lacking such legal constraints, the new game company may hire current Blizzard employees at some point in the future.

Roper repeatedly mentioned how very excited the group is at the possibilities that lie ahead. The four have worked as a very tight knit creative group, according to Roper. The Schaefer brothers are artists by training and Brevik is a programmer, and all have been project leads and designers as a part of Blizzard's philosophy that has developers wearing many hats.

Starting over as a "lean and mean" company will grant them new creative freedom. In fact, Roper is sure that they'll initially come with too many ideas and will have to trim back to find the great one. He also admitted, "We'd love to be talking with publishers" and mentioned that interested parties could get in touch on the company cell phone at 650-207-6030 (serious inquiries only, please).

The company's next steps are to decide on a name and set up a Web site. We can expect to hear more concrete details on the company's future plans very soon.

By Sam Parker, GameSpot  [POSTED: 06/30/03 06:06 PM

[Haider]

Maybe they know EA is buying Blizzard and they rather leave before the company is destroyed (like Origin, Westwood...)

[Indefatigable]

Maybe not EA, but I think it's pretty clear from the Gamespot article that they don't like whatever's going on with Vivendi and the pending sale. God, I hope this doesn't cause serious trouble.

[LiquidDamage]

All I can think to say is that after the "we know what you want better than you do" crap that Max Schaeffer (it was him, right? I can't quite remember) said in that huge PK thread, I'm glad to see him go. My apologies to him if I am mistaking him for someone else. Whoever made that post has my bile.

I'd like to see opt-out PvP in the next Diablo title (or even 1.10), and I got the impression that it was the management that was against the idea.