Ben Brode Leaves Blizzard Entertainment
Ben Brode has posted a very important announcement this afternoon. After working at Blizzard for 15 years and developing Hearthstone for almost 10, he has decided to leave the company.
Thank you, Ben, for all the communication you've given the community over the years, the laughs, and most importantly, this game.
Quote from Ben BrodeTo my friends, coworkers, and the Hearthstone community,
After 15 years at Blizzard and almost 10 years working on Hearthstone, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to embark on a new journey.
Man, that was a hard sentence to type.
I was 20 years old when I started here. My first role was ‘Night Crew Game Tester.’
Since then, Blizzard has been good to me. I got to cast esports events, announce BlizzCons, play in Rock Bands, write raps, and work with incredible people. But the biggest opportunity came in 2008 when I joined “Team 5.” The Hearthstone Team.
I am very proud of Hearthstone. I think we made an impact on the industry. People tell me that Hearthstone brought their family closer together, or that they became close friends with people they met at a Fireside Gathering. Others tell me they were inspired by Hearthstone to become game developers themselves. It’s incredible to be a part of something that touches so many people.
But as proud as I am of Hearthstone, I am even more proud of the team.
There is no team like the Hearthstone team. People have come and gone over the 10 years Hearthstone has been in development, but there’s something special about the Soul of the Team. We knew our most important product wasn’t the game, but the team itself. A great team can do great things, and I think the Hearthstone team is the greatest. It isn’t just a job. It’s a shared passion. We get to come to work and focus on the game we love and try to make it better every day.
We frequently check the Hearthstone subreddit looking for opportunities to improve the game. I have loved the silly memes, engaging in spirited debates, or even just being held accountable to our shared high standards for the game. We try to be highly available on social media, and I think our team helped push the envelope in this regard. It has been especially satisfying to me to see the team step up over the last few years and help engage in these ways as I became more focused on direction and less on actual design.
I get too much credit by virtue of being a public face, but the 80+ people on the development team are still there, and they are the ones actually making the cards, brawls, events, missions, and features. I am confident the game is in the best possible hands, and I’m excited to see where a new generation of leaders takes Hearthstone from here.
I am very fortunate to be able to take a crazy risk right now in my life, and I’m excited to be scrappy and a little scared. I’m going to help start a new company. We’ll probably make games, but we haven’t figured anything else out, yet. I’m looking forward to designing, programming, and actually creating things again. I’m going to miss the on-campus Starbucks, though. Dang.
Blizzard, thank you for taking a chance on me, and thank you for taking a chance on Hearthstone. I can’t wait to see what you do next.
And to the passionate community of players – I will miss you, and the laughs we shared together. Thank you for making being a part of Hearthstone so much fun for me. I’ve loved every minute.
Sincerely,
Ben Brode
Ben Brode too OP so Blizzard had to get hit with the nerf hammer. Well Met, Ben!
These ninja nerfs are getting out of hand, Blizzard.
Haha, April Fools amirite?
:'( But who is going to do 'the laugh'?
I wonder how much potential revenue Blizzard will lose from upcoming expansions, like Kripp said in one of his videos Ben came to this world to sell HS packs, Dave Kosak will handle the spooky expansions but Blizz/we needs new guy for meme ones and he will have some big shoes to fill after charismatic Brode.
Huh, this actually makes me feel a little sad...
This is only joke.
I don't know how much impact he had on the game itself but he was surely the most charismatic face of the Hearthstone team. Sad for the community, but he should do whatever brings him the most joy; good luck with that new company!
I thought a captain never deserts a sinking ship... feelsbadman
The most interactive and fun game dev and game director Blizz ever had, and probably will have. Will be very keen to see what game(s) he develops now he is on his own.
bold move, mr. brode!
good luck on further ventures
and gg :)
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. We all knew that this was going to happen one day, I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. Ben, we are all going to miss you, and I'm glad you are doing what you think is best for your career. It's been a blast, Well Met!
Time to uninstall Hearthstone.
Bye!
If this isn’t a sign of things to come, I don’t know what is. This is not gonna be a good year for Hearthstone at all. Witchwood is already at a rocky start and the meta is already in turmoil, Team 5 has shown they have no idea what they’re doing anymore, and now the PR guy, the guy who fucking made the game, now left.
With Valve’s TCG Artifact on the way, and CD Projekt Red fixing Gwent to get rid of the bullshit RNG, I do not see a bright future for Hearthstone. This isn’t the same game I fell in love with years ago. Now it feels like a shell of its former self, designed to milk the pockets of its players hard. Why else would we be getting two class legendaries now and 3 expansions a year, versus the F2P friendly format of 2 expansions and 1 adventure?
I wish Ben Brode the best, but I worry what’s gonna happen to the future of this game now.
Chris Metzen and Jeff Kaplan left WoW and yet Legion turned out to be a a huge success despite them leaving. I doubt Hearthstone will die anytime soon, especially since its in the top 5 most watched games on twitch. Also, tell me if you've heard this one before:
"Oh yeah, this new game [Insert random game] will totally kill [WoW/Overwatch/Hearthstone]. Blizzard and their games will die now that [Insert random game] is out. You'll see [WoW/Overwatch/Hearthstone] will die anytime soon.... just wait"
cuantos recuerdos,su entrevista de trabajo al rey exanime,impagable,buena suerte en tus nuevos proyectossin duda pronto sabremos de ti
Without Brode, Hearthstone is just another TCG. :(
Whoopsie. This came as a surprise, no doubt about it.
But what I find even more surprising is that in the blue post there's no mention of Ben's successor. Just generic talk about "leaving the game in good hands" (the whole team's).
This in turn makes me think that either the successor hasn't been chosen yet... or the choice has been made but Ben was not very happy about it. Both scenarios aren't super-positive... :/
final reveal streams will never be the same without a Ben Brode cackle