Hamilton Chu, Hearthstone's Executive Producer, Also Leaves Blizzard Entertainment
In a tweet early this morning, Hamilton Chu responded to Ben Brode's leaving tweet with something very simple. Both of the ex-Hearthstone team members have set their Twitter bios to "Starting up something new!".
Quote from Hamilton ChuToday is my last day at Blizzard. 😢 Thank you for all the laughter and fun we shared. I will miss you.
Weird! It was mine too...
Not many were aware of Hamilton's involvement with Team 5 as he wasn't out there interacting with the community like Ben. Things he was responsible for though were writing most of the flavor text in Whispers of the Old Gods expansion and the strategic planning and business operations on the Hearthstone side of things. He also headlined Blizzard's strategic Initiatives Group which included business ops for World of Warcraft. It would appear that this isn't only a blow to Hearthstone, but also other areas at Blizzard.
Quote from Developer Bios - Hamilton ChuAs executive producer for Blizzard Entertainment's Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Hamilton Chu provides the leadership and direction necessary to deliver players a Blizzard-quality gaming experience. In his role, Chu is responsible for strategic planning and business operations, providing management support for the development leadership, and generally tanking issues for the team whenever necessary.
As head of Blizzard’s strategic initiatives group, his other duties include leading business operations for World of Warcraft and managing Blizzard’s creative development department. Before joining Blizzard Entertainment, Chu served as a producer on Halo and Halo 2 for Bungie before going on to sell his soul to the MBA gods.
In his spare time, Chu enjoys reading comics, writing stories, and pwning noobs of all shapes and sizes.
Which beloved developer is leaving the Hearthstone team next to work alongside Brode and Chu?
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Posted Apr 23, 2018 (Witchwood)This is what happens when you nerf without buffing.
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)The end is coming! I knew it!
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)People leaving opens up positions for other qualified people to fill. Blizzard isn't dumb and I'm sure they have capable people to step in and fill these roles. They just brought Chakki onboard the other week. The sky isn't falling.
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Posted Apr 23, 2018 (Witchwood)Chakki OMEGALUL
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Posted Apr 23, 2018 (Witchwood)Uhh, I don’t know if you know this, but Blizzard’s best talent is all gone. The majority left once they merged with Activision many years ago. Once Blizzard North left, Diablo 3 happened. Once the Starcraft team left, Starcraft 2 tanked into the ground so bad that the Korean playerbase went back to Starcraft 1. When the WoW talent left, WoW started its decline to become the casual mess it is now.
Not to mention the spirit of the company is gone too. Remember the last time Blizzard made a game that had a single player, had no microtransactions, wasn’t always online, and had mod support and content they didn’t take out because it was a “limited time event?” Well, Starcraft 2 was that last game, and now it’s ruined as it now has loot boxes as well. Things are very very wrong at ActiBlizzard and it’s starting to show.
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Posted Apr 23, 2018 (Witchwood)Or maybe they do all those things because that's what every game company does now to maximize revenue. Activision/Blizzard would be dumb to not take advantage of that trend in gaming if it results in improved profits. Yeah, we can all bitch and moan about how things aren't like the good ol' days, but the business side of gaming continues to evolve and we're all just along for the ride, heck even Nintendo is finally acquiescing and going down these paths. Any companies who refuse to adapt will be left in the dust. So while microtransactions are annoying (totally agree with you here) along with other nonsense like forcing you to always be online to even play single player content, those things are here to stay unless government regulations intervene. However, Brode and Hamilton leaving don't make a lick of difference in this regard and it's not like they didn't give Blizzard advance notice of their departure. So I'm sure Blizzard already has plans to move forward without both of them.
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)I enjoy hearthstone but this is getting kind of scary.
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)Best of Luck on BB and Chu... You guys made one of my favourite game of all time. I play HS daily and it has become a part of my life.
Love you.
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)*Two people quit after working on one game for 10 years*
Community: Game dead confirmed!
inb4 someone writes a 12 page essay on why Hearthstone has been in decline since its beginning and why this meta is 10x worse than shamanstone.
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)Problem is that Blizz is silent, they don't even know if Mike and Dean are next and probably afraid to inquire. If they won't take control of the narrative, someone else will. They could easily make a statement and dispel the rumor mill, yet they sit in silence. If it's 'no big' like some of you are saying, why don't they speak? Why do they need more time to figure things out if nothing is wrong?
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)-
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Posted Apr 23, 2018 (Witchwood)-
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)Clearly this is just part of a Lich King plot to not only finally get employment at Blizzard, but to be the new face of Hearthstone... mwahahahahaha
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)These recent events start to worry me.
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Posted Apr 23, 2018 (Witchwood)people moving on after working at a company for a decade worries you?.....you are easily startled lol
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Posted Apr 23, 2018 (Witchwood)All the same responses I saw when a lot of people started leaving WoW development. It's still going strong.
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)”Wow is dead” “hearthstone is dead” I think it’s time for “Blizzard is dead.” Love these 2 guys but the company is losing really great people and by the seems of things more people will be following as well FeelsBadMan DansGame
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)Why do I get the feeling that players faces aren't the only things that Shudderwock was able to OTK?
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)I hope they do decide to make something bigger and better than WoW, that games been dead since Lych and Hearstone is following in it's footsteps. Blizzard always ends up dumbing down their games and making them not as fun or challenging because they want a bigger audience because that means more money in their pockets. Chu was the life blood of Blizzard, I think this will hurt them more than they think.
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Posted Apr 22, 2018 (Witchwood)Wish them both well. Hope it means a fresh approach from Team 5 and good things for the HS community.