Yong Woo Leaves Blizzard - Joins Ben Brode at Second Dinner
Yong Woo, Hearthstone's Production Director, has left the company. He joins Ben Brode and Hamilton Chu at the new Second Dinner game studio.
Another two Hearthstone employees quit in recent time, Michael Schweitzer and Jomaro Kindred, who are also at the studio. There are now five ex-Hearthstone team members working at Second Dinner.
Quote from Yong WooAfter 9 epic years at Blizzard, I am embarking on a new adventure. Thank you for your love and support over the years. I'm super excited to join @seconddinner to build something new & amazing together!
Quote from Second DinnerThe team is growing! Say hi to our newest teammates!
@KindredConcepts@ywoo_dev@mfschweitzer
Because you have terrible googling skills lmao.
Since when they started leaving the company, I've been intrigued. Now seeing them joining outside of Blizzard, I realize that their view certainly diverges from Blizzard's goals for Hearthstone, and they do not agree so much with the path that the game followed. Before developing my first games, I dreamed of leaving Brazil and starting to work in Blizzard, but seeing so many people that I admire leaving the company I realize that large corporations may not be a good option for those who want to develop games.
Very similar here, when you are young with different priorities those places seem like the top of the mountain, but you come to realize it's maybe not the best spot on the mountain for YOU specifically. There are definitely trades and sacrifices for working ar a place (and on large projects) like that.
Turning down my former dream dev job still makes some of my family shake their heads, and it makes for a fun story at parties. But I'm incredibly happy where I am atm.
Many people know how to recognize great opportunities, but few will recognize the courage that people so badly need to change. Your happiness is what matters most, and I hope you continue to do your best to keep yourself happy on this new journey.
Você ainda devia deixar o Brasil cara...
I'm just going to take a wild stab and guess Benbrode left because Hearthstone is becoming more and more pay-to-win with these expensive expansions coming out. Compare to Hearthstone initial mission statement of releasing expansions that were reasonable for everyone to acquire with expansion quests.
Sometimes when you do the same thing for 10 years it gets old and you want to work on something else. Why is this so hard for people to understand?!? Maybe...it’s not about us or hearthstone at all...like he bloody said when he left blizzard. Me me me me it’s all about me and my game I like. Grow up.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Kibler is game developer and one of the best MTG players in history. Thijs is a kid in a young man body that is profesional HS player and that is genuinelly happy and express himself weirdly which leads to Authijsm memes. How can you even compare them?
Not a hate post... just wonder if just me or the company's name looks a bit dull?
True, i found from where the name Blizzard came from:
"The thing is, it's so hard to pick a name that hasn't been used before," Morhaime explained. "You pick a name and give it to the legal department, and they start running all these checks, and they give you all these reasons why you can't use it." Another close contender from the dictionary hunt was Midnight Studios, but Blizzard eventually emerged as the clear winner. "Once we found Blizzard, we said that's it, that's the one… And Blizzard came up pretty clean, back then. Now it wouldn't, now it's ours!"
Nah. After seeing for years what HS has become with all the constant trash based RNG cards and imbalances for the classes, ZERO confidence on Second Dinner game.
Anyone who thinks HS is remotely balanced is off their rocks. Same goes to anyone who thinks that Brody was not involved in designing the latest expansion Boom Project and the next future expansion afterwards (go read up how early game design are for CCG/TCGs)
downvote me fanboys! but i think BB game gonna be trash ( like myself if you wann insult me with it) :)
you should give better examples than the quality of the chairs they are using, I think.
Pretty sure anyone who plans ahead his own business model would use a couch as an optimal working place, i think
pretty sure you launch a studio when you'r in a hurry and don't know what to do
Creating their own company is usually what a lot of ppl do in a hurry when they get fired or are very unhappy with their jobs.
Leaving a dream job to run a company without planning ahead is something only very naive ppl do (to not say stupid)
Well, i've said enough, my opinion is there for the ones with open minds to take their own conclusions; in the end of the day everyone is free to believe in whatever they want.
als
I aggree to that last point you made the most.
Tho, tbh, is also very naive to ppl judge/think without understanding/have evidence at the first place. Meaning, we got 0 awareness of what planning they already did about this so called new company before leaving Blizzard, thus we cant call them naive or something. They might already figured out the game, marketing researches, design, business plan etc etc.
Also, what a “dream job” is to some1, is very subjective. For us might looks like it. For them a “dream job” it might be something like running your own video game company :p
"Limited Design Space" is something we heared from blizzard many many times over the last years. These people are really good on what they do - the problem was that Blizzard went from an Idea to beta to live in no time and the core game (menu/basic game) was not finished and therefore everything that came after the launch up to this day is just a patchwerk. It doesnt matter how good you do your job, if the core you are working on isnt balanced, you will fall. I think these guys left because they can do so much better if they have the time to bulid a solid base. I love to see this team! Can't wait for more infos!
they where tired to pretend like new cards are exciting when its just the same things with different names and irrelevant mechanics, I can only imagine how boring it must be to work for hs at this time
Are you some kind of omniscient creature ? Because you seem to know a lot of things no one can verify