Mike Morhaime Steps Down as President of Blizzard Entertainment
As reported this evening via press release, Mike Morhaime has stepped down as President of Blizzard Entertainment. He has been replaced by J. Allen Brack of "You Think You Do But You Don't" fame and who has been a Blizzard veteran of over 12 years. Morhaime founded Blizzard back in 1991 alongside Allen Adham.
Good luck, Mike!
Is he the next Blizzard employee to join Second Dinner? PogChamp Kappa
Quote from Blizzard Press ReleaseActivision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the appointment of Blizzard veteran and World of Warcraft® Executive Producer J. Allen Brack as the new president of Blizzard Entertainment succeeding Mike Morhaime, who will remain a strategic advisor to the company. The company also announced the appointments of Chief Development Officer Ray Gresko and Blizzard Founder Allen Adham to Blizzard’s executive leadership team.
“J. has been with Blizzard for over 12 years leading the World of Warcraft team, and it takes vision, creativity and unwavering commitment to excellence to sustain a community of players the way J. has for over a decade,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “J. is an inspiring leader. He has shown unwavering commitment to our community, to innovation and creative excellence and he cares deeply about ensuring the very best of Blizzard culture will be protected.”
“I am also excited to have Allen Adham, Blizzard’s founder, who rejoined the company two years ago and Ray Gresko, Blizzard’s Chief Development Officer, join Blizzard’s executive leadership team. I have known both Allen and Ray for more than 25 years and they are two of the most capable entrepreneurs in the game industry. They will help make certain that inspiration and creativity remains the focus of Blizzard,” said Kotick.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to serve as Blizzard’s next president, and to lead one of the best entertainment companies in the world, thanks to the passion and dedication of our player community and employees,” said J. Allen Brack, president, Blizzard Entertainment. “Blizzard was founded on the promise of making great games, and I plan to continue this fierce commitment to quality, our community, and our purpose. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s next given the strength of our pipeline.”
“Thanks to Mike Morhaime’s wonderful stewardship and masterful job of building a truly extraordinary team, epic games and a global community of beloved players, Blizzard is one of the very best game companies in the world,” Kotick added.
“I want to thank all of the talented and hardworking people at Blizzard for their dedication, creativity and passion. It has been a privilege to lead this team. I’m also very grateful to Blizzard‘s player community for their support,” said Mike Morhaime.
About J. Allen Brack
J. Allen Brack is a seasoned game industry veteran bringing nearly 24 years’ experience to this new role. As president of Blizzard Entertainment, Brack is dedicated to maintaining the high standard of quality that has propelled Blizzard to become an internationally recognized leader in interactive entertainment. Most recently, Brack served as executive producer and senior vice president for World of Warcraft, the #1 subscription-based MMORPG in the world. Throughout his twelve years at Blizzard, World of Warcraft has captivated millions of players worldwide and received a steady stream of high-quality content updates, including multiple expansions that rank among the fastest-selling PC games of all time. Prior to joining Blizzard, Brack held multiple roles at Origin Systems, Inc., working on the Wing Commander franchise, and then at Sony Online Entertainment LLC working on Star Wars Galaxies.
About Ray Gresko
As chief development officer, Ray Gresko will oversee ongoing product development efforts across Blizzard’s iconic franchises, to ensure that the company delivers a consistent high-quality experience across its games. Gresko, a 26-year industry veteran, most recently held the role of executive producer for Overwatch, leading the development team through the creation of a brand-new Blizzard franchise and helping launch the game to critical acclaim. Gresko joined Blizzard in 2008 as production director on Diablo III. Previously, Gresko worked on multiple highly regarded LucasArts titles, co-founded and managed Nihilistic Software, and was director of production and studio design director for Stormfront Studios.
About Allen Adham
As executive producer, senior vice president, and founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Allen Adham is responsible for supporting some of the company’s initiatives around new product incubation. In this role, he serves on Blizzard’s executive team and helps shepherd the company’s vision for the future while setting goals and strategies that support Blizzard’s dedication to creating the most epic entertainment experiences ever. In February 1991, Allen co-founded Blizzard Entertainment with Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce, serving as the company’s first president and later chairman. He provided executive leadership on the company’s first games, helping to build the industry-leading Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo entertainment universes. This included overseeing the creation of World of Warcraft and serving as the game’s lead designer from inception through its first five years of development.
Quote from Mike MorhaimeDear Members of the Blizzard Community,
When Blizzard’s founder Allen Adham first invited me to join him in creating Silicon & Synapse (our original name), nothing could have prepared me for the amazing adventure that we would share for the next 27 years. Our original mission and values consisted of four simple words that formed our foundation: “We make great games.” We crafted that statement before we had even released our first game, but we were committed to living up to it.
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. I will now serve as an advisor to the company I so love and admire. My duties as president of Blizzard will be assumed by my friend, colleague, trusted advisor, and longtime steward of World of Warcraft, J. Allen Brack.
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.
I am grateful to all of the hardworking and talented people at Blizzard for their dedication and creativity. Their belief in our mission and care for our players has helped Blizzard reach greater heights than I ever could have imagined.
I am also grateful to all of you in the community. We have been through so much together. Not only have you been with me through many of the greatest moments and biggest triumphs of my life, but you have also been there through some of the most difficult. I am fortunate to have been able to meet many of you in person, while the many messages, emails, Tweets, Reddit discussions, and forum posts have provided an unbelievable connection as well. Even Twitch chat. It has always brought me joy, comfort, and inspiration to see the beacons of brilliance, voices of reason, and the passion that exists and evolves every day in all of our communities.
When we started Blizzard we just wanted to make great games. What we realized is that the games we create are really just a framework for communities and human interaction. When we look back, what we often find that’s most lasting and meaningful from our experiences in games are the relationships we create and foster. You have given me the inspiration and drive to pour my heart and life into what I do. I literally couldn’t have done any of it without you. We have created these worlds, but you have given them life, through your passion, fan art, cosplay, videos, and in so many other ways.
I truly believe that this amazing community has the potential to be a shining light to the rest of the industry by setting a positive example of inclusivity, tolerance, and acceptance toward others. In the words of one of Blizzard’s core values: remember to always play nice; play fair. I know this community is capable of changing the world.
It has been an honor to serve this community for over 27 years, and I thank you for your many years of support. I look forward to being a member of the community alongside you. See you on Battle.net!
Your fellow Blizzard gamer,
Mike Morhaime
Quote from J. Allen BrackBlizzard community,
Today has been a swirl of emotions. First, I feel a deep sense of gratitude to Mike. His work on some of our industry’s most iconic games is the reason I came to Blizzard. Not only is he an inspiring leader, but he’s also been a wise and patient mentor to me during my time at Blizzard. And he’s been a good friend. Joining the World of Warcraft team and my favorite game company nearly 13 years ago was an unimaginable dream. Now, to be chosen to lead Blizzard into the future is both a huge honor, and a tremendous responsibility.
To do that, I’ll have the help of dedicated and talented Blizzard employees around the world who all share the same mission we have always pursued—to connect and engage the world through the most epic entertainment experiences, ever. Each of us is influenced by Blizzard’s values and a player-first mindset, which serve as the foundation of our company. With these beliefs at the core of everything we do, we’ve been able to deliver great games across different genres and platforms. And there is more to come—we’re working on more games now than at any point in Blizzard’s history.
As I transition from leading a development team to the entire company, I’ll also have the support of our team of experienced leaders at Blizzard. 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 III, 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. The knowledge and experience that Ray and Allen bring, in addition to the talent already on the leadership team, will be indispensable in helping move Blizzard into the future.
One thing that won’t change going forward—our deeply held commitments that are core to who we are as a company: to gameplay first, to quality in everything we do, and to listening to and partnering with our community. BlizzCon, the IRL representation of our connection with the community, is just a month away and it’s a time of the year that Blizzard employees look forward to the most. And as usual, we have a few surprises.
I want to close by thanking Mike for 27 years of amazing work: I am looking forward to your wisdom and guidance in your new role. And thank you for everything you’ve done to help create the company and the games we love.
J. Allen Brack
The new president worked on Star Wars Galaxies? That's good enough for me!
ETC will have to find a new bass player
-ben -yang -mike who is next?
They quit, they weren't fired. Like others have said, do your research before spreading lies.
Knowing activision it will probably be Warcraft 4,5,6, Wow 2,3 and Hots 2 xD
This is what, his third departure from blizzard? Well the first two times was definitely for more money. I was wondering why he brought back Allen Brack after he retired. Guess it was in the new contract that if Morhaime was to leave, a successor would be in place.
morhaime gone as well?!?!?
blizzard is really doing great for themselves, aren't they? (/irony off)
never heard of the guy and could care less what the company does. I don't own stock and I have officially quit hearthbore and Blizzard in general. I was a customer of this company since Diablo and now I'm officially done with them. I'm dumping my account and moving on. Hearthstone is an utter failure after 4 years of the same bullshit. I'm going to devote my time to mtga now that its in open beta. Blizzard is for children at this point. The simpleton game has lost its shine and the coin flip that is hearthbore is over for me. So many people have left for good and there are more to come. Enjoy catering to casual F2P and kiss your game goodbye. They do nothing but release shit every xpan. No wonder everyone is leaving the company. All Blizzard does is copy everyone else and polish it up. They bring nothing new to the table and never will. Same old shit over and over and over again. I'm sure Wotc will enjoy me spending the next $500 bucks of my entertainment budget on their game. BLIZZARD ADIOS AND GOOD RIDDANCE! Good riddance to the toxic cesspool of Blizzard players as well! Nothing but the same dumb shit from them over and over and over again. Get ready for the next boring ass xpan coming in December! 135 cards......old in 2 days.
Who hurt you? :(
Goodbye!
None of us have ever heard of you, and we couldn't care less about what you do.
(That's how you use that phrase by the way. If you say "I could care less" it means you must care at least a little bit. Because if you don't care at all, then you couldn't care less than nothing. So it's nice to know you care about what Mike does.)
Quits one card game of RNG to play another card game with the same RNG. the irony here is not lost. lol
Bye, Felicia!
I think this is going to be bad for the company
It's nice to see that Blizzard is actually taking responsibility for their failures and is finally removing the people responsible for them instead of letting them to kill their name and franchise.
Well, I heard that Ben Brode quit because his team would not listen him. I also heard that he did not want to print Shudderwock, but his team wanted but i don't know if these are true or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TjmHkVMEdI
Shudderwock did not ruin the New Year and it won't kill standard before it rotates.
Shudderwock was one of the last legendary cards revealed, in a class that had been pretty bad (Shaman), with a unique and powerful battlecry. People were so hyped, the first thing people theory-crafted after the stream. It was the most talked about card in the days leading up to the launch of the New Hearthstone Year. All the big streamers showcased Shudderwock day 1, the deck got a lot of advertising, everyone was playing it. The OTK is fine, legit, and beatable. It didn't have that high of a winrate, and it was played because people wanted to play it, people were excited about it.
A problem arose in people sitting through the animations in a game they lost and taking a salt bath. The animations were long and players would sit through these long, slow animations, as their winning percentage drops to 0%, never conceding. Same thing as those people who play out 15 more turns in a fatigue match when they have no chance of wining, except worse because "jaws & claws" is a lot more tilting. This caused players to really resent Shudderwock and Shudderwock players.
Since release Blizzard addressed Shudderwock and sped up the animations and put a long-tail cap on the amount of battlecries. Fans cried out for full dust refund from Shudderwock. Not because the changes effected it's playability, they wanted dust from a card that was being countered and no longer hyped. Streamers were on to other, more powerful decks. Shudderwock saw significantly less play in the following season of its release, and even less play in the following expansion.
Shudderwock is a fine, balanced, legit card to have in Hearthstone. The resentment from week 1 of WW needs to go.
Hmmmmm, 4 mana draw 4 cards with no drawback.....Melon is a "LITTLE" bit of a problem!
Shudderwock killed standard? Silly me, I thought all the losses with it on world championships I watched happened, must have dreamed all those games.