Blizzard in 2022 is a vastly completely different firm to the one so many grew to become followers of within the Nineties and 2000s, partly as a result of it’s now owned by Activision, however principally as a result of that was a very long time in the past and most people who made the video games you’re keen on have left!
Properly, aside from one. Chris Metzen, a key determine in Blizzard’s rise throughout that point interval and a person with a wild resume of labor for the studio (he’s been an artist, author, designer, artistic director and even long-running voice actor on Diablo, StarCraft, WarCraft, WoW and Overwatch, ), has simply introduced that he’s returning, six years after he departed.
As we reported on the time, Metzen left throughout a tumultuous time not only for the studio—amid the cancellation of Titan and the discharge of Overwatch—however in his private life as properly, having simply turn out to be a father and experiencing some severe well being points:
After Titan’s cancellation, Metzen fell in with the Overwatch mission. It was, in his phrases, “one final cost on the wall.” He helped rally morale and push the sport via to completion. And it’s a god damned glorious recreation.
Within the course of, although, Metzen suffered from nonstop anxiousness. Throughout films along with his spouse, he’d expertise what he’d later study had been panic assaults. He felt like his lungs would cease, however when he consulted docs, nothing was unsuitable with him. It was the start of 2016, and with the upcoming launch of World of Warcraft’s Legion, Overwatch, its animated shorts, the Blizzard films and, additionally, a brand new child, Metzen was crushed beneath the strain to do all of it.
“I would like a change in my life,” Metzen mentioned.
Blizzard introduced his return this morning:
CITIZENS OF AZEROTH,
It’s with nice pleasure that I announce CHRIS METZEN has joined the Warcraft Management Group as Artistic Advisor. Chris’s focus initially can be on World of Warcraft, then his work will broaden to different initiatives throughout this rising franchise.
Chris was one of many authentic group members engaged on the W Warcraft universe again when it started in 1994, and we’re so comfortable to be reuniting him with the world he helped create.
John Hight
Common Supervisor, Warcraft
That job title, “artistic advisor”, might imply something, however the truth Hight provides “his work will broaden to different initiatives throughout this rising franchise” suggests it’s only a strategy to ease him again into the studio earlier than setting him free on extra stuff.
You possibly can, and actually ought to, take a look at Metzen’s full checklist of contributions to Blizzard video games through the years for a fuller understanding of why followers are so comfortable at this information.