Blizzard Confirms Co-Founder's Departure

Thanks to GameSpot for its article confirming the resignation of Blizzard co-founder and vice president Allen Adham. This move comes after earlier high-profile departures from Blizzard in 2003, but a spokesperson "denied it was related to Vivendi's recent reaffirmation of ownership of the developer, as some have speculated.", but rather due to the "cumulative effects of 'working the long hours and doing the game crunch for many years'" GameSpy has further information, noting that Adham "...started coding games while studying at UCLA. The success of his first two games, Gunslinger and Demon's Forge, encouraged him to strike out with a new game company, Silicon & Synapse, which would eventually evolve into Blizzard in 1994." According to the spokesperson, Adham "plans to go back to school and move into the area of financial investment."

Comments

blizzard going down?

[UID500]

i wonder if this is because WOW is going to be really bad and they want to wash thier hands of it? i mean, a WOW alpha already leaked and there are ppl that have created a hacked server for the alpha already. it doesnt look good...

Back to school for Financial Investment

[kninja]

Sounds like he wants to be a venture capitalist. Coming from a gaming background, he would be most qualified to fund similar startups. It will be interesting to keep an eye on him and see what happens.

Ususally founders get out when the growth curve of the company stops being exponential.

What does Vivendi see

[MBraynard]

Vivendi is a media company. When they buy something/start something, what they see is a 'franchise' or a 'brand' which commands loyalty from customers.

With a software company, even one with three outstanding franchises, however, the real assets are the leadership and the creative individual ('people'). Game consumers are very weary compared to other media consumers - you can get $8 for a lousy Spiderman 2, but you won't get $50 for a lousy Warcraft 4.

I wonder what Vivendi sees when they look at Blizzard. In their annual reports, do they discuss the awesome franchises of Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft? Or do they talk about the brilliant employees whom have a curiculum vitae (sp?) that includes making those franchises?

Re:Argh Blizzard

[DrDoombender]

I really don't think that will be the case. Even if they don't make another Diablo, its likely that we'll see something that is along the lines of Diablo. One thing I've learned about Blizzard is that they try not to milk their franchises with alot of crappy sequels. I mean, do you realize the number of people not only crying out for another Diablo, but another Star Craft? lots of people (and SC: Ghost does not count). In some ways I wonder if Blizzard is concerned that they could not do the story justice by making another Diablo or Starcraft sequel. I mean think about the pressure. Lots of companies faulter in that area *cough* episode 1 *hack* Legacy of Kain.

In either case, don't count Blizzard out. I think we shouldn't start worrying until they start sucking. You shouldn't be worried anyway, because there will always be other companies to replace Blizzard. I mean, I like Blizzard and all, but software companies come and go. I was a fan of Westwood and Black Isle., but I understand that companies die, get bought, or whatever. Great games are still made, and that's what should count.