Blizzard's Veteran Designer Rejoins the Company as a Creative Advisor for the World of Warcraft Team

Inno Flores, Tech Times 17 December 2022, 12:12 am

Video Game Designer and Prominent Writer Chris Metzen is coming back to Blizzard Entertainment as a Creative Advisor for the team of World of Warcraft. He is also known as a veteran designer of the company during its defining years.

(Photo : OLIVER BERG/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)
Gamers check out the game 'World of Warcraft' at the Gamescom trade fair in in the western German city of Cologne on August 18, 2010. Europe's biggest trade fair for interactive games and entertainment is running from August 18 to 22, 2010.

Blizzard Brings Back Chris Metzen

Before resigning from Blizzard Entertainment in 2016, Chris Metzen worked as a Top Creative Developer for the company for almost 23 years. He's been an artist, writer, designer, creative director, and even a voice actor. Six years later, Metzen will rejoin the company to work as an advisor for World of Warcraft.

IGN reported that he worked before as a lead and writer on Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, as the creator of Overwatch's Soldier 76, the voice actor on Warcraft's Thrall, and more. The report also assumes that he will be working soon with Hearthstone.

According to Warcraft General Manager John Hight, he will be delighted to expand Metzen's work to other projects across the growing franchise. He added, "Chris was one of the original team members working on the Warcraft universe back when it began in 1994, and we are so happy to be reuniting him with the world he helped create."

After leaving Blizzard, he started a tabletop gaming company in 2020 called Warchief Gaming. The gaming company launched Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent, its first project.

Other Adjusted Positions

Aside from Metzen, Blizzard also adjusted one of the executive positions of the company. Allen Adham is now the Chief Design Officer. As per Bloomberg, he co-founded the company in 1991 and served in various positions. He departed the company in early 2004 and returned twelve years later.

November last year when the company also reorganized the different units for video games. Managers for big franchises like Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and even the unreleased game Odyssey, were tasked to build road maps separately. Through these road maps, the company aims to facilitate the future releases of games on a regular schedule.

This is good news for Blizzard, especially since the company has been experiencing a lot of tension and departure to its operations lately, including former Chief Executive Officer Mike Morhaime. By also looking back to the 2021 scandal regarding sexual misconduct, the company has been trying to regain its operations.

Also Read: Activision Blizzard Employees Demand CEO's Resignation After New Wall Street Journal Report

As of the moment, the company is still waiting for the decision for the $69 billion acquisition of the company by Microsoft Corp. Currently, they are still waiting for the decision of the court if this deal will push through.

The United States Federal Trade Commission voted to block this deal as they alleged Microsoft will gain more control over one of the top video game franchises of the company. Through this, it can lead to harming the competition in high-performance gaming consoles and subscription content.