Blizzard Entertainment
From LoveToKnow VideoGames
Blizzard Entertainment rocked the gaming world with Warcraft, drove us mad with Diablo, and finally took away our weekends with StarCraft. Their reputation for addictive real-time strategy titles is well earned.
In The Beginning
The California-based company was formed in 1991 under the name Silicon and Synapse by Mike Morhaime, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham. Cult-favorite games such as Rock & Roll Racing, Blackthorne and The Lost Vikings were released shortly afterwards. The game that would mark them in gamers' minds came three years later: the medieval-themed Warcraft.
Blizzard purchased developer Condor Games in 1996. Condor was working on a PC action/role-playing game called Diablo. Renaming the acquisition to Blizzard North, Diablo was released and earned impressive sales. Along with the release of Diablo, Blizzard unveiled Battle.net, an online hub for multiplayer gaming.
Over the next few years, the publisher was shuffled beneath various corporations as they quietly worked on new projects. Frauds, mergers, scandals and business politics passed them around until French publisher Havas finally picked them up. In 1998, Vivendi Universal purchased Havas. Blizzard Entertainment now operates under the VU Games group.
On the heels on Warcraft's success, StarCraft was released in 1998. It featured the same overhead view and real-time strategy game play as Warcraft but in a science fiction setting. An expansion pack was released later that year and a sequel is currently in the works.
In 2005, Blizzard purchased the Southern California console developer Swingin' Ape and incorporated the team as Blizzard Console. In the same year, Blizzard closed their Bay area office.
Notable Games
- 1992 - The Lost Vikings (puzzle/platform)
- 1993 - Rock & Roll Racing (racing)
- 1994 - Blackthorne (realistic platform shooter)
- 1994 - Warcraft (real-time strategy)
- 1995 - The Lost Vikings II
- 1995 - Warcraft II
- 1996 - Diablo (action RPG)
- 1998 - StarCraft (sci-fi RTS)
- 2000 - Diablo II
- 2001 - Diablo II: Reign of Chaos (expansion)
- 2002 - Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
- 2003 - Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (expansion)
- 2004 - World of Warcraft (MMORPG)
- 2006 - World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (expansion)
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 and set in the Warcraft universe. Players pay a monthly fee to access servers where they create and develop a character, interact with other players around the globe and complete various quests. The game sold nearly 250,000 copies in the first 24 hours after release, the highest for any PC game to date.
The launch was plagued with problems due to the massive number of players accessing Blizzard's servers. Sales of the game were put on hold for a time to allow the company to compensate. As of late 2005, World of Warcraft boasts over 4,000,000 players and is the largest MMORPG in the world. Many related online games blame their poor sales on the huge success of this game.
Blizzard Entertainment Links
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