Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American-based video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California, and is a subsidiary of American company Activision Blizzard. The company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name of Silicon & amp; Synapse by three graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles: Michael Morhaime, Frank Pearce, and Allen Adham. The company initially concentrated on making game ports for other studio games before starting their own software development in 1993 with games such as
Shortly thereafter, Blizzard released Warcraft: Orc & amp; Man . Blizzard made several other video games, including the sequel to Warcraft, Diablo series, StarCraft series, and in 2004 a massive multiplayer online multiplayer game. game World of Warcraft . Their latest project includes the first expansion for Diablo III , Reaper of Souls , online card collection game Hearthstone, sixth expansion for > World of Warcraft , Legion , online multiplayer battle army Storm Hero, third and final expansion for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty , > Void Inheritance , and first person multiplayer multiplayer shooter Overwatch .
On July 9, 2008, Activision merged with Vivendi Games, culminating in the inclusion of the Blizzard brand name in the title of the parent company generated. On July 25, 2013, Activision Blizzard announced the purchase of 429 million shares of Vivendi majority owners. As a result, Activision Blizzard became an entirely independent company.
Blizzard Entertainment held a convention for fans to meet and promote their games: BlizzCon in California, USA, and Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in other countries, including South Korea and France.
Video Blizzard Entertainment
Histori
Blizzard Entertainment was founded by Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce as Silicon & amp; Synapse on February 8, 1991, a year after all three had received a bachelor's degree from UCLA. To establish the company, each of them contributed about $ 10,000, which, in the case of Morhaime, he got as part of an interest-free loan from his grandmother. During the first two years, the company focused on creating game ports for other studios. Ports include titles like J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I and Battle of Chess II: Chinese Chess . In 1993, the company developed games such as Rock n 'Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings (published by Interplay Productions).
In early 1994, they were acquired by Davidson & amp; Associates for $ 6.75 million ($ 11.1 million today). That same year the company briefly changed its name to Chaos Studios, before finally settling on Blizzard Entertainment (after it was discovered that another company named Chaos already existed). Shortly after, Blizzard sent their hit breakthrough Warcraft: Orc & amp; Man .
Blizzard has changed hands several times since then. Davidson was acquired along with Sierra On-Line by a company called CUC International in 1996. CUC then merged with a hotel, real-estate, and car rental franchise called HFS Corporation to form Cendant in 1997. In 1998 it became clear that CUC has been involved in accounting fraud for many years before the merger. Cendant shares lost 80% of its value over the next six months in the next widely discussed accounting scandal. The company sold its consumer software operations, Sierra On-line (which included Blizzard) to French publisher Havas in 1998, the same year Havas was bought by Vivendi. Blizzard is part of the Vivendi Games group from Vivendi. In July 2008, Vivendi Games merged with Activision, using the name Blizzard in the resulting company, Activision Blizzard.
In 1996, Blizzard acquired Condor Games, which had worked on Blizzard's "Diablo" game for that time. Condor was renamed Blizzard North, and has since developed the game Diablo , Diablo II , and the expansion pack of Lord of Destruction . Blizzard North is located in San Mateo, California. The company is from Redwood City, California.
Blizzard launched their online game service Battle.net in January 1997 with the release of their action-playing action game Diablo . In 2002, Blizzard was able to regain the rights to three of Silicon & amp; previous. The synapse titles, The Lost Vikings , Rock n 'Roll Racing and Blackthorne , from Interplay Entertainment and re-released for Game Boy Advance, a handheld console. In 2004, Blizzard opened European offices on the outskirts of Paris, VÃÆ'Ã… © lizy, Yvelines, France. On May 16, 2005, Blizzard announced the acquisition of Swingin 'Ape Studios, a video game developer that has developed StarCraft: Ghost . The company later joined another Blizzard team after StarCraft: Ghost "was delayed indefinitely". On August 1, 2005, Blizzard announced the consolidation of Blizzard North to headquarters at 131 Theory at Ir Irine University Irvine Research University in Irvine, California. In 2007, Blizzard moved their headquarters to 16215 Alton Parkway in Irvine, California.
On November 23, 2004, Blizzard released World of Warcraft , an online role-playing massively multiplayer game. World of Warcraft is the fourth game released in the world of fantasy Warcraft , first introduced by Warcraft: Orc & amp; Man in 1994. Blizzard announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001. The game was released on November 23, 2004, on the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.
The first expansion set of the game, The Burning Crusade , was released on January 16, 2007. The second expansion was set, Wrath of the Lich King , released on November 13, 2008. The third expansion, Cataclysm was released on December 7, 2010. Pandaria Fog and Warlords of Draenor , was released respectively on September 25, 2012 and November 13, 2014. Latest expansion , Legion, was released on August 30, 2016.
After reaching its peak at 12 million monthly subscriptions in 2010, World of Warcraft subscriptions declined to 6.8 million by 2014, the lowest number since late 2006, before Crusade Burning . However, World of Warcraft is still the most subscribed MMORPG in the world, and holds the most popular Guinness World Record for MMORPG by subscribers. In April 2008, World of Warcraft is estimated to have 62 percent of the MMORPG subscription market. In 2008, Blizzard was awarded at the 59th Annual & amp; Engineering Emmy Awards for the making of World of Warcraft . Mike Morhaime received the award.
By 2012 Blizzard has 4,700 employees, with offices in 11 cities including Austin, Texas, and countries around the world. As of June 2015, the company's headquarters in Irvine, California has 2,622 employees.
Blizzard announced in September 2017 that it has acquired a studio at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California, which will be transformed into Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, featuring several sound stages, control rooms, exercise facilities, merchandise stores and seating up to 450 spectators. Blizzard will use the venue to support various eSports, starting with Overwatch Contenders Season One in October 2017. Blizzard currently plans to use this only for their event but may allow other eSports leagues to use it in the future.
Key employee
- Michael Morhaime - Co-founder, President (1991-present)
- Allen Adham - Founder, Senior Vice President, Executive Producer, and former President (1991-2004, 2016-present)
- Frank Pearce Jr. - Co-founder, Senior Vice President, Chief Design Officer (1991-present)
- Samwise Didier - Senior Art Director (1992-present)
- Bobby Fisher - Technical Director (1992-present)
- Matt Samia - Vice President/Cinematics & amp; Media (1995-present)
- Alan Dabiri - Technical Director (1995-present)
- Jeff Chamberlain - Director of Cinematics (2000-present)
- Dustin Browder - Game Director (2007-present)
- Jeff Kaplan - Game Director (Overwatch, 2002-present)
- Ion Hazzikostas - Game Director (World of Warcraft, 2008-present)
Former key employee
- Patrick Wyatt - First job and eventually became Vice President of Research & amp; Development (1991-2000)
- David Brevik - Co-Founder and President of Blizzard North/Director at Blizzard Ent. (1993-2003)
- Bill Roper - Vice President Blizzard North/Director at Blizzard Ent. (1994-2003)
- Sam Lantinga - Lead Software Engineer (2001-2011)
- Greg Street - Major System Designer (2008-2013)
- Alex Mayberry - Lead Game Producer (2004-2014)
- Shane Dabiri - Lead Producer (1994-2014)
- Rob Pardo - Executive Vice President of Game Design (1998-2014)
- Joeyray Hall - DVD/Video production watchdog (1991-2015)
- Paul W. Sams - Chief Operating Officer (1996-2015)
- Nick Carpenter - Art Executive Director (1994-2016)
- Josh Mosqueira - Game Director (2011-2016)
- Chris Metzen - Vice President of Creative Development (1994-2016)
- Mike O'Brien - Company Director and Lead Programmer (1995-2000)
- Ben Brode - Game Director (Hearthstone, 2008-2018)
Maps Blizzard Entertainment
Games
Game developed
Port
The game is ported while the company is known as Silicon & amp; Synapse.
Master franchise
Currently, Blizzard has four major franchises: Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft and Overwatch. Each franchise is supported by other media based around its intellectual property such as novel, card game collection, comics, and short videos. Blizzard Entertainment announced in 2006 that they will be producing live-action Warcraft movies. The film is directed by Duncan Jones, financed and produced by Legendary Pictures, Atlas Entertainment, and others, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was released in June 2016.
Unreleased games
Unreleased titles include Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, which was canceled on May 22, 1998, Shattered Nations , and StarCraft: Ghost , which was "Postponed indefinitely" on March 24, 2006 after being in development hell for much of his life. After seven years of development, Blizzard revealed the unspecified revocation of the "Titan" MMO code on September 23, 2014. The company also has a history of decline to set a release date, choosing to take more time as needed, generally said the product provided was "finished when finished."
Pax Imperia II was originally announced as a title published by Blizzard. Blizzard eventually dropped Pax Imperia II , though, when deciding it might conflict with their other space strategy project, which came to be known as StarCraft . THQ eventually contracted with Heliotrope and released the game in 1997 as Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain .
Technology
Supervisor client
Blizzard has used a special form of software known as 'Warden Client'. Warden clients are known for use with Blizzard online games such as Diablo and World of Warcraft , and the Terms of Service contain clauses that approve scanning of Warden device RAM while the Blizzard game is running.
The Warden client scans a small portion of the running process segment code to determine whether third-party programs are running. The goal is to detect and resolve players who may try to run non-signed code or third-party programs in the game. Determination of this third-party program is made by hashing a scan string and comparing hashed values ​​to the hash list is assumed in accordance with a prohibited third-party program. The Warden's reliability correctly distinguishes legitimate and unlawful actions from being questioned when large-scale incidents occur. This incident prohibited many Linux users after the update to the Warden caused it to mis-detect Cedega as a cheat program. Blizzard issued a statement claiming that they have identified and recovered all the accounts correctly and granted them credit with 20 days of play. Warden scans all processes running on the computer, not just games, and may be able to walk across what is considered to be personal information and other personal information. This is because the peripheral scans that the Warden has been accused of as spyware and have collided with controversy among privacy advocates.
Battle.net 2.0
Blizzard released the revamped Battle.net service in 2009. This service allows people who have purchased Blizzard products ( StarCraft , StarCraft II , Diablo II , and Warcraft III, as well as extensions) to download digital copies of games they have purchased, without requiring physical media.
On November 11, 2009, Blizzard required all World of Warcraft accounts to switch to Battle.net accounts. This transition means that all Blizzard titles are currently accessible, downloadable, and played with a single Battle.net login.
Battle.net 2.0 is a platform for matchmaking services for Blizzard games, which offers players a number of additional features. Players can track their friends' achievements, view match history, avatars, etc. Players can unlock many achievements (prizes for completing game content) for Blizzard games.
This service allows players to chat simultaneously with players from other Blizzard games. For example, players no longer need to create multiple usernames or accounts for most Blizzard products. To enable cross-game communication, the player must be a friend of Battletag or Real ID.
Privacy controversy and Real ID
On July 6, 2010, Blizzard announced that they are changing the way their forum works to require users to identify themselves with their real names. The reaction from the community was very negative with some game magazines calling "stupid" and "failing epic" changes. This resulted in significant user responses in the Blizzard forum, including one issue thread that reached over 11,000 replies. This includes the personal details of a Blizzard employee who gave his real name "to show it is not a big deal". Not long after revealing its real name, forum users post personal information including their phone number, image, age, and home address.
Some media outlets suggest that displaying real names through Real ID is a good idea and will benefit the Battle.net and Blizzard communities. But others worry that Blizzard is opening their fans to real life dangers such as stalking, harassment, and work issues, because simple internet searches by one's employer can reveal their online activities.
Blizzard initially responded to some concerns by saying that the changes would not apply retroactively to previous posts, that parents can set the system so minors can not post, and posting to forums is optional. However, due to the enormous negative response, Blizzard President Michael Morhaime issued a statement revoking plans to use his real name in the Blizzard forum for a while.
Regardless of the negative side effects of Real ID related to privacy, this addition offers a feature for the current Blizzard title. For example, real names for friends, cross-nature and cross-game chats, rich presence and broadcasts are included with the Real ID system.
Legal disputes
StarCraft privacy demands
In 1998, Donald P. Driscoll, attorney of Albany, California filed a lawsuit on behalf of Intervention, Inc., a California consumer group for Blizzard Entertainment for "unlawful business practices" for the actions of collecting data from user computers without their permission.
Free and FreeCraft
On June 20, 2003, Blizzard issued a cease and stop letter to an open source clone developer from a Warcraft machine called FreeCraft , claiming trademark infringement. This hobby project has the same gameplay and character as Warcraft II , but comes with different graphics and music.
As well as a similar name, FreeCraft allows gamers to use Warcraft II graphics, provided they have a Warcraft II CD. Clone programmers close their sites without challenges. Soon afterwards the developers rejoin to continue the work under the name Stratagus .
World of Warcraft personal server complication
On December 5, 2008, Blizzard issued cease and desist letters to many administrators from the high population of World of Warcraft private servers (essentially slightly modified servers from World of Warcraft In fact, the game, which players do not have to pay). Blizzard uses the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to influence many private servers to really die and no more.
Establishment of an Electronic Infringement Attorney
On August 14, 2007, Beijing University Founder Electronics Co., Ltd. sued Blizzard Entertainment Limited for copyright infringement claiming 100 million yuan in damages. The lawsuit alleges that the Chinese edition of World of Warcraft reproduces a number of Chinese typography made by Founder Electronics without permission.
MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
On July 14, 2008, the United States District Court for the Arizona District ruled in the case of MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. . The court found that MDY is responsible for copyright infringement because the user of his Glider bot program violates the End User License Agreement and Terms of Use for World of Warcraft . MDY Industries appealed the decision of the district court, and the verdict was submitted by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 14, 2010, in which the summary decision on MDY for contributory copyright infringement was reversed. Nevertheless, they decided that the bot violated the DMCA and the case was sent back to the district court for review in connection with this decision.
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. v. Valve Corporation
Shortly after Valve Corporation filed a trademark for "Dota" to secure franchise rights for DotA-Allstars, LLC, run by former contributor to game predecessor, Ancient Defense i>, filed an opposite trademark in August 2010. DotA All-Stars, LLC was sold to Blizzard Entertainment in 2011. After the opposition was denied Valve's favor, Blizzard filed an opposition to Valve in November 2011, citing their licensing agreement with the developer, as well as their holdings of DotA-Allstars, LLC. Blizzard admits their case in May 2012, however, gives Valve an undeniable commercial right to Dota , while Blizzard will rename StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm mod "Blizzard All-Stars" , which will be a stand-alone game, Heroes of the Storm .
Related companies
Over the years, several former Blizzard employees have moved on and established their own gaming company:
- Flagship Studios, creator of Hellgate: London , also works on Mythos .
- ArenaNet, the creator of the Guild Wars franchise.
- Ready at Dawn Studios, creator of The Order: 1886 , Daxter , God of War: Chains of Olympus and a ? We ports for Wii.
- Red 5 Studios, creator of <<> Firefall , free MMOG games to play.
- Castaway Entertainment, now dead, after working on a game similar to the Diablo series Diablo , Djinn .
- Click on Entertainment, creator of Darks See .
- Carbine Studios, released the multiplayer massively WildStar title.
- Turpitude Design, founded by Stieg Hedlund.
- Hyboreal Games, founded by Michio Okamura.
- Runic Games, founded by Travis Baldree, Erich Schaefer, and Max Schaefer; creator of Torchlight .
- Trion Worlds, releasing MMORPG, Rift and an MMOFPS titled Defiance with MOBA games, End of Nations , placed on a hiatus that is not limited.
- Undead Labs, founded by Jeff Strain and working in the video game State of Decay .
See also
- Blizzard North
- BlizzCon
References
External links
- Official website
- The Blizzard UK website Site
- Battle.net
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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