Paul Sams left Blizzard?!?

[Goradan]

"...my role is to create an environment in which our talented team can focus on making games without the business constraints and limitations that can hamper the creative process." --Paul Sams

Shots fired.

If he really said that then I think that Paul Sims has pretty much indirectly conformed that bilzz has become a greedy corporation that no longer care about making high quality games.

[TheTaurenOrc]

For everyone who doesn't know who he is (chances are you have seen him); hes the one of few guys they let have the stage at Blizzcon to himself.

No not the guy with the ears; that's Mike Morhaime. No not the guy who shouts 'for the Horde!!'; thats Chris Metzen. No not the bald guy with the goatee; that's Frank Pearce.

The other bald guy with a goatee; Paul Sams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSLZ-D4W8TQ

Also probably worth noting he probably the only reason there is still a Warcraft movie coming out after 9 years of turmoil.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

If you can't keep your most senior and veteran employees hungry and stimulated then thats a problem. It probably speaks to a more stale environment at Blizzard than anything else.

A big fish in a huge pond or a slightly bigger fish in a much, much smaller pond.... I am not so convinced this is just a natural progression. Looks like a transition to a company more like the blizzard of 10 years ago than some corporate ladder move.

It really doesn't. Becoming CEO is a huge opportunity. This kind of thing happens fairly regularly in the Business world. Big Corporations often hire outside the company for the Big Jobs.

Put it this way. You have a Good Job that Pays Good Money. Someone offers you a Better Job for Better Money...you'd be an idiot if you didn't at least consider it.

[MoanaLisa]

Also probably worth noting he probably the only reason there is still a Warcraft movie coming out after 9 years of turmoil.

Given the long history of that project and what it took to nurture it through several Hollywood development hells that's not a bad project to leave on and makes perfect sense that if his role in that has been largely wrapped up he's ready to move on and try something else.

[Deleted]

Erhm, did this just happen? Or did I miss his departure....

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...awn-as-new-ceo

He wanted more money, so he got a position and a studio of his own that gives him that.

Good for him I suppose. But that studio? Risky, considering the crap they've done.

[Goradan]

With Blizzard having morphed into a cookie cutter, sequel milking casualcraft studio, I would imagine most people with any real creative talents would be looking to go elsewhere, to studios where creativity and complexity are still welcome.

I agree, I wouldn't surprised if blizz is still scratching their head over the loss of people's respect and sub numbers over their current business model.

[Gadzooks]

The gaming industry is well-known for bad working conditions, low pay, and long hours. Why is that? Because so many people want to work in the industry, and that enthusiasm can be exploited.

The exact same is true for the music industry, the movie industry, theater, and many other industries. Often you trade salary for the cachet of the name of the company on the resume.

It would be really cool to work at Pixar or Industrial Light & Magic, but you essentially abandon a social life and outside interests for doing it. I know someone who worked at ILM who said "You better love working here enough to sleep under your desk for a week, because otherwise you won't last."

And, from my experiences in the music industry - it's much more fun on the consumer side.

[shadowstep]

"First and foremost, I learned that you must put game quality and player experience first in everything that you do.
Gamers are not driven to buy games because they have a clever business model, they buy games that are fun and immersive that deliver on what was promised.
I also learned that being a trend chaser or first mover is not a key to victory. Our team here at Ready At Dawn needs to make games that they love and that they want to play so that we can get the very best and most creative work out of our developers.
Force feeding a development team to chase a business model or game type trend when the team doesn't love it is a likely losing proposition. A happy and motivated team that is making a game that they absolutely love with a leadership team that doesn't force them to ship their game before it is ready is part of that formula for success."

shots fired...

[La]

If he really said that then I think that Paul Sims has pretty much indirectly conformed that bilzz has become a greedy corporation that no longer care about making high quality games.

For a long time Blizzard has been all about cutting corners and being lazy, at least in terms of WoW, despite how much money they made from it. Yet excuse after excuse for why there isn't this or why there isn't that, and people just ate it up. I'm glad that this expansion is truly coming out and showing it.

[Gadzooks]

Shots fire?

You may be right. The only other explanation is the new company was making those mistakes, and he's undoing the culture that made them.

"Our team here at Ready At Dawn needs to" might imply that they need to stop doing what he's describing, and change. I don't know a single thing about Ready At Dawn's titles, has there been failed launches and unhappy players?

[DarkTZeratul]

You may be right. The only other explanation is the new company was making those mistakes, and he's undoing the culture that made them.

"Our team here at Ready At Dawn needs to" might imply that they need to stop doing what he's describing, and change. I don't know a single thing about Ready At Dawn's titles, has there been failed launches and unhappy players?

He's probably referring mostly to The Order: 1886, which had a rather disastrous launch with a lot of unhappy players, largely as a result of being tied too heavily to Sony.

Sounds like Blizzard's COO needs to be fired then, because god damn has he been shit at his job lately.

Uh, the guy we're talking about *WAS* Blizzard's COO.

[Mormolyce]

Er, who?

Apparently. They are dropping like flies over at Blizzard.

You're close to the industry are you?

[Arbs]

"First and foremost, I learned that you must put game quality and player experience first in everything that you do.
Gamers are not driven to buy games because they have a clever business model, they buy games that are fun and immersive that deliver on what was promised.
I also learned that being a trend chaser or first mover is not a key to victory. Our team here at Ready At Dawn needs to make games that they love and that they want to play so that we can get the very best and most creative work out of our developers.
Force feeding a development team to chase a business model or game type trend when the team doesn't love it is a likely losing proposition. A happy and motivated team that is making a game that they absolutely love with a leadership team that doesn't force them to ship their game before it is ready is part of that formula for success."

shots fired...

Not gunna lie that sounds familiar.

[Mormolyce]

It's a bit late for that after having been with a certain company 20 years already. Usually guys that want to build their own business do it after getting a taste for it after 3-5 years having worked somewhere. People leaving after 20 years often is a sign of internal conflict. This is purely my own anecdotal experience with positions like these in the business world.

In my industry 20 years in a role is almost unheard of.

Apparently Blizzard does have a lot of long-term employees though.

[Niwes]

Shame he didn't listen to his own advice then:

"Paul Sams: First and foremost, I learned that you must put game quality and player experience first in everything that you do. Gamers are not driven to buy games because they have a clever business model, they buy games that are fun and immersive that deliver on what was promised"

Game quality???

Immersive???

Delivered what was promised???

WoD???

and now you have to ask yourself, what the reason can be, why he leaved...

from a developer or designer perspective, i am convinced, that working at blizzard is no more that funny. since activi$$ion is on board, they more and more became a low quality cash cow shit company. do you think its funny as a developer or a designer when your managers say: "we not want to invest time or money, do what you do, but as fast as possible with the least effort". EVERY developer or designer on this planet want do the "high quality" job, with enough time and money to be creative and to be good. do u have the feel that was it, what happened with wod ? surely not.

look at rob pardo. when you look at his philosophy behind gaming and look at blizzard today, its clearly what happened. so, i dont think working at blizzard these days is that funny. and i am sorry for the devs and designers there. i guarantee you, a lot of people will follow in the future. because its better to leave as long as the name "blizzard" means something. and i dont think thats the case in 10 years.

or in short: the rats leave the titanic. blizzard come down the long way from a high quality gaming company (blizzard north, vivendi) to a fucked up money machine (activi$$ion bli$$greed), that just use their big name, but will play no role in 10 years in the "good games" liga.

sad but true.

[Gorgodeus]

For everyone who doesn't know who he is (chances are you have seen him); hes the one of few guys they let have the stage at Blizzcon to himself.

Probably because as COO is the head of PR. lol It was his job.

[Paul Sams]

First, yes, this is really Paul Sams, former COO of Blizzard. I am posting to clarify that I have immense loyalty to Blizzard, and it pains me to see my name associated with posts criticizing the company. I would never leave Blizzard unless I fully was confident the company was healthy and well poised for continued success. I have had the privilege of working at Blizzard for nearly 20 years, and Blizzard has given me everything I have in life and taught me everything I know about the video game industry. I even met my wife at Blizzard. Last year, we made the family decision to return to my wife's home state of Texas. It's as simple as that. I want to watch my boys play football, be near my daughter who attends University of Texas and enjoy the great city of Austin. Not only that, I want to be able to support the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy at UT more as well. My opportunity to work with my friends at Ready at Dawn is fortuitous and allows me to continue my work in the industry I love while living in the place I love with the people I love. Not many people get an opportunity to enjoy that trifecta in life. I feel blessed and am fully aware that Blizzard paved this road. The fact that I am proud and excited to now work at Ready at Dawn in no way diminishes my love and respect for my friends and colleagues at Blizzard.

[Gorgodeus]

First, yes, this is really Paul Sams, former COO of Blizzard. I am posting to clarify that I have immense loyalty to Blizzard, and it pains me to see my name associated with posts criticizing the company. I would never leave Blizzard unless I fully was confident the company was healthy and well poised for continued success. I have had the privilege of working at Blizzard for nearly 20 years, and Blizzard has given me everything I have in life and taught me everything I know about the video game industry. I even met my wife at Blizzard. Last year, we made the family decision to return to my wife's home state of Texas. It's as simple as that. I want to watch my boys play football, be near my daughter who attends University of Texas and enjoy the great city of Austin. Not only that, I want to be able to support the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy at UT more as well. My opportunity to work with my friends at Ready at Dawn is fortuitous and allows me to continue my work in the industry I love while living in the place I love with the people I love. Not many people get an opportunity to enjoy that trifecta in life. I feel blessed and am fully aware that Blizzard paved this road. The fact that I am proud and excited to now work at Ready at Dawn in no way diminishes my love and respect for my friends and colleagues at Blizzard.

Well said, and good luck to you and your family.

[DesoPL]

First, yes, this is really Paul Sams, former COO of Blizzard. I am posting to clarify that I have immense loyalty to Blizzard, and it pains me to see my name associated with posts criticizing the company. I would never leave Blizzard unless I fully was confident the company was healthy and well poised for continued success. I have had the privilege of working at Blizzard for nearly 20 years, and Blizzard has given me everything I have in life and taught me everything I know about the video game industry. I even met my wife at Blizzard. Last year, we made the family decision to return to my wife's home state of Texas. It's as simple as that. I want to watch my boys play football, be near my daughter who attends University of Texas and enjoy the great city of Austin. Not only that, I want to be able to support the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy at UT more as well. My opportunity to work with my friends at Ready at Dawn is fortuitous and allows me to continue my work in the industry I love while living in the place I love with the people I love. Not many people get an opportunity to enjoy that trifecta in life. I feel blessed and am fully aware that Blizzard paved this road. The fact that I am proud and excited to now work at Ready at Dawn in no way diminishes my love and respect for my friends and colleagues at Blizzard.

Good luck with you and your family, through i need said it.

Current Blizzard is not the same, i remember. Back 20 years, when Starcraft and Warcraft 2 was released. In my personal opinion, all is started to ruin, when Activision Blizzard is formed. Yes i don't like Bobby Kottick, because he is too greedy for $$$.

[chase123]

Not sure if real Paul Sams or troll.