Warlords of Draenor Beta - Build 18505

Warlords of Draenor Zone Preview: Frostfire Ridge

Rob Pardo Leaving Blizzard Entertainment
Originally Posted by Rob Pardo (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Every ending is a beginning and today marks a new beginning for me.

After 17 years at Blizzard, with long and careful contemplation, I have made a difficult and bittersweet but ultimately exciting decision to pursue the next chapter in my life and career.

Before I even joined Blizzard, I was already a huge fan of the company and its games. In particular, I was extremely passionate about the emerging genre of real-time strategy games. It was a dream come true when I was given the opportunity to work on StarCraft, which at the time was being created by a very small team by today’s standards. It was tremendously fulfilling to get to know everyone on the team personally and to contribute our energies toward a shared goal in such a creative and engaging environment.

Blizzard Entertainment has been simply the best place in the world to be a game designer. The best aspect of designing games at Blizzard is that the entire company is passionate about the gameplay within each and every product. From the executive team to customer service to our global offices, every single person is a player and contributes to making the best possible games. It’s for very good reason that the first credit on every Blizzard game is “Game Design by Blizzard Entertainment.”

I’m really proud of the contributions I was able to make to Blizzard’s accomplishments. From building lasting games, to supporting the growth of eSports, to extending the Warcraft world into a feature film, and of course to being able to celebrate our shared passions with the Blizzard community online and at BlizzCon.

The Blizzard community is ultimately the reason why we come to work every day and pour our souls into every world and experience we create. Blizzard’s players are the most passionate in the world and your commitment and dedication are truly awesome to behold. Creating entertainment for you has been an incredible opportunity, and I know that you will continue to grow and become even stronger as a community over the years to come. It has been so meaningful on a personal level to help create joy for all of you.

I’m looking forward to new challenges in my career, but I will always cherish the time I spent with you all and the amazing and collaborative teams at Blizzard. It was both satisfying and humbling, and it made me a better developer and a better person. I look forward to playing Blizzard games as a player for many years to come. Most important, now I have plenty of time to learn how to build a competitive Hearthstone deck.

As to what I will be doing next, I don’t have an answer for you yet . . . but I will “when it’s ready.” My priorities are to enjoy the summer with my family, play plenty of games, and think about what’s next. The game industry is such an exciting place right now with PC gaming thriving, the new consoles, mobile games, and virtual reality becoming an actual reality. It’s like having an empty quest log and going into a new zone for the first time.

In the past, I haven’t been the most avid Twitter user, but I’ll strive to do better and keep you updated there—@Rob_Pardo. Please stay in touch!

Rob
This article was originally published in forum thread: Rob Pardo Leaving Blizzard Entertainment started by chaud View original post
Comments 591 Comments
  1. Bubblykiss's Avatar
    So this was unforeseen to say the least.

    Big changes around blizz.

    This leaves a lot of questions.

    But, to Rob, good luck and enjoy
  1. Ralufar's Avatar
    Something is up at Blizzard...
  1. Infernix's Avatar
    Well....bye.
  1. Abstieg's Avatar
    On one hand, everyone gets tired after a long time in one place, on the other, he's a damn big name to lose.
  1. Nerraw's Avatar


    This is sad to see.
  1. mmoc586e3b8dfe's Avatar
    Good luck Rob !
  1. Infernix's Avatar
    Heads are rolling!
  1. Exotath's Avatar
    17 yrs is a long times. Been playing the game almost since its inception... this is honestly the first I have heard of him. =X
  1. Varchuti's Avatar
    inb4 Riot RobbyP
  1. Danshot's Avatar
    later rob, thanks for the memories
  1. Sodia's Avatar
    So now we know why EU lags so much!!
  1. Infernix's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by UnifiedDivide View Post
    Yep, that sure is the only possible reason >_>
    He was straight up fired. He's not leaving for another job.
  1. Grishnok's Avatar
    Good luck Rob.

    I see that a pattern is happening here. The same pattern that happened when Blizzard North had disagreements with how decisions were being made from the higher ups and a huge amount of extremely good developers left Blizzard. IE the developers of Diablo 1/2 and many of the vanilla starcraft and wow developers couldnt take it anymore. Greg street has bailed now as well as Rob. Things are getting worse and worse and less like a company that cares about their consumers and games and more about their profits. Im sure we can thank Bobby K for that.
  1. Herecius's Avatar
    The mention of virtual reality makes me wonder if more big names are going to come aboard the SS Oculus Rift... very curious to see where he goes in the industry, maybe he'll even start up his own company? Who knows.
  1. Master Guns's Avatar
    What exactly did he do at Blizzard?
  1. twelvethirty's Avatar
    Good riddance. Blizzard cleaning house.
  1. mmoc958dfdf8c4's Avatar
    Bad goy, he tried hard to cure cancer from the community but he doesn't understand cancer is what keeps the money coming.
  1. Tzalix's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Infernix View Post
    He was straight up fired. He's not leaving for another job.
    Doubt it. Any workplace can get boring after 17 years.
  1. mmoce35ea8b457's Avatar
    I can't say I'm a big fan of him after his sexist comments but it is kind of worrisome to lose such an big name. Meh.
  1. Jimson's Avatar
    Is there any chance this is related to the backlash from his speech at MIT? Maybe he looked at everyone jumping on him and decided it's not worth it.

Site Navigation