Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment is an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1991 and headquartered in Irvine, California. The studio behind World of Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch, Blizzard spent three decades as one of the most recognizable names in gaming before being acquired by Microsoft as part of the $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard deal that closed in October 2023. The studio now operates under Xbox Game Studios while maintaining its Irvine base and independent development identity.

I played a lot of Overwatch when it first launched. The character design was genuinely some of the best in any multiplayer game I had seen, and I still think the original Overwatch was better than what it became.

World of Warcraft and the Warcraft Series

The Warcraft series began with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans in 1994, a real-time strategy game that established the franchise’s fantasy setting and faction conflict between humans and orcs. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos in 2002 introduced hero units and a custom game editor that spawned the MOBA genre through a player-made map called Defense of the Ancients. World of Warcraft launched in November 2004 and became the defining massively multiplayer online RPG of its era, reaching over 12 million subscribers at its peak. It remains active with regular expansions, the most recent being The War Within in August 2024, and continues to draw millions of players over two decades after launch.

Diablo

The Diablo series launched in 1996 and defined the action RPG genre with its dark gothic atmosphere, isometric dungeon crawling, and deep loot systems. Diablo II in 2000 expanded and refined the formula and remains a benchmark for the genre. Diablo III released in 2012 to a troubled launch before stabilizing and selling over 30 million copies. Diablo II: Resurrected, the remaster developed with Vicarious Visions, released in 2021. Diablo IV released in June 2023 as the franchise’s first open-world entry, receiving strong initial reviews and selling well before a contentious monetization model drew significant backlash. The Vessel of Hatred expansion released in October 2024.

StarCraft

StarCraft launched in 1998 and became the defining real-time strategy game of its generation, particularly in South Korea where it became a professional esport before esports was a recognized industry. StarCraft II, released in three parts between 2010 and 2015, continued that competitive legacy. The StarCraft series has been largely dormant since StarCraft II’s final expansion, with Blizzard’s focus shifting toward other franchises, but the games remain active in the competitive scene.

Overwatch

Overwatch launched in May 2016 as a team-based hero shooter with one of the most distinctive character rosters in the genre, a diverse cast of heroes each with unique abilities and personalities that made the game accessible to players who had never engaged with competitive shooters. It sold 35 million copies and won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2016. Overwatch 2 launched in October 2022 as a free-to-play replacement for the original game, controversial from the start because existing Overwatch players lost access to the game they had purchased. The sequel’s live-service model and monetization drew sustained criticism. In 2024 Blizzard reversed several Overwatch 2 decisions and reintroduced a purchasable game option, acknowledging that the transition had damaged player trust.

Microsoft Acquisition

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard closed in October 2023 after an extended regulatory battle, making Blizzard Entertainment an Xbox Game Studios subsidiary alongside its Activision and King counterparts. The deal valued at $68.7 billion was the largest acquisition in gaming history. Blizzard operates with significant autonomy under Microsoft and its games remain available on PlayStation platforms, a condition of regulatory approval. The acquisition brought Blizzard’s entire catalog, including future World of Warcraft and Diablo releases, under the Xbox Game Pass umbrella over time.