How Blizzard got so big
By TAMARA CHUANG
As 8,000 fans of Blizzard Entertainment crowd into Hall A at the Anaheim Convention Center today, they will become the envy of the millions of other computer gamers who didn
t make it to BlizzCon, the industrys ultimate fan convention.
Why the jealousy? The fans in Anaheim will get to play "StarCraft 2," the un-released sequel to Blizzards 1998 hit. Theyll also meet staff developers, artists and designers.
But, most importantly, theyll be the first to see and play "World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King," an upcoming addition to Blizzards massively popular "World of Warcraft." The companys founders plan to unveil the surprise follow-up today.
The original "WoW" just topped 9 million players and BlizzCon is the companys way of saying thanks.
" WoW changed everything," said Michael Morhaime, who started Blizzard with two friends in 1991.
A few years ago, Blizzard was just a game company in Irvine. It had several hit releases, and a few hundred employees.
Then, in 1999, the team began to brainstorm about a new game where thousands could play at the same time. This genre was known as a Massively Multiplayer Online Game, or MMOG, and the game they were contemplating would be open 24/7, for any gamer to join in.
But not everyone on staff was convinced, including co-founder Frank Pearce, Blizzards executive vice president of development. He didnt like the idea of a game that never ended. Others argued MMOGs were far from Blizzards past successes, the most popular, "EverQuest," had only 450,000 players.
And then there was the money issue.
"It was probably the most expensive thing a gaming company can choose to do and the biggest risk," recalled Paul Sams, Blizzards chief operating officer.
But Morhaime and co-founder Allen Adham convinced the skeptics. The game turned out to be "WoW," the companys most successful game ever.
"With World of Warcraft, we bet the company," Sams said.
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