Failure To Launch
What happens now for Xbox's mobile ambitions?
Microsoft's mobile strategy is cooked
Company Profile
Blizzard Entertainment
Website
www.blizzard.com
About
Blizzard Entertainment is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software. Its track record of back-to-back #1-selling games spans more than a decade, including World of Warcraft, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Diablo II, and StarCraft.
Related People
J. Allen Brack
President
Carin Huurnink
Senior Animator
Brendan Farrell
Senior Game Designer
Jesse Meschuk
Head of Global Human Resources
Mike Ybarra
President
Allen Adham
Senior Vice President
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Accolades
Articles featuring Blizzard Entertainment
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Podcast | Episode 59
A dark day for Xbox | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 59...
Layoffs
Blizzard ends Warcraft Rumble development as company reportedly slashes up to 100 jobs
Move is part of sweeping cuts across Microsoft and its games division
Hot Five
Hot Five: Game over for "Apple tax", Overwatch Mobile distribution plans, and Pokémon TCG Pocket beats Go in first six months
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Big Plans Ahead
Blizzard selects Nexon for Overwatch Mobile distributions and a new Starcraft game
NCSoft and Netmarble also participated actively in the bidding process
New Deal
Blizzard grants NetEase greater decision-making power over its games in China
Renewed partnership could lead to China-exclusive content like culturally inspired skins
Warcraft Wave
Warcraft Rumble is making the move to PC with monthly mobile earnings down 92% in first year
Blizzard Entertainment plans to launch the game on Battle.net to allow simultaneous play with World of Warcraft
Overwatch Ahead
Report: Overwatch Mobile is in development
Blizzard Entertainment has yet to officially confirm the title, but staff claim it's in the works
Jobs Roundup
September's Mobile Movers: Tripledot president steps down, The Raine Group appoints new MD, Aghanim hires VP, and more
Our regular roundup of the mobile games industry's movers and shakers
Booted From Blizzard
136 jobs cut as Blizzard axes 68% of employees in Ireland
Blizzard’s Cork office employs around 200 people, roughly half of all its employees in the Republic of Ireland
Blizzard names Call of Duty GM Johanna Faries as new president
New appointment comes as previous incumbent Mike Ybarra exits the company
Revenue Rumble
Warcraft Rumble scores nearly $14 million in first two weeks
Blizzard's latest mobile title averaging $1 million per day following global release
Five New Games
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from Warcraft Rumble to pixelated monster catchers
We highlight five new games that have broken cover and are all set to do big business
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news, with success for Warcraft Rumble, Crunchyroll's subscription service and Stumble Guys next level...
Early Results
Warcraft Rumble approaches $4M in four days with almost half of all revenue from the US
The numbers are in. Blizzard’s latest makes waves on mobile despite being locked out of China
Interview
Everything you need to know about Blizzard’s new mobile game Warcraft Rumble
We spoke with the games senior animator, Carin Huurnink and senior game designer Brendan Farrell
Warcraft Goes Mobile
Warcraft is coming to mobile with Warcraft Rumble
The game is set to launch at BlizzCon on November 3
Finding Funds
Pixion Games raises $5.5 million for Web3 RPG Fableborne
Investments come from Blizzard, Shima Capital and more
Netease Expansion
Blizzard break-up strikes a blow to NetEase’s overseas expansion
The tech giant doesn’t expect to launch any new games from overseas studios until at least 2025
Executives Vs. Employees?
Blizzard Boss Mike Ybarra takes the hardline at latest all-hands meeting
The company has cut profit sharing and mandated employees to return to the office
Netease X Blizzard
NetEase to disband Shanghai team following breakup with Blizzard
A skeleton crew will deal with logistical issues in the short term
A New Partnership
Blizzard reportedly enters final stage of negotiations with its new Chinese partner
The company ended its partnership with NetEase in 2022
Company Culture
Blizzard’s end of year roundup pledges greater culture change
Mike Ybarra’s end of year roundup pledged more culture change from Blizzard and a ‘player first’ approach
![How to make a great Free-to-Play game in three steps [UPDATE]](https://media.pocketgamer.biz/images/117750/79268/chase-shi-blizzard_s470.jpg)
Thought Leader
How to make a great Free-to-Play game in three steps [UPDATE]
Director of Product Chase Shi says that 'monetisation is a part of the gameplay'
First Of Many?
Update: Blizzard president and head of HR depart company amid lawsuit
J. Allen Brack and Jesse Meschuk make their exit
Engagement Priority
Diablo Immortal delayed until first half of 2022
"Our team has been tuning core and endgame features…"
Thank You, Next
China approves League of Legends: Wild Rift, Super Mario Party, Diablo Immortal and 30 other games
Pokémon Quest and Rayman Legends also all make the cut
Down Under
Diablo Immortal enters a technical alpha in Australia
"This is an early look at Diablo Immortal—an exciting new chapter in our action role-playing game series"
Helping Hand
Blizzard vet Jeremy Dela Rosa founds new charity platform Leyline
"We have always been passionate about trying to make a big positive impact in the world"
Going Digital
Blizzard moves its annual conference online with BlizzConline in February 2021
It will feature a range of contests
Equal Pay
Update: Blizzard staff members preparing list of workplace requests as part of ongoing pay dispute
"We will continue to adapt our compensation to build and keep the workforce our company needs today and tomorrow"
Going Digital
BlizzCon will be held on a digital platform early next year
"We're looking forward to sharing what the teams have been working on for that event"
Overwatch Goes Googly
April Fool's Day 2020: From a Fire Emblem Heroes spinoff to Pokemon GO pranksters
A round-up of the game's industry's pranks for the day
Shifting Gears
Rod Fergusson is leaving The Coalition to join Blizzard
He will oversee the Diablo franchise
Girl Power
BlizzCon 2019 sees first major female Hearthstone champion
VKLiooon roars
New Game
Overwatch 2 officially announced at BlizzCon 2019
Players from the original game can compete in PVP with sequel players
Great Divide
Blizzard is a PC developer first but can still make 'Blizzard-quality' mobile games
J. Allen Brack fights back
Lawsuit
Blizzard sues Chinese developer Sina Games over World of Warcraft ‘clone’
Glorious Saga was shut down on August 29th for "irresistible reasons" following the lawsuit filing
Job News
Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce stepping down
"Words cannot express the gratitude I feel to have been involved with Blizzard, our games, our employees, and most importantly our community"
Job News
Blizzard's global esports director Kim Phan has left the company
Less than a month after Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer departed the firm for Epic Games.
No Joke
Blizzard learned a "huge number of lessons" from Diablo Immortal reveal
Developer says it's still focused on PC titles despite partnerhing with NetEase on the new mobile game
Job News
Here's where 209 jobs were cut in Blizzard's US business
We now know just where layoffs have been made in the Overwatch firm's American workforce
Jobs News
Blizzard loses CFO to payment company Square
Follows Activision Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann out the door after he joined Netflix
Jobs News
Over 100 Blizzard customer support staff accept cash to quit
At least five payments of increasing value offered over last few months, sources claim
All Go
Blizzard reportedly working on a Pokemon Go-styled World of Warcraft spin-off for mobile
The game reportedly has single-player mechanics
Eastern Promise
Blizzard devs claim Diablo Immortal designed with China in mind
But Blizzard denies this
Faustian Bargain
Why Diablo Immortal’s detractors won that battle but have lost the war
Blizzard’s difficult decision
Draw
Hearthstone hits 100 million users as mobile revenue reportedly passes $660m
Blizzard’s Warcraft card game spinoff hits the milestone over four years after launch
Back To Hell
Diablo Immortal backlash shows once again triple-A publishers are afraid of their audiences
Biting the hand that feeds you?
Hell Breaks Loose
All hell breaks loose as Blizzard reveals Diablo Immortal mobile game
Here we go again