After 23 years at Blizzard Entertainment, Chris Metzen is riding off into the sunset.
In a blue post on the Blizzard forums, Metzen announced his retirement after 23 years is to spend more time with his family.
" I had just turned twenty years old when I started working at Blizzard. Seems like a lifetime ago. Guess it was. Those first few years were the start of a very grand adventure for me, one that would take me around the world, introduce me to thousands of wonderful geeks just like me—and ultimately shape the course of my adult life.
Of course when I started, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how to make games or build entertainment products.…But I had an insatiable passion for ideas. For stories. For heroes." Chris writes in the post. "...With that said, I’ll try to get down to the point, here. I’ve come to a turn in the road. A new, far quieter chapter in my life looms ahead. I am retiring. Yup. Hangin’ up my guns. Clockin’ out. Takin’ the last gryphon out of Stormwind. You get the picture. Crazy, I know."
Chris' influence on video games as a whole cannot be described in a post like this. His ideas and passion for games and entertaining the legion (no pun intended) of Blizzard fans over the past 23 years is unparalleled. He has helped create some of the best selling game series to date including Warcraft and Diablo. On a personal note, he helmed and help create the worlds that I fell in love with first as a child/teenager, and now into my adult years. Some of my best friends I've ever spent time in front of a computer screen with were met in Warcraft III and Diablo II sessions.
Its hard to imagine a Chris Metzen-less Blizzard and this could make Blizzcon a very interesting one come October. Only time will tell what this will do for Blizzard Entertainment. Its an exciting, yet scary time for the company.
We here at Senshudo would like to wish Chris Metzen a happy "retirement" and to have a wonderful life filled with memories and laughter with your family.