WoW Developers Leave Blizzard

Red5 Studios Created

from Stardock Forums
Blizzard has again lost a handful of workers looking to strike it out on their own. Three former World of Warcraft developers have left the company to create Red5 Studios and develop their own independent MMO. Mark Kern was the team lead on WoW, William Petras art director, and Taewon Yun helped found Blizzard Korea, and assisted in launching and operations of WoW in the region. Red5 Studios is based in Aliso Veijo, California, and is hoping that with their skills and experience they can bring something new to MMO genre.

Even with all these people leaving Blizzard still seems to be doing okay.

Source: GamesIndustry Article
1,988 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Heh, first people who worked on Diablo/Starcraft/Warcraft1+2 left to form Arenanet, now people are leaving to form Red5 Studios.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
There is also the other studios whom I can't remember the name of at the time. I am thinking Gas Powered Games and Castaway...
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
I thought Gas Powered Games was from Cavedog.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
I am not sure I just know there is another pretty well known company founded for them, I could look it up but I'm too lazy right now...
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Yeah, Gas Powered Games was from Cavedog (partly anyway). Their now working on the spiritual successor to Total Annihiliation.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
You're talking about Flagship Studios



We have a winner!
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Blizzard has been steadily losing its core development and creative people for several years now. The people behind their core titles are pretty much all gone now, run off to form smaller companies. I'm sure this is partially due to the complete mismanagement by Vivendi Universal and their desperate attempt to sell off their game assets.

It's a sad sign of the times for Blizzard when they currently have NO internally developed titles announced (Ghost doesn't count, that's almost entirely 3rd party going through blizzard... and I don't count the expansion either as I don't consider it a full game).

The Diablo storyline is at an end more or less (all the lords of hell and their soulstones are destroyed)... Warcraft is probably going to cap off with WoW (I can't see them doing another RTS now that they have that cashcow to live off of). In terms of established IP, all they have with room left to build on is Starcraft, and for some reason they seem determined to just kill that off through inattention and what looks to be a mediocre console shooter.

Blizzard has lost its way. It lost its soul to VUG screwing things up, and now the people who made the Blizzard games great are splintering off to form a handful of separate companies, thinning out the once great concentration of talent. I don't know if we'll see any more games out of them that meet the previous Blizzard standards of quality. Warcraft 3 was the first sign of their slippage.
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
Blizzard has lost its way. It lost its soul to VUG screwing things up, and now the people who made the Blizzard games great are splintering off to form a handful of separate companies, thinning out the once great concentration of talent. I don't know if we'll see any more games out of them that meet the previous Blizzard standards of quality. Warcraft 3 was the first sign of their slippage.



I would more or less have to agree with your view on them losing their talent. But they are still producing quality games. I don't agree that Warcraft III was a slip up in anyway, niether was WoW but the games that they started developing in the last few years (when people started leaving) may not be what we expect.

They have lost their talent due to their parent, I just only hope they have been able to bring in new talent with new ideas. I would hate to see the creators of Rock N Roll racing and Lost Vikings fall apart. I heard they made some other games too though...