Company name: Blizzard Entertainment Founded: 1994 Officially established President: Mike Morhaime Developed games: Warcraft series, Diablo series, StarCraft series (standalone); World of Warcraft (online game) Domestic cooperation Partner: Ogilvy China official website: Background information·Blizzard Entertainment Company Events 1991: Silicon & Synapse, the predecessor of Blizzard, was established. 1993: Officially named Blizzard Entertainment. 1994: Blizzard only had 15 employees, including programmers, designers, draftsmen and sound effects engineers, but it launched the stunning PC game "Warcraft"; in the same year, Blizzard was acquired by a well-known publishing company. 1995: Blizzard launched "Warcraft II" and sold more than one million units. It was rated as the best multiplayer online game of the year by "PC Game" magazine and sold 2.5 million units in a row in the next three years. 1996: Blizzard acquired Condor and renamed it Blizzard North Studio; in the same year, the second series of high-quality games "Diablo" was launched, selling 1 million units in 18 days. 1997: Blizzard launched the online server "Battle.net" - Battle.net. 1998: On January 15, "Starcraft" was launched and became the world's largest-selling game that year. In the same year, one of the founders, Allen Adham, decided to resign as president of the company and return to game design. His position was replaced by Morhaime. 1998 was a year of change and great success for Blizzard. 1999: Blizzard held a competition on "Battle.net" for the first time, providing US$20,000 in cash and prizes. Players around the world competed to participate, setting off an unprecedented online game war. "Starcraft" became a sensation in South Korea during this year. One million units were sold locally that year, and South Korea became the largest user country of "Starcraft". 2000: Blizzard has 13 million users worldwide, and the number of registered users of "Battle.net" has reached 7.5 million, with an average of 120,000 people online every day. Diablo II was released in late June of the same year. It sold 184,000 copies on the day of release and reached one million sales in less than a month. 2001: "Diablo II" expansion pack "Lord of Destruction" was released in June. 2002: "Warcraft III (Warcraft 3)" was launched! And it topped the list of the best PC games of the year finally selected by authoritative media around the world. 2003: Bill Roper visited China in March; on June 30, Blizzard's four top executives collectively resigned. The next day, the "Warcraft III" expansion pack "Ice Throne" was simultaneously released globally; April 10, 2005: Blizzard's first online game "World of Warcraft" was released in China. The creator of the game's myth: Blizzard is a myth in the gaming industry. It has created an unprecedented classic in 10 years. There are many mysteries surrounding its success, but what is evident is that in the competitive gaming industry, producing authoritative works has always been Blizzard's desire and motivation. Three years of hard work. In 1991, two UCLA graduates, Mike Morhaime and Allen Adham, founded Silicon & Synapse together. company. At first, he developed some simple board games for others. The two RPM games "Rock" and "Lost Pirates" developed that year were fortunate to be the first super games in the United States to be transplanted to Nintendo of Japan. In 1994, Blizzard was acquired by a well-known publishing company. In this year, Blizzard, which had only 15 employees, including programmers, designers, draftsmen and sound engineers, grandly launched the stunning PC game "Warcraft" under the name "Blizzard". , and for the first time put the "Blizzard (Blizzard)" label on its product packaging box. At that time, game companies did not need huge expenses to develop a product, but the return rate was quite generous.

Therefore, a set of "Warcraft" can earn enough reproduction capital for Blizzard. In 1995, Blizzard struck while the iron was hot and launched "Warcraft II", which achieved greater success with sales exceeding one million. In 1996, Blizzard's second series of high-quality products "Diablo" was launched, selling 1 million units in 18 days; the next year, "Diablo II" soon sold 2.5 million units shortly after its release. , becoming the best-selling game of the year. By 1998, Blizzard was already a big company with deep financial resources, and had accumulated sufficient strength to launch "Starcraft". Before "Starcraft", hailed as an "epoch-making masterpiece" by the game industry, was launched, Blizzard prepared 1 million units. As soon as it appeared, players from all over the world who had been waiting for it for a long time were crazy about it, and all 1 million units were sold out in three months. It became the world's largest-selling game that year. The next year, "Starcraft (StarCraft)" became a sensation in South Korea, selling 1 million units locally, and South Korea became the largest user country of "StarCraft (StarCraft)". In the global gaming industry, competition has become so fierce that it is life-and-death. In this kind of cruel competition, why can every game released by Blizzard sell so well? Simply put, Blizzard's development principles can be summed up in one word: "fun." In the words of players, Blizzard's games are deeply playable and cannot be grasped in a few months. After playing "StarCraft" for three months, generally speaking, you can only get a glimpse of the basics, and there is a lot of room for research. Blizzard has only launched 6 games in total in 10 years, of which the "Warcraft series" accounts for half. Strictly speaking, only counting the three series of games, it takes an average of three years to sharpen a sword. The development history of Blizzard is that simple. Difficult Early Years Speaking of the stories of Blizzard's early years, not all are as colorful as flowers. Blizzard was often accompanied by difficulties. The two entrepreneurs of Blizzard have a clear goal: to make games that they like and are more popular with players. The development of a game blockbuster often takes a year or more, and the cycle of investment and return is relatively long. In the early days, Mike Mowaimi and Alan Adham often needed to withdraw cash from personal credit cards in order to pay their employees' salaries, relying on personal borrowings to support the company. During that period, they were under considerable pressure. They had to mobilize employees to maximize their enthusiasm and use their talents, but they also had to endure the pain of never entering the "cultivation period." At that time, they had almost nothing from a capital flow perspective. In the end, Mike Mowaimi and Alan Adham survived the most difficult period. What motivated them to persevere were: the opportunity to make great game works; the persistent pursuit of their career; and the yearning for the company's future. The mountains and rivers are full of doubts and there is no way, and the willows and flowers are dark and the flowers are bright in another village. Facing today's glory and looking back on those difficult years, Mike Mowaimi said humbly, "We are very lucky" and "Luck is next to us." However, everyone knows that it is impossible to start a company, especially to push it to the top of the industry, just by "luck". Back then, when Blizzard started its business, the most important thing was not the funds, but the name of the company. No one knew what "Synapse" was! In 1993, Mike Mowaimi and Alan Adhan changed the name of Silicon & Synapse to Chaos Studio. Unexpectedly, a company in New York had registered the name and requested a transfer of US$100,000. fee. Mike Mowaimi admitted that if the asking price was not so high, Blizzard might be a company called "Ogre Studios" today. Finally, Alan Adham looked up the word "Blizzard" from the dictionary and decided to officially name the company Blizzard Entertainment. every dog ??has his day. In early 1994, Davidson & Associates, a well-known American publishing company, became very interested in Blizzard and proposed an acquisition. After repeated weighings, Blizzard was happy to marry the other party. For many creative game companies, acquisitions often mean death, but Blizzard's move is different from ordinary mergers and acquisitions. They have never given up the right to independently develop games. It is precisely with this right that Blizzard has grown into the world-renowned "game empire" it is today. In 1996, Blizzard acquired Condor in one fell swoop.

If Blizzard's acquisition by Davidson & Associates gave it financial backing, then its acquisition of Condor gave Blizzard even more power and a group of software R&D elites. Only selling authoritative products In 1995, Blizzard spent US$300,000 and spent 10 months completing the sequel to "Warcraft", "Warcraft II". When the market was bleak at the time, "Warcraft II" sold 500,000 units worldwide in just 4 months, becoming Blizzard's first product to exceed one million sales. It was reviewed by "PC Game" magazine It was the best multiplayer online game of the year and sold 2.5 million units in the next three years. "Warcraft II" made Blizzard a dazzling golden brand, making players all over the world remember the name Blizzard. After the huge success of "Warcraft II (Warcraft II)", Blizzard set itself a new and greater challenge. Only first-class authoritative works are developed. This is also a major strategy for creating a brand that Blizzard has determined. Next, if Blizzard continues to develop "Warcraft III", it may be the most cost-effective and safest approach, but the company's executives hope to achieve a new breakthrough, so the development team proposed the idea of ??making a science fiction game. Launched the more successful "Starcraft". Blizzard's business strategy is to build a brand, not to speculate on famous brands. Famous brands are not the same as brands. The reason is very simple. Famous brands are just familiar faces, but brands are the real recognition of players! Infinitely Extended "Battle.net" In 1997, Blizzard set up a dedicated online server "Battle.net" and named it "Battle.net". The emergence of "Battle.net" is Blizzard's keen sense and accurate grasp of the Internet era, and its importance cannot be overstated. In 1998, as "Starcraft" became popular all over the world, "Battle.net" also gradually prospered. The two complemented each other and prospered. In 1999, Blizzard held its first competition on "Battle.net", providing US$20,000 in cash and prizes. Players around the world competed to participate, setting off an unprecedented online game war. With the advent of "Battle.net", the appeal of "Starcraft" has increased sharply. Players from all over the world have online battles and real-person battles, and they have endless fun. Many people are fascinated by this and have restless sleep and food. Although Blizzard's "Battle.net" is a free service, players must have genuine Blizzard games to enter "Battle.net" to compete for hegemony. In 2000, Blizzard had 13 million users worldwide, and the number of registered users of "Battle.net" reached 7.5 million, with an average of 120,000 people online every day. Based on this, it is estimated that Blizzard's income is very considerable. In order to cooperate with the launch of new products, Blizzard has further strengthened its anti-piracy functions and will have stricter control over CD-KEY on "Battle.net". It is difficult for pirated games to have the opportunity to appreciate its endless fun. Tens of millions of players will bring huge financial resources to Blizzard. Low-key style In the global gaming circle, there are very few players who have never played "Starcraft", and there are quite a few people who don't know the experience of Blizzard's entrepreneurs. An important reason is that Blizzard has always been unwilling to use the media to hype itself. In 1998, Alan Adhan resigned as president and became chairman of the company's board of directors, with Mike Mowaimi taking over as president. As a consultant, Alan Adhan hopes to have enough time to return to game design. What is quite funny is that the news of Alan Adham's resignation did not have any repercussions among players, nor did it reduce players' good impression of Blizzard. A very simple reason is that no one outside Blizzard employees really knows Who is Alan Adham and what does he do? "We love game design work, but we need to focus on game products!" The happiness gained from the game development process is enough for Blizzard entrepreneurs to avoid any temptations from the outside world. This passion for dedication to their careers makes them silent Farming and even contact with the outside world remains largely closed. At Blizzard, everyone from the boss to the employees keeps a low profile, and the company's doors are rarely open to the outside world. Blizzard people only focus on their own careers.

This is in sharp contrast to the strange phenomenon in some domestic companies that they only know the boss's name but not his products. Unusual talent strategy 1. Don’t let those who don’t like playing games. The purpose is to guide every employee to have a deep understanding of games. In the game industry, the rate of Blizzard employees changing jobs is the lowest, although in recent years there have been some employees starting independent businesses. . But what is different is that Blizzard does not regard independent entrepreneurs as enemies like other companies. Instead, it respects their entrepreneurial ambitions and maintains friendly relations with them. Since the 1990s, many talents with special skills in the United States have been proud to work for Blizzard, but Blizzard's selection of talents is very strange. First of all, candidates must really love and be proficient in games. All Blizzard employees are gamers, and game engineers spend their lunch breaks playing "Counter-Strike" by their competitor Sierra. This phenomenon is difficult to find in other game companies, and many companies do not encourage or even prohibit employees from playing games. Blizzard's intention is to guide every employee to understand the game deeply, so as to establish the foundation for developing excellent products that suit the tastes of players. According to this principle, people applying for a job at Blizzard will not be able to pass the test just by memorizing game knowledge. The HR manager will even walk you through the process step by step during the interview. In addition to their passion and loyalty for games, Blizzard also attaches great importance to the technical quality of its employees. The minimum academic qualifications for Blizzard art designers are PhDs. At Blizzard, when many experienced and skilled game producers have completed five years of service, the company will reward them with a medieval long sword as a souvenir. They grow with the company, and the company's performance is closely linked to employees' personal income. 2. Only when you are paranoid about your career can you have a selfless work spirit. When making "Starcraft" in 1997, level designer Jeff Strain's design also reached a critical moment when the task processing module had to be redefined, which happened to be when his wife was giving birth. As soon as he received a call from his wife, he immediately went to the company's computer department to borrow a laptop and then drove home. The daughter was restless in the mother's belly and the wife had begun to have convulsions. He used these five or six hours to stay in front of his wife's delivery bed and complete all the programming work for "Starcraft". When his wife woke up from anesthesia after giving birth, she loudly asked him: "Why were you still working on your damn game when our daughter was born?" This spirit of selfless work is reflected in every employee of Blizzard. People have almost a paranoid love for their careers. Many senior managers expressed this emotion: "Aside from my family, the thing that brings me the most happiness is developing games for the company." In the eyes of Blizzard employees, Gaming isn't just a job, it's a way of life. Moderate expansion strategy In 2000, Blizzard has developed into an internationally renowned company with 150 employees, both in game development and technology. It is no longer the studio with only 15 people back then, and is strong enough to ensure the simultaneous development of two games. . But Mike Mowaimi admitted that the biggest challenge facing Blizzard is to find the talent necessary to realize the company's game development philosophy and ensure that the company's culture is not compromised. He said, "We never want to be a company with 1,000 employees, but I think Blizzard can eventually grow to six or seven development teams without sacrificing quality. Do less, but we must do better." In the past 10 years, Blizzard has experienced two mergers and acquisitions, once by others, and again by others. In addition, there has been no larger expansion move. However, Blizzard has been developing, and its employees have increased tenfold. This is a moderate expansion that is close to "conservation of energy", rather than unlimited expansion for the sake of greed. Blizzard does not want to fall into such a vicious cycle. It has a stable grasp of the "speed" of expansion and grows healthily during steady expansion. In terms of product development, Blizzard is also good at grasping the balance between quantity and quality. The quality consciousness of winning with less is Blizzard's business principle. While countless game companies are eager to launch a new game every month and compete for market share, Blizzard relies on its in-depth understanding of players, continuous pursuit of quality, and continuous innovation of games to form a Blizzard’s unique success factors. Each of Blizzard's works strives for excellence and truly achieves unparalleled artistic excellence. The sales of each game have exceeded the "platinum level" (single game sales have reached 1 million units), and the total sales have already exceeded 13 million units. Not a single second-rate game was ever released during this period.

The high-quality strategy that has been honed for three years is the key to Blizzard's success. Important Honors - Game Development Team · Best Multimedia Company 1999 - SC Software Publishers Association · Best Software Development 1993 - VideoGames Magazine · Best Animation Direction: StarCraft - 1997 World Animation Carnival - World of Warcraft · Best of Show (E3 2003) - The Wargamer · Most Solid Online Gaming Title (E3 2003) - IGN PC · Best Graphics (E3 2003) - IGN Vault - StarCraft: Ghosts · Best Show (E3 2003) - The Wargamer · Best of Show (E3 2003) - Daily Game · Best Games of E3 - GameSpy · Best PS2 Showcases - IGN PS2 · E3 Hit - IGN GameCube · Best Cross-Platform Games - Techtv - Warcraft III: The Ice Throne · Best Game of the Month - IGN PC · Recommended Game (Rated 90 out of 100) - Games Xtreme · Recommended Game (Rated 9 out of 10) - Strategy Gaming Online · Full Score Game - GamePro - Warcraft III·The world's major game magazines and media unanimously selected it as the best game of the year-Diablo II: Lord of Destruction·The best role-playing and adventure game of the year-Wargamer·The best expansion pack of the year-Gamespy-Diablo God II · Best PC Game of the Year - 2000 ECTS Awards · Best Role-Playing Game of the Year - Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences · Best Role-Playing Game of the Year - PC Dome Magazine - StarCraft: Brood War · Best of the Year Best Expansion Pack - Computer Gaming World · Special Achievement Award: Best Expansion Pack -- Gamespot · Best Mission - PC Accelerator - StarCraft · The Greatest Game of All Time - GameSpot · The Best-Selling Game of 1998 - PC Data · Worldwide The major game magazines and media unanimously selected the best game of the year - Diablo · Best Game of the Year, Best RPG Game of the Year, Best RPG Game of 1998, Best Multiplayer Online Game of 1998, etc. - Warcraft I , Warcraft II brief product introduction · StarCraft: Ghost (under development) · Warcraft series sales agent in mainland China: Ogilvy China · StarCraft series sales agent in mainland China: Ogilvy China · Diablo series sales agent in mainland China: Shenzhou Ogilvy