Blizzard has announced that veteran Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo designer Chris Metzen is returning to the company after years away as a creative advisor.
in the post of World of Warcraft website, Warcraft general manager John Haidt said: Chris’ initial focus is World of Warcraft, and his work has since expanded to other projects across this growing franchise.
— John Height (@JHight_Gamer) December 15, 2022
“Chris was one of the original team members when the Warcraft universe began in 1994, and we are thrilled to reunite him with the world he helped create.”
Metzen left Blizzard in 2016 after a nearly 23-year career with Blizzard. He was instrumental in creating his Warcraft universe in his mid-90s, and has since been creative in numerous of his Blizzard projects, including his esteemed tenure as lead and writer on Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. I have been his director. He is also the creator of his Overwatch Soldier 76, known to fans as the voice of Thrall, one of Warcraft’s most important orcs his character.
After leaving Blizzard, Metzen founded tabletop gaming company Warchief Gaming in 2020 and launched his first project, Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent, last year.
Metzen’s return to Blizzard reunites him with the universe he created as a creative advisor. The job initially involved him advising the World of Warcraft team, but eventually expanded to help with other projects in the franchise (probably Hearthstone).
World of Warcraft has been expanded once again with Dragonflight. The review described it as “a sharply written and breathtaking experience for the first few dozen hours, though the endgame options suffer from being somewhat boring”.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.
