Legendary Blizzard VP and creative Chris Metzen retires

“Warcraft.” “StarCraft.” “Diablo.” Three of the biggest names in gaming history. What do they all have in common? A man named Chris Metzen, who was largely responsible for breathing life into these legendary franchises.

After more than two decades helping bring us some of PC’s most memorable experiences, Metzen, the co-creator of the above series and the senior vice president of Story and Franchise Development at Blizzard Entertainment, is retiring.

In an emotional post on the battle.net forum, Metzen announced his retirement, and expressed his love for both his job and the people he worked with.

“For nearly twenty-three years I’ve had the very distinct privilege of shaping worlds and building games with the brightest creative minds in entertainment,” wrote Metzen. “I’ve walked with giants (and stood on some giants’ shoulders, too). In short, I’ve had the time of my life.”

His job was not without its challenges. “I pretty much had the coolest job ever—but the truth is, sometimes it was really hard. Building games with dozens of brilliant, passionate alpha-geeks with their own red-hot instincts and perspectives can be pretty tricky. Coming to consensus about certain design decisions, story motifs, or courses of art direction takes a lot of communication, patience, and ‘give and take.’ It stretches you. Sometimes it wasn’t all that pretty. But engaging with your teammates and collaborating through the potential quagmire of all that creative tension is where the real magic happens.

"True collaboration builds trust—and trust is the basis of all lasting relationships. With trust you build more than just a great product. You build a TRIBE... that can build anything. A family of craftsmen."

Metzen also conveyed his deep appreciation for the fans.

“Thank you all for letting me be a special part of your community. For letting me belong with you. We’ve shared countless adventures together and I’ve always been overwhelmed and humbled by your passion for our games as well your commitment to each other.”

Metzen is indeed retiring; he has no plans to find work elsewhere. The reason for his decision is simple:

“I’ll be focusing on the one thing that matters most to me in all the world—my family,” he stated. “In addition to raising our two little ones, we recently welcomed our new baby into the family! Being home with them all, having time and space to really live… to love my wife with all my strength… that’s my career now.”

More than two decades of creativity and hard work

Metzen started work at Blizzard as an artist and animator. The first game he contributed to was “Justice League Task Force.” Soon after, he was given the task of providing artwork for the first “Warcraft” game, 1994’s “Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.”

He found himself juggling greater responsibilities when “Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness” rolled around. For this game, he was in charge of the writing, and even designed a variety of missions and scenarios. It was launched in 1995.

Then, he and fellow designer Bill Roper created “Diablo,” which was released in 1996.

Metzen assumed the role of lead designer for one of the finest real-time strategy games ever made, 1998’s “StarCraft”—a game so influential it played a huge role in the growth of eSports. He also wrote extensively for the game, as well as organized the voice casting. For 2000’s “Diablo II,” Metzen worked on the artwork, story, and writing.

Metzen worked on the script and story concept for 2002’s “Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.” He also served as the title’s game director.

Metzen continued to write for, design, and direct many of Blizzard’s other titles. Most recently, he co-directed “Overwatch.”

In addition to his development and supervisory roles, Metzen provided voicework for several Blizzard games. For example, he was “Warcraft’s” Varian and Thrall, the “StarCraft” marines, “Diablo’s” Skeleton King, and “Overwatch’s” Bastion.

Outside Blizzard, he wrote a “StarCraft” short story called “Revelations,” and a “Warcraft” novel called “Of Blood and Honor.” He provided the script for a graphic novel series called “Soldier: 76,” whose main character would eventually wind up in “Overwatch.” Most recently, he worked with artist Livio Ramondelli and author Flint Dille to develop the “Transformers: Autocracy” digital comic series. The team is now working on the sequel, “Transformers: Monstrosity.”

In this year’s “Warcraft” film, Metzen was in a cameo role as a turbaned perfume merchant in Stormwind. — BM, GMA News