Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
What a way to close out the tenth annual World of Warcraft Student Art Contest! Congrats again to this year's winners and runners-up, and a big shout to everyone who participated, you made it incredibly tough for our judges. Check out the contest recap below, and students keep an eye out for more art contest news later this year...
Announcing the World of Warcraft Student Art Contest 2020 Winners!
“My favorite female video game character is constantly changing, but right now it would have to be Zagara. She's the mother of all Zerg and my most played character in Heroes of the Storm. I love her to bits.” - Careena Kingdom (Lead Animator, Diablo IV) Ah yes, the Broodmother herself, outstanding pick!
Celebrating Iconic Female Game Characters
We are known for building rich, detailed worlds for players. Have you ever wondered how those worlds come to life? We recently checked in with our cinematic modeling team to learn more about how they develop character and environmental builds – and the difference between “building for the round” and “building for the shot.”
A Day in the Life of the Blizzard Cinematics Modeling Team
“Building our desks together all those years ago was actually a really important foundational experience for Blizzard. Thirty years later, we’re still here building things together, and it feels like we’re only getting started—there’s so much cool stuff ahead of us, and we can’t wait to bring our players along for the ride.” - Allen Adham Gil Shif looks back on three decades of Blizzard. Thanks again for playing with us and sharing in so many epic moments together over the years. As to the next thirty, we couldn't be more excited for what's to come. Join us next week at BlizzConline to hear more!
Blizzard Entertainment: A 30-Year Foundation Fueling an Epic Future
Jennifer Oneal, new EVP of Development, shares the "why" behind the news of Vicarious Visions merging into Blizzard Entertainment.
Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard Entertainment
Happy 2021 (at last)! It's going to be an epic year. BlizzConline is this February, we're turning 30 as a studio, and of course teams are busy building. To that end, we're hiring. Big time. We've opened up nearly 300 roles across all pillars of game development and business operations. We have more in development than ever and we're getting after it. We hire globally, assess for best fit across the organization, and will get you set up to contribute from day one with your team. Drop us a line if you a good match, and stay safe!
Your WFH setup may vary, unless you're in Broadcasting, in which case this is pretty apt.
"It's a gate." And so Diablo IV was revealed to the world at BlizzCon 2019. Explore the modelling behind the iconic “By Three They Come” cinematic with the artists who made it. Shannon Thomas, Jason Huang, and Taso Gionis share an inside look at how Blizzard's Story & Franchise Development group puts the devil in the details.
It's a Gate: The Modelling BehindDiablo IV's "By Three They Come" - ArtStation Magazine
The 10th annual World of Warcraft Student Art Contest is open! Categories this year are Environment, Character, FX, and Animation. Show off your creativity in the WoW universe while demonstrating your ability to work within the Warcraft art style. Prizes include private mentorship with a Blizzard Artist, a Wacom Cintiq Pro 24, and more. Deadline to submit is January 31, 2021. Learn more about the rules, categories, and prizes on the submission page over on our careers site. The contest is a great way to get your work seen. In fact, many current members of the WoW Art Team got their professional starts by participating in this contest as students. TEN YEARS! We've seen so many fantastic entries over the last decade, best believe we're excited for what we'll see this time around. Good luck and have fun!
World of Warcraft Student Art Contest 2020 - WoW
Great interview with Lead Designer Dean Ayala on Hearthstone's wild year and finding the sweet spot in the team's approach to balancing problematic cards. Also heads up to those interested in working on Hearthstone, the team has opened up over 2 dozen new roles. Everything from Game and UI Designers, Client and Tools Engineers to Digital Marketing, Live Ops Producer, VFX Artists, and even a Data Science internship for next summer. Check out our job board and apply if you see a good fit, we'd love to hear from you!
How the hell did Hearthstone's meta get so healthy?
"Several years ago, a few of us thought it'd be nice to gather for a picture at the orc for National Coming Out Day. While it isn't a major holiday, coming out is a major step in the life of many people, as announcing who you truly are to your community is an important part of being your authentic self. We're glad that so many join us every year. While we couldn't be together around the orc this year, we still wanted to celebrate. Out or not, ally or family, we're glad to have such an amazing and diverse Blizzard community!" - Joseph C. (Sr. Software Engineer & Chair of Blizzard's LGBTQ+ employee network)
"Several years ago, a few of us thought it'd be nice to gather for a picture at the orc for National Coming Out Day. While it isn't a major holiday, coming out is a major step in the life of many people, as announcing who you truly are to your community is an important part of being your authentic self. We're glad that so many join us every year. While we couldn't be together around the orc this year, we still wanted to celebrate. Out or not, ally or family, we're glad to have such an amazing and diverse Blizzard community!" - Joseph C. (Sr. Software Engineer & Chair of Blizzard's LGBTQ+ employee network)