- On
- 12 Jul 2023
- Reading time
- 5 minutes
The company that would become known as Blizzard Entertainment was founded on February 8, 1991, in Costa Mesa, California by three recent graduates from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The initiative belonged to Allen Adam, who became interested in computers and programming while still in school, somewhere at the age of 14.
Who would have thought that in a few years, the whole world would play World of Warcraft, conquering Azeroth and freeing it from invaders? Gamers liked the game so much that it has been on the top lines of the top for twenty years. At the same time, many players play themselves and introduce children to the game - that is, entire generations grow up on WoW. People play Alliance for years and then decide to start from scratch as Horde, simply because they can't give up their favorite hobby. In order not to pump the character, they turn to boosting companies. Wow boost service helps you immediately start playing with high-ranking opponents. Also for beginners who are just starting to play, boosting companies provide leveling, passing raids and dungeons, coaching, and buying gold. This allows you to save time on pumping, immediately start interesting missions, and for beginners, also learn the basics of the game.
From Silicon & Synapse to Blizzard Entertainment
But back to the history of the development of Blizzard. Unlike most of his fellow students, Adam knew exactly that he wanted to devote his life to creating games. And he was able to convince two of his peers - the best graduates of the engineering class, that it would be much more fun not to join ordinary employees in giants like Microsoft and IBM, but to try to organize something new and interesting together. These co-founders were Michael Morheim and Frank Pierce.
The name was chosen, but as it turned out later, it was far from the most successful - the combination of Silicon & Synapse, "Silicon and Synapse" implied the union of electronic devices and human thought History of the "good old" Blizzard Entertainment. After the release of RPM Racing, Silicon & Synapse took a short break and focused on porting other people's games and polishing a few of their own ideas. In 1992, nothing special happened, but 1993 was marked by the release of two projects at once, completed at a higher level of quality, laying down many of the still living traditions of Blizzard and bringing the company the first awards, including even the title of Best Software Developer.
In May 1994, the founders finally chose a successful, understandable, and recognizable name. At the same time, the word Blizzard appeared almost by accident: Allen Adam just flipped through a regular dictionary until he found something more or less suitable for the letter B and not protected by copyright. And also they decided to concentrate on one of the most popular types of the games - MMOs.
The Birth of Warcraft
Well, at the end of the same 1994, the legendary Warcraft: Orcs & Humans followed. It became the first game of the company, originally created as a PC exclusive. And the first, released under its own publishing label. Artist Samwise Didier proposed the name Warcraft, and company president Allen Adam decided to release under this heading a whole series of games dedicated to wars of various eras and environments, from the same fabulous fantasy or science fiction to historical and modern conflicts.
In 1995, Blizzard Entertainment moved from Costa Mesa to the neighboring city of Irvine in southern California The history of the “good old” Blizzard Entertainment: we remember how the company lived before 1998 and what games it released, and the sequel Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness released in hot pursuit in four months it sold around the world with a circulation of half a million copies. Winning a number of awards, including the title of "Game of the Year" from PC Gamer magazine, the second part of the strategy was soon awarded the addition of Warcraft II: Dark Portal.
After the release of the expansion for the second part, which, by the way, the industry called one of the best games of those years, Blizzard decided to take a break and concentrate on other projects.
World of Warcraft: The Breakthrough MMORPG
In 2004, Blizzard made a breakthrough, after five years of development, with the release of World of Warcraft, the most popular MMORPG. By announcing the project even before the release of the third part, the company left fans of the series wondering if the upcoming project will be a failure or will open up new horizons. As you know, the second happened.
Blizzard promised to give players an open world where they could do whatever they wanted. And they kept their promise. Controlling only one character this time, the player chose a side (Horde or Alliance), each of which offered four races to choose from, chose a class, and set off to explore Azeroth. In a fascinating way, the already well-known lore of the series turned into an even more exciting setting in which the player, alone or with friends, completed quests, fought various mobs and developed his unique character.
Players spend lots of hours in a game, some of them dedicate all their vacations to online gaming. They explore dungeons, unite in guilds, fight opposite factions in PvP and go on raids, which are campaigns in large groups of players in order to defeat one or another boss.
The popularity and innovation of WoW brought the game to the mainstream and made it part of modern pop culture. Even now, new add-ons are being released - the last Dragonflight was released quite recently.
Conclusion
The founding of Blizzard Entertainment in 1991 marked the beginning of a journey that would revolutionize the gaming industry. From humble beginnings, the company rose to worldwide fame with the release of their critically acclaimed game, World of Warcraft. The game's immersive world and endless possibilities captivated players, leading to its status as one of the top games for two decades. Blizzard's commitment to creating quality games and their dedication to their fanbase has made them a household name in the gaming industry. With the recent release of new expansions, it is evident that Blizzard's legacy will continue to thrive in the modern pop culture scene.
