Legendary gaming firm cut its teeth with SNES and Genesis ports in the early 90s, but its legacy was locked in by three era‑defining originals that arrived between 1994 and 98.
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Blizzard Entertainment is celebrating its 35 th anniversary. The iconic American gaming firm was founded in 1991 as Silicon & Synapse. After a brief flirtation with SNES and Genesis ports, it soon forged its identity and its destiny by rebranding to Blizzard Entertainment and releasing three aces in quick succession: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994), Diablo (1996), and StarCraft (1998). This legendary studio recently became part of Microsoft Gaming , and the youngsters out there probably know it best for the eSports-focused FPS title Overwatch 2 .
Watch On The early years were rather tumultuous. Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, putting their combined energies, hearts, and minds into this video gaming venture. However, it rapidly shifted names and artistic directions before finding its true path.
The trio of founders began as Silicon & Synapse, Inc., and earned a living crafting ports for the dominant 16-bit consoles of the era. In 1993, original titles like Rock n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings were spawned, and the company would rebrand to Chaos Studios, Inc. Then, in 1994, the studio transitioned to Blizzard Entertainment after being acquired by distributor Davidson & Associates.
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1994 wouldn’t be just the year the Blizzard name would be established, its legacy truly began in the same year with the release of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans , which would receive numerous sequels and led to the direct ancestor to the hugely popular World of Warcraft , of course.
Before the year 2000, Blizzard Entertainment would also release the first games from the Diablo and StarCraft stables, too. That’s not all, in the background, the company changed hands yet again, and became part of Vivendi Games in 1998.
The next big event on the business front was the merger with Activision in 2008, with Activision Blizzard becoming independent from Vivendi in 2013. The corporate history story ends, for now, with Blizzard Entertainment existing as part of the Microsoft Gaming division since 2023.
Over the last decade, Blizzard hasn’t released any brand-new IPs. Its business has simply been to continue to pump out new versions/expansions for fan favorites set in the Warcraft, Diablo , StarCraft, and Overwatch universes. Nevertheless, the studio’s crown jewels retain a devoted following and continue to be celebrated at an annual BlizzCon event.
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