Blizzard Entertainment is an American video game developer and publisher. It is based in Irvine, California. It was founded in 1991 as Silicon and Synapse by Allen Adham, Michael Morhaime, and Frank Pearce, three UCLA graduates with a particular interest in electronic gaming. Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, Call of Duty, Heros of the Storm, etc. are some of the most popular games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Currently, Blizzard has four main franchises, Overwatch, Diablo, StarCraft, and Warcraft. Activision Blizzard and Davidson & associates are the parent organizations of Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard Entertainment was ranked #336 in the list of global top 1000 brands, according to the ratings from the customers of Blizzard. Let us know about that the Blizzard’s Mission Statement, Vision, And Values Analysis.
Blizzard’s Mission Statement, Vision, And Values Analysis
In 1991, Allen Adhams convinced Michael Morhaime and Frank Pearce to come and make games with him. They set up the office, figured out the phone system, and started making games they like to play. As the company grew, they started gathering more people to make games with them, and they soon realized that many people like to play the games they like. From the beginning, the company grew with strength and delivered bestselling #1 year by year, 2 consecutive years. Warcraft was the strategy game, Diablo was the original gold standard action game, and StarCraft was the fountainhead of professional esports. The company grew and evolved surrounding the connection with its audience.
Long-time employee, Rob Bridenbecker, an executive producer and vice president at the company, mentioned how values are so important to Blizzard, he says, “The core values were organic. We had been living these values for a long, long time. Gameplay first was something Blizzard set its sights on from the beginning. The most important thing is to get the games right and ensure they are fun and last. So, at some point, we got together and decided to write [the values] down, and they resonated with everyone.”. Blizzard has the mission of creating epic entertainment experiences for all their players. They pour their hearts into what they create. Blizzard has several values that it follows viz. Gameplay first- they believe in the power of their products and the customer feedback, commit to quality- the ‘Blizzard polish’ lies in all the company’s experiences, play nice; play fair- the first impression is important but the lasting impression is more impactful, embrace your inner geek, every voice matter- Blizzard believes that great ideas can come from anywhere, learn & grow- improvision is necessary, think globally- it wants to keep the global gaming community bounded, and lead responsibly.
The company has grown its community of gamers across the world largely over the past 30 years. What matters more, is that the game developers at Blizzard themselves identify them to be game players and keep working on improvising the experience for all the players. The developers have built a community with the players, and the players consistently provide constructive feedback to the developers, and that’s the way of creating epic experiences. The following are some pinpoints about the company’s progress:
Where does the magic happen?
The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, with a campus span of about 20 buildings, comprising people from diverse domains. All these people, belonging from various locations come together, and stay bound to the same company values. The company’s motive is to make fun games for players, create epic entertainment experiences, make lasting impactful games, and bring everyone together in these experiences.
Distant employees also feel the same connection with the company’s values. Making the best experiences with the best people, who are on this mission. Blizzard strongly believes in its employees, they believe in their expertise, their domains, and their creations. The company emphasizes feedback. The teams never let anything go if that is not satisfying them. Everyone is a competent gamer, so they are used to seeing the game as a gamer and giving critical feedback, and developing with that.
The heart of epicness
Blizzard shares a great connection with its audience. The players and the developers’ team are bound to each other. The gaming communities give constructive feedback to the team, and the team creates what they want. The gaming community is amazing. They play together, tease each other, challenge each other and teach each other how to play.
Blizzard has a great sense of obligation towards the players who have fueled the company with their passion, encouragement, and personal investment in the world and characters that Blizzard has created. The community cares about the quality and intentions of the game, the well-being of developers, and also about each other. One of the reasons why Blizzard is growing so well is that the players are with them. They know that Blizzard’s with them in it. They stuck with Blizzard and stayed from game to game, and more people started joining, and they made this ecosystem that keeps growing.
In pursuit of inclusion and fairness
Only growing a community of players is not enough for a company’s growth. Blizzard has realized this from its years of experience. Making a game successful is critical because the first motive is to ‘make it fun’ always but what matters for keeping them all together is, fairness in the gameplay. It is crucial to deal with matters of cheating, fairness, civility, and representation to form successful and welcoming online environments and virtual worlds.
Blizzard focuses on making the gameplay interactive for sowing the seed of integral communication between the players. Introducing in-game chatting and voice chatting were introduced to build trust in the community. The collection of emotes in games, affectionately showcases the sportsman’s spirit in players. You have ‘well played’, ‘Greetings’, ‘Great’, etc. emotes provided for communication. These help in anger management. The interactive space for each game is designed by the developers but the overarching pursuit of fairness, inclusivity, and diversity remains a strong focus. The company focuses on inclusion through communication and policies, and sometimes by the diverse hero design, it creates a welcoming online space for its players, where they would be comfortable no matter where they come from or who they are.
Blizzard tries to keep its environment inclusive and collaborative. The company observed that people feel comfortable sharing ideas, and thoughts while playing games if they get the right, safe space to express themselves. Players try to understand each other’s viewpoints and exchange intellectual property.
What is Blizzard’s vision for the gaming universe?
Ans. Blizzard has one motto. And that is to create the most epic gaming experiences. ‘Gamely first’ is the core ideology of the company. They believe in the virtual worlds they made and the stories they shared. They want to work on quality and deliver the best experiences. Blizzard believes in playing fair and calmly. The excitement of a head-to-head battle should not reflect in the hearts of individuals. The company wants to make interactions between players better and more faithful. It wants to build trust in its players.
Blizzard wants to make the gaming community a welcoming internet space for the players, where everyone can come and comfortably express their viewpoints, experiences, ideas, etc.
FAQs
- When did Activision buy Blizzard?
Ans. The company, Activision Blizzard, a developer and manufacturer of electronic games, was formed in 2008. When Activision, an entertainment software publisher traced its roots to the original Atari game console, it offered to merge with Vivendi games, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment, a personal computer software publisher. The franchise is best known for Diablo, Warcraft, and StarCraft. It is also famous for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game ‘World of Warcraft’.
At the conclusion of the merger, in which Activision was the senior partner, Vivendi purchased 52 percent of the stock in the newly formed Activision Blizzard. Both Activision and Blizzard maintained distinct corporate identities, with independent development and publishing streams. In January 2022, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The company’s corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California.
- What is the evaluation of the company Blizzard?
Ans. As of January 2023, Activision Blizzard has a market capital of 60.84 billion US dollars. This makes Blizzard the world’s 242nd most valuable company by market capitalization according to data. Market capitalization, generally referred to as market cap, is the total public value of the publicly traded outstanding shares of the company and is commonly used to measure the company’s value.
Through various mergers, acquisitions, and successful content performance, Activision Blizzard has grown into the biggest game developer in the world, by market capitalization.
