Frank Pearce, Chief Development Officer and one of the co-founders of Blizzard Entertainment, has decided to leave the company after more then 28 years of service. This is the second member of the Blizzard leadership that has left the company in the past year, with Mike Morhaime announcing his departure last October and his "strategic advice" role concluding on April 7 ,2019.
Frank worked on several titles at Blizzard including, but not limited to, leading Warcraft III's development team and programming in several of Blizzard's early titles (MobyGames). Like Mike, Frank appears to be staying on in an advisory role for an unknown amount of time.
The last remaining founder of the company, Allen Adham, left Blizzard in 2004 only to return 12 years later in 2016. Allen Adham is currently on the Executive Leadership Team as of 2018 (Business Wire).
Good luck, Frank!
Quote From Frank Pearce From Frank Pearce
The time has come for me to step away from Blizzard and pass the torch to the next generation of leaders.
My journey as part of the Blizzard community began over 28 years ago. Allen offered me an opportunity to join him and Mike in their adventure and dream to make video games. Video games were a passion that we shared, and I had only a fleeting hope that I would have the opportunity to make games one day. The decision was easy for me - I did not have the benefit of internet searches to help start me down the path. Allen’s offer letter was the best and only chance I thought I might ever have. Looking back, I know how incredibly fortunate I was to have been a part of what Blizzard has become.
Our efforts were always guided by well-intentioned purpose. We made games that we wanted to play, believing that like-minded people would also want to play those games. Today we characterize it more specifically with the ambitious vision of bringing the world together through epic entertainment. I am so proud to have had the chance to positively impact the lives of so many people through the experiences we have created.
My time at Blizzard encompasses the entirety of both my professional career and my adult life. I have countless fond memories. Working with the best developers in the world on the best franchises in the world definitively stands out. Even more prominent are my memories of our first BlizzCon where I realized the special importance of the people and communities that had become part of the experience for our players.
Words cannot express the gratitude I feel to have been involved with Blizzard, our games, our employees, and most importantly our community. Before Blizzard I struggled to find a place in which I felt I belonged. Now I know I will always have a place, as will many other people. Thank you to all of you for providing me the sense of inclusion I require as a person.
I have been lucky enough to work with J and Ray for many years, and now it is their responsibility to define how the adventure continues. They are game development leaders that are incredibly talented, experienced, and truly understand what is foundationally most important for Blizzard and our community. I know that the future of Blizzard will be amazing under their guidance. There are many exciting initiatives in the works, and I can’t wait to see the end results.
Everything I have done at Blizzard has been driven by my passion. I have worked very hard and very passionately for a very long time. Now it is time for me to reflect and be thoughtful about what comes next. I plan to spend more time active in the outdoors. I’d like to learn to play an instrument. I hope to devote more time to aspects of my life that may not have gotten as much attention in the past. One thing is for certain – I will continue to be a part of the Blizzard family.
My request and hope for all of you is that you continue living the Blizzard values and that you be kind and respectful to one another as you experience what Blizzard creates in the future. Blizzard is a special place and a special community, and everyone with whom you interact is important to the Blizzard journey as it continues forward. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful past I have enjoyed, and thank you in advance for the great future I expect we will share.
Play nice, play fair,
Frank
Quote From J. Allen Brack From J. Allen Brack
The time has come to say goodbye to one of my heroes, one of our founders, as well as one of our friends. When I moved into my new position last year, Frank stepped into an advisory role to help with the transition, specifically working with Ray Gresko and me on our games, culture, and the future of Blizzard. His support has been invaluable to us and to say we’re going to miss him is an understatement.
The first time I met Frank was during a lunch interview to join Blizzard. I was nervous not only because I was excited about the opportunity to join a company I loved, but because I was sitting face-to-face with one of the founders of Blizzard.
Frank can be intimidating, and sometimes comes across as a bit gruff. Underneath is a person of deep feeling, and of deep love for both the family of Blizzard, and the unique and caring community that has grown around Blizzard games. Frank is also a person I’m proud to call a close friend. Frank was one of the people who got me into running, and we’ve run dozens of races together over the years.
Like many of us, Frank is an introvert. Thus many of you haven’t seen a lot of him publicly, nor seen the deep impact he’s had on Blizzard, and on the culture specifically. But Frank has been here from the beginning, building and expanding the foundation and championing the values behind everything Blizzard does. Blizzard is better because of Frank Pearce.
A few BlizzCons ago, Frank talked about the value of human connection through video games, feeling a sense of belonging within the community, and that comes from a very personal place for Frank. Frank might be hanging up his armor now, but because of the influence he’s had in helping to build Blizzard and the connections he’s made with so many of us, veterans and new recruits alike who are all carrying the same torch forward, he’ll always be here with us.
We love you Frank.
JAB
Comments
And another one leaving. I agree with Flux concerning the Activision opinion. Blizzard never should have gone that direction, since then everything went downhill.
I feel that "be kind and respectful to one another as you experience what Blizzard creates in the future" is a rather...strange choice of words. It's as if he was saying, "the stuff that's coming down the pipeline may be controversial, try not to trash it (and each other) too much". It's such a strangely aimed message that I can't help but wonder if he's either specifically referring to some past projects that may not have received the reaction they hoped for *cough* Diablo Immortal *vomit*, or if he's hinting that that is just the start of the shift that's coming and people should ready themselves and "keep an open mind". I can't see anyone including this in their farewell address if everything that's on the horizon was juuust peachy and fine.
Why do they always feel the need to post such corporate bullshit messages, always praising the company they are leaving?
I understand not telling us the real reasons, but please, drop the bullshit already. I do agree that there are good memories, nice colleagues, etc. Especially in 28 years.
But that could've been stated in a simple paragraph instead or trying to convey the same idea 3-4 times in a different form.
Some truth behind what actually went on wouldn't hurt, but again, I can understand the reluctance, even if it's actually sad to cover everything up.
It can't be all good stuff.
Circle of life. new blood should be more in tune with their target audience
I know the plethora of "Another one gone" and "More rats jumping a ship" comments will be on here, but there's a very obvious reality here: The 3 original founders are getting old.
I don't know their specific ages, but they founded Silicon and Synapse back in '91 right after graduating UCLA. That would put them at somewhere around age 22 back then. It's been 28 years since then. That means they are probably in their 50's. They have seen their company grow to dizzying heights of success; and probably have been compensated for it immensely; in more ways then just financially too.
I know that people like to think the worst of blizzard, and it's always a popular to hate-train on them; but the fact of the matter is; companies change and so do people. Enjoy what they founded for us.
They gave us the classics: Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo. We've enjoyed almost 3 decades of games from Blizzard's founders. It's time to let them retire, move on and enjoy what he said he plans on enjoying; music, the outdoors; and life.
My assumption is they don't like the direction Activision forced the company. We'll have a better idea of whether or not that is accurate if Mike Morhaime (or Frank Pearce) starts a new studio in the next few years or joins other ex-Blizzard folks elsewhere.
My assumption is that he is retiring and stepping down to a very minor role in the company. Like I would at his age after being a huge role in the company I co-founded for 28 years.
I'm very much of this kind of thinking too.
I mean this specific departure could just be a coincidence but the amount of high profile people that have left in a short period of time probably isn't.
50 is not that old. They could work well into their 70s . It's more likely they don't like working for a big corporation. When they started blizzard was a small independent company. They have lost alot of freedom they had when they were inde. That is why Ben left so he could have more freedom and go in a direction corporate wouldn't approve of.
Not everyone wants to work into their 70s.... you had a great (almost) 30 year run, and you got a bunch of money in the bank, and maybe you just want some family time and spend the money travelling or something. I'd probably want to do something else too, christ, sooner than that
50 is a pretty unacceptable age in the gaming industry. Sure, that's because ageism the second most prominent discrimination in the industry, but the fact is, people over 50 are less than 1% of the entire field.
Vivendi games, which was a big corporation that owned Blizzard in it's own right, was bought by Activision in 2008. So now, 11 years later, suddenly the corporation is too big for the foudners? Please.
If you think making a Marvel game doesn't put you under a huge corporate unbrella, I don't kno what to say. Nobody on the outside knows why Ben left except himself, we can only guess, but yours is a pretty poor one at that.
Check the ages of senior management at any studio founded at a comparable period of time. Or where the founders of those companies are now. Off the top of my head? Will Wright, Maxis, 59: in game design, not in business operations. Tim Schafer, LucasArts, 51: in game design, not in business operations.
The fact that they’re younger than the minimum age to draw Social Security doesn’t mean they’re young. 50 IS old to be engaged in day-to-day operations of a company 30 years after you founded it.
"No king rules forever"
Another one bites the dust 😕. I just hope this will not have a too bug impact on their games.