The Path of the Blizzard

Living With Acquisitions

Clearly, existing just for the long term simply isn't a viable option for most companies, and Sams agrees - although more developers that would care to admit have really been set up with a view to being acquired at some point down the road, and ultimately the dedication shown to Blizzard by it's employees indicates no desire to move on to something else any time soon, for the most part.

But then, Blizzard has been acquired already - several times, in fact - although it hasn't dented the passion found at the very top of the team.

"One of the things I'd tell you that Blizzard does which is different - if you look at our management team and compare it against other management teams in our space, what you'll find is that two of the three founders of the company are still in senior executive leadership roles: CEO Mike Morhaime and EVP of product development Frank Pearce. They're still here, after approaching 20 years," points out Sams.

"And the average tenure for the rest of the management team is over 15 years - the reason why that's important is because all of us view this as a key component of what defines us in our lives. We all look at this as - aside from our spouses and children - our biggest and best accomplishment, and something we consider as part of the fabric of who we are.

"We're all exceptionally committed, and what you'll find is that when we make decisions, they benefit the employees, players and shareholders - because we're all of those too. So we try to make the very best decisions we can for this thing that's so important to us.

"What you'll also notice is that all of us on this management team have been here - with the exception of one person - for at least a third of our lives... It's a commitment to this company, this brand of Blizzard, to these products of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo, that's unmatched in our industry.

"It's part of the very fabric of who each of us are, and I think it really drives the quality and results, combined with the fact that we've done a really good job on identifying, hiring and retaining the best, brightest and most passionate people in the business. They've grown to love - or came in loving - these franchises like we do, and while it's a formula that's proven very successful, it's also one that's very, very difficult to match."

Finding the Talent

These days it's likely that Blizzard tops more than a few career ambition lists, for those breaking into the business of making games now, but likely also for more than a few people that have been in the industry for a few years.

Certainly, and this is evident from the games themselves, the company enjoys talent on its books, and with the reputation it currently enjoys, the hardest thing about employing new staff would surely be wading through the resumes that must land on the doormat for each position posted...?

Not so, says Sams - attracting and retaining talent is as much about the person as about their capabilities, he claims, and while it's a nice line, there's evidence to be had in the company's ability to actually keep secrets... something which disappointingly few in the business manage to do, it seems.

So what's the secret?

"It's a tricky one - to be able to say 'Here's the magic formula...' - I don't know if I can deliver that," he admits. "But there's a variety of things that I think have helped to get us where we are, and I'd echo the fact that the games we make are entirely related to the fact that we have incredible people, who are very dedicated and talented.

"How we've attracted those people, how we've identified them, varies - but what I would say is consistent is that we try to identify people who are not only incredibly talented in the craft, whether they're programmer, artist, designer and so on - but in addition to that, people that are gamers, and people that are what I or others at the company would consider perfect matches with our core values.

"For us, we very much want to make sure that when we're hiring people we're not just doing it just because the guy or gal has written a great engine for some other company - but rather that not only do they have those great capabilities, but that they play games, they know what gamers want and what they want as a gamer, what they want to make next and play next, but also that they're going to fit.

"The company might see a guy that's the best programmer they've ever seen, but they're just not a fit - either culturally it won't work, or we don't think the way they're wired is the kind of wiring we feel is necessary to be able to live out our company's core values.

"We really focus on and prioritise those values, and try to intertwine them in all the things we do - whether it's development, or customer service, or other decisions that we make that in the way that it relates to the company, the employees or the players.

"That's something that's a bit hard to identify in an interview, but we've been working hard on it now for a long time, and feel like it's something that - especially with our key leader hires - we've really gotten good at identifying in who is going to live by those values."