World of Warcraft executive producer J. Allen Brack becomes the new president with the Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime stepping down right after 27 years.
Mike Morhaime, co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment plus the studio's longtime president, has stepped down from his position effective immediately. When Morhaime will keep on as a strategic adviser, World of Warcraft executive producer J. Allen Brack has taken over as president of Blizzard Entertainment, the company announced Wednesday afternoon.
Brack has been with Blizzard for 12 years, and has led the World of Warcraft team for that duration. Alongside Brack, chief improvement officer Ray Gresko and Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham have also joined the studio's executive leadership team.
As for Morhaime, he shared his gratitude towards the Blizzard neighborhood as element of the announcement.
"I need to thank all of the talented and hardworking persons at Blizzard for their dedication, creativity and passion," said Morhaime. "It has been a privilege to lead this team. I'm also pretty grateful to Blizzard's player community for their assistance."
Morhaime co-founded Blizzard as Silicon & Synapse in 1991, and had served as its president since 1998; he also took on the CEO role in 2007. In addition, he contributed to many with the company's games as a developer, including roles as a programmer, producer or executive producer on titles such as The Lost Vikings, all three Warcraft games, the first two Diablo games, the original StarCraft and World of Warcraft. Morhaime was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2008. He also happens to be the bass player for Blizzard's in-house metal band, Elite Tauren Chieftain (called ETC).
Wednesday's announcement comes only two years just after Blizzard veteran Chris Metzen retired from the wow gold corporation. Blizzard fans will likely hear more about this transition when BlizzCon 2018 begins in November, as Morhaime traditionally gives the opening keynote there.