Alexander Madrigal and Blizzard Entertainment: Difference between pages

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{{Intro-tooshort|date=September 2008}}
{{Football player infobox| playername= Alexander Madrigal
{{Infobox Company
| fullname = Alexander Madrigal Ureña
|company_name = Blizzard Entertainment
| nickname = El Machon
|company_logo = [[Image:Blizzard Entertainment Logo.svg|250px|Blizzard Entertainment logo]]
| dateofbirth = {{birth date and age|1972|05|06}}
|company_slogan = N/A
| cityofbirth = [[El Llano|Alajuela]]
|parent = {{flagicon|France}} [[Vivendi]]
| countryofbirth = [[Costa Rica]]
|company_type = Subsidiary of [[Activision Blizzard]]
| height = 175cm
|foundation = 1991 (as [[Silicon & Synapse]])
| weight = 71kgs
|location = [[Irvine, California|Irvine]], [[California]], [[United States|USA.]]<ref name="company_profile">{{cite web
| currentclub = [[Cobán Imperial]]
|url = http://www.blizzard.com/us/inblizz/profile.html
| position = Defender
|title = Company Profile
| youthyears =
|accessdate = 2007-08-21
| youthclubs =
|publisher = Blizzard Entertainment}}</ref>
| years = <br/>1996-1998<br/>1998-1999<br/>1999-2000<br/>2000-2002<br/>2002-2003<br/>2003<br/>2003-2004<br/>2005-2008<br/>2008-
|industry = [[Computer and video game industry]]
| clubs = [[CS Cartaginés]]<br/>[[LD Alajuelense]]<br/>[[Unión de Curtidores]]<br/>[[Club León|León]]<br/>[[La Piedad]]<br/>[[CD Veracruz]]<br/>[[Jaguares de Chiapas]]<br/>[[Puntarenas FC]]<br/>[[Municipal Pérez Zeledón]]<br/>[[Cobán Imperial]]
|revenue = {{profit}} $1.1 Billion {{Fact|date=August 2008}}
| caps(goals) = <br/><br/><br/>15 (2)<br/>80 (7)<br/>18<br/><br/>26 (2)<br/>57 (6)
|num_employees = {{formatnum:2700}}<ref name = "gamasutra-E3-2007">{{cite news
| nationalyears = 1995-
|author = Brandon Sheffield
| nationalteam = [[Costa Rica national football team|Costa Rica]]
|url = http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14691
| nationalcaps(goals) =
|title = E3 Exclusive: Blizzard Establishes Third Team, New Game Expected
| pcupdate =
|publisher = [[Gamasutra]]
| ntupdate =
|date = [[2007-07-13]]
|accessdate = 2007-07-14}}</ref>
|key_people = [[Michael Morhaime]] (president and co-founder)<br>[[Frank Pearce]] (vice president and co-founder)<br>[[Rob Pardo]] (vice president)<br>[[Chris Metzen]] (vice president of Creative Development)
|products = [[Warcraft (series)|The ''Warcraft'' series]]<br>[[StarCraft (series)|The ''StarCraft'' series]]<br>[[Diablo (series)|The ''Diablo'' series]]
|homepage = [http://www.blizzard.com www.blizzard.com]
}}
}}


'''Blizzard Entertainment''' is an [[United States|American]] [[video game developer]] and [[video game publisher|publisher]] headquartered in [[Irvine, California]].<ref name="company_profile" /> It is a division of [[Activision Blizzard]]. Blizzard is probably best known for its successful multiplayer online roleplaying game, ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. They also created several games including the ''[[Warcraft (series)|Warcraft]]'', ''[[StarCraft (series)|StarCraft]]'', and ''[[Diablo (series)|Diablo]]'' series.
'''Alexander Madrigal Ureña''' is a [[Costa Rican]] football player, who plays defender for [[Cobán Imperial]].


==History==
[[Category:Costa Rican footballers]]
Blizzard Entertainment was founded by [[Michael Morhaime]], [[Allen Adham]] and [[Frank Pearce]] as '''Silicon & Synapse''' in February 1991, a year after<ref name="UCLAHonorDinner2006_11_06">{{cite web|url=http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/news/2006/Awards%20Dinner%202006.htm|title=
UCLA Engineering Celebrates Accomplishments at Annual Awards Dinner|date=2006-11-06|author=M. Abraham|accessdate= 2007-09-22|publisher=[[UCLA]] Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science}}</ref> all three had received their [[bachelor's degree]]s from [[UCLA]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blizzard.com/register/blizzard/|title=Blizzard Entertainment 10th Anniversary Celebration|accessdate= 2007-09-22|publisher=Blizzard Entertainment}}</ref><ref name="UCLAHonorDinner2006_11_06"/> In the early days the company focused on creating game [[porting|ports]] for other studios. Ports include titles such as ''J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I'' and ''Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess''.<ref name="blizz_tline">{{cite web|url=http://www.blizzard.com/blizz-anniversary/timeline.shtml|title=Blizzard Timeline|publisher=Blizzard Entertainment|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.blizzard.com/blizz-anniversary/timeline.shtml|archivedate=2003-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/blizzard-entertainment-inc/ported-by/list-games/|title=Ported by Blizzard Entertainment Inc.|publisher=Mobygames}}</ref> In 1993, the company developed games like ''[[Rock N' Roll Racing]]'' and ''[[The Lost Vikings]]'' (published by [[Interplay Entertainment|Interplay Productions]]). In 1994, the company briefly changed its name to Chaos Studios, before finally settling on Blizzard Entertainment after it was discovered that another company with the Chaos name already existed. That same year, they were acquired by distributor [[Davidson & Associates]] for under $10 million. Shortly thereafter, Blizzard shipped their breakthrough hit ''[[Warcraft: Orcs and Humans]]''.

Blizzard has changed hands several times since then: Davidson was acquired along with [[Sierra Entertainment|Sierra On-Line]] by a company called [[CUC International]] in 1996; CUC then merged with a hotel, real-estate, and car-rental franchiser called [[HFS Corporation]] to form [[Cendant]] in 1997. In 1998 it became apparent that CUC had engaged in accounting fraud for years before the merger; Cendant's stock lost 80% of its value over the next six months in the ensuing widely discussed accounting scandal. The company sold its consumer software operations, Sierra On-line which included Blizzard, to [[France|French]] publisher [[Havas]] in 1998, the same year Havas was purchased by [[Vivendi]]. Blizzard was part of the [[Vivendi Games]] group of Vivendi. In July 2008 Vivendi Games merged with [[Activision]], using Blizzard's name in the resulting company, [[Activision Blizzard]].

In 1996, Blizzard acquired Condor Games, which had been working on the game ''[[Diablo (computer game)|Diablo]]'' for Blizzard at the time. Condor was renamed [[Blizzard North]], and has since developed hit games ''[[Diablo (computer game)|Diablo]]'', ''[[Diablo II]]'', and its expansion pack ''[[Diablo II: Lord of Destruction]]''. Blizzard North was located in [[San Mateo, California]].

Blizzard launched their online gaming service ''[[Battle.net]]'' in January 1997 with the release of their action-[[Computer role-playing game|RPG]] ''Diablo''. In 2002, Blizzard was able to reacquire rights for three of its earlier Silicon & Synapse titles from [[Interplay Entertainment]] and re-release them under [[Game Boy Advance]].<ref>{{cite interview
| last = Morhaime
| first = Mike
| subject = The Making of The Lost Vikings
| subjectlink = The Lost Vikings
| interviewer = Blizzard Insider
| title = Blizzard Insider
| type =
| url = http://www.blizzard.com/insider/011/lostvikings.shtml
| format = url
| program = Blizzard Insider
| date = 2002-11-22
| accessdate = 2007-06-23
}}</ref> In 2004, Blizzard opened [[Europe]]an offices in the [[Paris]] suburb of [[Vélizy-Villacoublay|Vélizy]], [[Yvelines]], [[France]], responsible for the European in-game support of [[World of Warcraft]]. On November 23, 2004, Blizzard released [[World of Warcraft]], its [[MMORPG]] offering. On May 16, 2005, Blizzard announced the [[acquisition]] of [[Swingin' Ape Studios]], a [[console games|console]] game developer which had been developing ''[[StarCraft: Ghost]]''. The company was then merged into Blizzard's other teams after StarCraft: Ghost was 'postponed indefinitely'. <!-- reliable source needed for this news: Production on Starcraft: Ghost has since been cancelled.--> On August 1, 2005, Blizzard announced the [[consolidation]] of [[Blizzard North]] into the headquarters at 131 Theory in [[UC Irvine]]'s University Research Park in [[Irvine, California]].

In 2008, Blizzard was honored at the 59th Annual [[Technology & Engineering Emmy Award]]s for the creation of World of Warcraft. [[Mike Morhaime]] accepted the award.

==Titles==
{| class="wikitable"
!Game Name
!Release Year
!Genre
|-
|''[[RPM Racing]]''<ref name="blizz_tline" />
|1991
| racing game
|-
|''[[Battle Chess]]'' (Windows and Commodore 64 ports)<ref name="ign_decade_of_blizz">{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/090/090953p1.html|title=A Decade of Blizzard|date=2001-02-01|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2008-07-07|quote=Commodore 64 Battle Chess, Windows Battle Chess, Amiga Battle Chess II, Amiga Lord of the Rings, and Windows Shanghai were some of our early projects.}}</ref>
| 1992
| [[chess]]
|-
|''[[Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess]]'' (Amiga port)<ref name="ign_decade_of_blizz" />
| 1992
| puzzle game
|-
|''[[J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I]]'' (Amiga port)<ref name="ign_decade_of_blizz" />
| 1992
| [[Role-playing game (video games)|role-playing game]]
|-
|''[[Castles (video game)|Castles]]'' (Amiga port)<ref name="blizz_tline" />
| 1992
| strategy
|-
|''[[MicroLeague Baseball]]'' (Amiga port)<ref name="blizz_tline" />
| 1992
| sport
|-
|''[[Lexi-Cross]]'' (Macintosh port)<ref name="blizz_tline" />
| 1992
| game show
|-
|''[[Dvorak on Typing]]'' (Macintosh port)<ref name="blizz_tline" />
| 1992
| education
|-
|''[[The Lost Vikings]]''<ref name="euro_profile" />
|1992
|[[platform game]]
|-
|''[[Rock N' Roll Racing]]''<ref name="euro_profile" />
|1993
| racing game
|-
|''[[Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye]]''<ref name="ign_decade_of_blizz" />
|1994
| [[mahjong solitaire]]
|-
|''[[Blackthorne]]''<ref name="euro_profile">{{cite web|url=http://eu.blizzard.com/en/inblizz/profile.html|title=Company Profile|publisher=Blizzard Entertainment|accessdate=2008-07-07|quote=Prior to the release of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Blizzard served as a third-party developer, creating entertainment software for various platforms, including DOS, Macintosh, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo. The company's best-known titles from this era include Rock 'n Roll Racing, The Lost Vikings, Blackthorne, and The Death and Return of Superman.}}</ref>
|1994
|cinematic platform game
|-
|''[[The Death and Return of Superman]]''<ref name="euro_profile" />
|1994
|side-scrolling [[beat 'em up]]
|-
|''[[Warcraft: Orcs & Humans]]''
|1994
|fantasy [[real-time strategy]] game
|-
|''[[The Lost Vikings II]]''
|1995
|platform game
|-
|''[[Justice League Task Force (video game)|Justice League Task Force]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blizzard.com/blizz-anniversary/blizznorth.shtml|title=Blizzard North: Condor and Diablo|publisher=Blizzard Entertainment}}</ref>
|1995
|[[Versus fighting game|fighting game]]
|-
|''[[Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness]]''
|1995
|fantasy real-time strategy game
|-
|''[[Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal]]''
|1996
|[[expansion pack]]
|-
|''[[Diablo (computer game)|Diablo]]''
|1996
|action-oriented fantasy role-playing game
|-
|''[[StarCraft]]''
|1998
|[[science fiction]] real-time strategy game
|-
|''[[StarCraft: Brood War]]''
|1998
|[[expansion pack]]
|-
|''[[Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition]]''
|1999
|fantasy real-time strategy game
|-
|''[[Diablo II]]''
|2000
|action-oriented fantasy role-playing game
|-
|''[[Diablo II: Lord of Destruction]]''
|2001
|[[expansion pack]]
|-
|''[[Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos]]''
|2002
|fantasy real-time strategy game
|-
|''[[Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne]]''
|2003
|[[expansion pack]]
|-
|''[[World of Warcraft]]''
|2004
|[[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPG]] set in the Warcraft universe.
|-
|''[[World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade]]''
|2007
|[[expansion pack]]
|-
|''[[World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King]]''
|2008
|[[expansion pack]]
|-
|''[[StarCraft II]]'' (Wings of Liberty)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/918/918895p1.html|title=Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games|last=Ocampo|first=Jason |coauthors=Eduardo Vasconcellos|date=October 10, 2008|publisher=IGN|language=English|accessdate=2008-10-13}}</ref>
|under development
|
|-
|''StarCraft II'' (Heart of the Swarm)
|under development
|
|-
|''StarCraft II'' (Legacy of the Void)
|under development
|
|-
|''[[Diablo III]]''<ref>Worldwide Invitaional 2008</ref><ref>http://us.media.blizzard.com/232309/_images/en-US/splash.swf</ref>
|under development
|action-oriented fantasy role-playing game
|-
|''An unannounced next-gen [[MMO]]''<ref>http://pc.ign.com/articles/841/841058p1.html</ref>
|under development
|MMO
|- bgcolor="DDDDDD"
|''[[StarCraft: Ghost]]''<!--keep Ghost at the bottom of this list until development has resumed-->
|indefinitely postponed
|third-person shooter
|-
|}

* ''[[StarCraft II]]'' was officially announced as of May 19, 2007, at the Worldwide Invitational in [[Seoul]], [[South Korea]].
* ''[[World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King]]'' has been set for a [[November 13]], 2008 release date.
* ''[[Diablo III]]'' has been officially announced as of June 28 , 2008 at the 2008 Worldwide Invitational in [[Paris]], [[France]].

Notable unreleased titles include ''[[Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans]]'', which was cancelled on May 22, 1998, ''Shattered Nations'', and ''[[StarCraft: Ghost]]'', which was "indefinitely postponed" on March 24, 2006 after being in [[development hell]] for much of its lifespan, and whose current status is in question. The company also has a history of declining to set release dates, generally saying their products are "done when it's done."<ref>{{cite news
|author = GamePro Staff
|url = http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=79448
|title = GamePro Q&A: Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan on The Burning Crusade
|publisher = [[GamePro]]
|date = [[2006-08-29]]
|accessdate = 2006-09-30
}}</ref>

''Pax Imperia II'' was originally announced as a title to be published by Blizzard. Blizzard eventually dropped ''Pax Imperia II'', though, when it decided it might be in conflict with their other space strategy project, the now-legendary StarCraft. THQ eventually contracted with Heliotrope and released the game in 1997 as ''[[Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain]]''.

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that they will be producing a [[Warcraft (film)|''Warcraft'' live-action movie]]. The movie will be released by [[Legendary Pictures]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blizzard.com/press/060509.shtml|title=Blizzard Entertainment - Press Release|accessdate=2006-08-31|date=2006-05-09}}</ref>

==Former employees==
Over the years, some former Blizzard employees have moved on and established gaming companies of their own:
*[[Flagship Studios]],<ref>[http://flagshipstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=7&Itemid=29 About Flagship Studios]</ref> creators of ''[[Hellgate: London]]'', also worked on ''[[Mythos (computer game)|Mythos]]''.
*[[ArenaNet]],<ref>[http://arenanet.com/games/index.html ArenaNet]</ref> creators of the ''[[Guild Wars]]'' franchise.
*[[Ready at Dawn|Ready at Dawn Studios]],<ref>[http://www.readyatdawn.com/ready.asp About Ready At Dawn Studios]</ref> creators of ''[[Daxter (video game)|Daxter]]'', ''[[God of War: Chains of Olympus]]'' and an ''[[Okami]]'' port for the [[Wii]].
*[[Red 5 Studios]],<ref>[http://red5studios.com/faq/ Red 5 Studios]</ref> currently working on a yet to be announced next-gen [[MMOG]].
*[[Castaway Entertainment]],<ref>[http://www.castawayentertainment.com/about.html About Castaway Entertainment]</ref> currently in a state of financial crisis, ceased working on a game similar to the Diablo series, Djinn.
*[[Click Entertainment]],<ref>[http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=1453 Click Entertainment]</ref> creators of ''[[Throne of Darkness]]''.
*[[Carbine Studios]]<ref>[http://www.carbinestudios.com/news/ Carbine Studios<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, currently working on a yet to be announced massively multiplayer title.
*[[Turpitude Design]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cmpevents.com/GDAU08/a.asp?option=G&V=2&CPid=226&Sortby=4a&SPln=H |title=Austin GDC 2008 Speaker List}}</ref> founded by [[Stieg Hedlund]]

==Controversies==
===Battle.net===
{{main|Battle.net}}
{{Unreferenced|section|date=August 2008}}
'''Battle.net''' is an online gaming service used for its games ''Diablo'', ''Starcraft'', ''Starcraft: Brood War'', ''Diablo II'', ''Diablo II: Lord of Destruction'', ''Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition'', ''Warcraft III, and Warcraft III Expansion Set: The Frozen Throne''. It was released in January 1997 coinciding with the release of ''Diablo''. It functions as a way to play over the Internet, featuring cooperative and player-versus-player game playing, a game matchmaking system, and online chat among other features. Battle.net is free, and only requires an Internet connection and account registration in order to use.

A group of gamers [[reverse engineering|reverse engineered]] the network protocol used by Battle.net and Blizzard games, and released a free (under the [[GNU General Public License|GNU GPL]]) Battle.net emulation package called [[bnetd]]. With bnetd, a gamer is not required to use the official Battle.net servers to play Blizzard games.

In February 2002, lawyers retained by Blizzard threatened legal action under the [[DMCA|Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] against the developers of bnetd. Blizzard games are designed to operate online exclusively with a set of Blizzard-controlled servers collectively known as "[[Battle.net]]". Battle.net servers include a [[CD key]] check as a means of preventing [[Copyright infringement of software|software piracy]].

Despite offers from the bnetd developers to integrate Blizzard's CD key checking system into bnetd, Blizzard claims{{citequote}} that the public availability of any such software package facilitates piracy, and moved to have the bnetd project shut down under provisions of the DMCA.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} As this case is one of the first major test cases for the DMCA, the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] became involved, for a while negotiations were ongoing to resolve the case without a trial. The negotiations failed however, and Blizzard won the case on all counts: the defendants were ruled to have breached both StarCraft's [[End User License Agreement]] (EULA) and the [[Terms of Use]] of Battle.net.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}

This decision was appealed to the [[Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals]], which also ruled in favor of Blizzard/Vivendi on September 1, 2005.

===Warden Client===
{{main|Warden (software)}}
Blizzard has made use of a special form of [[software]] known as the 'Warden Client'. When running, the client scans an individual's computer in order to verify compliance with the EULA/TOS. The Warden client is known to be used with Blizzard's [[World of Warcraft]] [[MMORPG|online game]], and all players consent, via the [[EULA]] and [[terms of use]], to the Warden software performing these scans while World of Warcraft is running.<ref>[http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The Warden client scans the [[Process (computing)|process names]], window titles, and a small portion of the [[code segment]] of running processes in order to determine whether any of these third-party programs are running. This determination is made by [[Hash function|hashing]] the scanned [[String (computer science)|strings]] and comparing the hashed value to a list of hashes assumed to correspond to cheat programs.<ref>[http://www.rootkit.com/blog.php?newsid=358 rootkit.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Warden scans all processes running on a computer, not just the World of Warcraft game, and could possibly run across what would be considered private information and other [[personally identifiable information]]. It is because of these peripheral scans that Warden has been accused of being [[spyware]] and has run afoul of controversy among [[privacy]] advocates.<ref>[http://play.tm/story/6837 WoW's Warden stirs controversy - news - play™<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.antispywarecoalition.org/documents/definitions.htm Definitions and Supporting Documents<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://news.mmosite.com/content/2006-11-26/20061126193343858.shtml Look! what is Blizzard doing on your pc? - MMOsite News Center<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The Warden's reliability in correctly discerning legitimate vs illegitimate actions has been called into question due to actions Blizzard has taken regarding the information gathered by Warden. Most notably, that it appears that many players are reported as violating the EULA/TOS by the program, and subsequently banned, when in fact they are not cheating. A large scale incident happened when many Linux users were banned after an update to Warden caused it to incorrectly detect [[Cedega]] as a cheat program.<ref>[http://www.linuxlookup.com/2006/nov/15/linux_users_banned_from_world_of_warcraft Linux Users Banned From World of Warcraft? | Linuxlookup<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Blizzard issued a statement claiming they had correctly identified and restored all accounts and credited them with 20 days play.<ref>[http://www.linuxlookup.com/2006/nov/22/blizzard_unbans_linux_world_of_warcraft_players Blizzard Unbans Linux World of Warcraft Players | Linuxlookup<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Blizzard has regularly stated that the Warden sends no information, only a violation flag, to the home server. However, without specific information, having been sent by the Warden software initially, it would have been impossible for Blizzard to discern Cedega users from actual violators.<ref>http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=blizzard-archive&t=33&p=1&tmp=1#post33</ref>

The Warden is not the first time Blizzard Entertainment has attempted to look at their customer's computers. In 1998 Blizzard Entertainment had a class action lawsuit filed against them for "unlawful business practices" for the action of collecting data from a user's computer without their permission.<ref>[http://attrition.org/errata/company/blizzard01.html Errata: Blizzard Entertainment<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

===FreeCraft===
{{main|Stratagus}}
On June 20, 2003, Blizzard issued a [[cease and desist]] letter to the developers of an [[open source]] clone of the Warcraft engine called ''FreeCraft'', claiming [[trademark infringement]]. This hobby project had the same gameplay and characters as ''Warcraft II'', but came with different graphics and music.
As well as a similar name, ''FreeCraft'' enabled gamers to use ''Warcraft II'' graphics, provided they had the ''Warcraft II'' CD. The programmers of the clone shut down their site without challenge. Soon after that the developers regrouped to continue the work by the name of ''[[Stratagus]]''.

==Blizzard Account==
Blizzard released its '''Blizzard Account''' system in 2008. This service allows people who have purchased Blizzard Products (particularly [[StarCraft]], [[Diablo II]], and WarCraft III and their expansions), to download games they have purchased, without needing the CD. Soon, it will store a player's "Blizzard Level" (similar to a [[Gamerscore]]), when World of WarCraft's Achievement Points get added to the system, and expanded with future Blizzard titles, like [[StarCraft II]] and [[Diablo III]].<ref>http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/01/blizzard-accounts-achievements/</ref>

==See also==
{{commonscat}}
* [[BlizzCon]]
* [[Blizzard North]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
===Company & Corporate===
* [http://www.blizzard.com Blizzard's website]
* [http://www.blizzard.co.uk Blizzard UK's website]
* [http://www.battle.net Battle.Net website]
* [http://eu.blizzard.com/wwi08/index2.xml 2008 Worldwide Invitational]

===The Bnetd case===
* [http://www.battle.net/support/emulationfaq.shtml Blizzard's official statement on battle.net emulators]
* [http://www.visi.com/~tneu/blizzard.html A rebuttal to Blizzard's official emulation statement]
* [http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=149 Yale LawMeme's analysis of the case]
* [http://www.eff.org/IP/Emulation/Blizzard_v_bnetd/ EFF page on case]

{{Vivendi}}
{{Blizzard Entertainment}}

[[Category:Video game publishers]]
[[Category:Video game developers]]
[[Category:Blizzard Entertainment]]
[[Category:United States video game companies]]
[[Category:Companies based in Irvine, California]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1991]]

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Revision as of 05:37, 13 October 2008

Blizzard Entertainment
Company typeSubsidiary of Activision Blizzard
IndustryComputer and video game industry
Founded1991 (as Silicon & Synapse)
FounderMichael Morhaime Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersIrvine, California, USA.[1]
Key people
Michael Morhaime (president and co-founder)
Frank Pearce (vice president and co-founder)
Rob Pardo (vice president)
Chris Metzen (vice president of Creative Development)
ProductsThe Warcraft series
The StarCraft series
The Diablo series
RevenueIncrease $1.1 Billion [citation needed]
Number of employees
2,700[2]
ParentFrance Vivendi
Websitewww.blizzard.com

Blizzard Entertainment is an American video game developer and publisher headquartered in Irvine, California.[1] It is a division of Activision Blizzard. Blizzard is probably best known for its successful multiplayer online roleplaying game, World of Warcraft. They also created several games including the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo series.

History

Blizzard Entertainment was founded by Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce as Silicon & Synapse in February 1991, a year after[3] all three had received their bachelor's degrees from UCLA.[4][3] In the early days the company focused on creating game ports for other studios. Ports include titles such as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I and Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess.[5][6] In 1993, the company developed games like Rock N' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings (published by Interplay Productions). In 1994, the company briefly changed its name to Chaos Studios, before finally settling on Blizzard Entertainment after it was discovered that another company with the Chaos name already existed. That same year, they were acquired by distributor Davidson & Associates for under $10 million. Shortly thereafter, Blizzard shipped their breakthrough hit Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.

Blizzard has changed hands several times since then: Davidson was acquired along with Sierra On-Line by a company called CUC International in 1996; CUC then merged with a hotel, real-estate, and car-rental franchiser called HFS Corporation to form Cendant in 1997. In 1998 it became apparent that CUC had engaged in accounting fraud for years before the merger; Cendant's stock lost 80% of its value over the next six months in the ensuing widely discussed accounting scandal. The company sold its consumer software operations, Sierra On-line which included Blizzard, to French publisher Havas in 1998, the same year Havas was purchased by Vivendi. Blizzard was part of the Vivendi Games group of Vivendi. In July 2008 Vivendi Games merged with Activision, using Blizzard's name in the resulting company, Activision Blizzard.

In 1996, Blizzard acquired Condor Games, which had been working on the game Diablo for Blizzard at the time. Condor was renamed Blizzard North, and has since developed hit games Diablo, Diablo II, and its expansion pack Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. Blizzard North was located in San Mateo, California.

Blizzard launched their online gaming service Battle.net in January 1997 with the release of their action-RPG Diablo. In 2002, Blizzard was able to reacquire rights for three of its earlier Silicon & Synapse titles from Interplay Entertainment and re-release them under Game Boy Advance.[7] In 2004, Blizzard opened European offices in the Paris suburb of Vélizy, Yvelines, France, responsible for the European in-game support of World of Warcraft. On November 23, 2004, Blizzard released World of Warcraft, its MMORPG offering. On May 16, 2005, Blizzard announced the acquisition of Swingin' Ape Studios, a console game developer which had been developing StarCraft: Ghost. The company was then merged into Blizzard's other teams after StarCraft: Ghost was 'postponed indefinitely'. On August 1, 2005, Blizzard announced the consolidation of Blizzard North into the headquarters at 131 Theory in UC Irvine's University Research Park in Irvine, California.

In 2008, Blizzard was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for the creation of World of Warcraft. Mike Morhaime accepted the award.

Titles

Game Name Release Year Genre
RPM Racing[5] 1991 racing game
Battle Chess (Windows and Commodore 64 ports)[8] 1992 chess
Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess (Amiga port)[8] 1992 puzzle game
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I (Amiga port)[8] 1992 role-playing game
Castles (Amiga port)[5] 1992 strategy
MicroLeague Baseball (Amiga port)[5] 1992 sport
Lexi-Cross (Macintosh port)[5] 1992 game show
Dvorak on Typing (Macintosh port)[5] 1992 education
The Lost Vikings[9] 1992 platform game
Rock N' Roll Racing[9] 1993 racing game
Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye[8] 1994 mahjong solitaire
Blackthorne[9] 1994 cinematic platform game
The Death and Return of Superman[9] 1994 side-scrolling beat 'em up
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans 1994 fantasy real-time strategy game
The Lost Vikings II 1995 platform game
Justice League Task Force[10] 1995 fighting game
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness 1995 fantasy real-time strategy game
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal 1996 expansion pack
Diablo 1996 action-oriented fantasy role-playing game
StarCraft 1998 science fiction real-time strategy game
StarCraft: Brood War 1998 expansion pack
Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition 1999 fantasy real-time strategy game
Diablo II 2000 action-oriented fantasy role-playing game
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction 2001 expansion pack
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos 2002 fantasy real-time strategy game
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne 2003 expansion pack
World of Warcraft 2004 MMORPG set in the Warcraft universe.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade 2007 expansion pack
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King 2008 expansion pack
StarCraft II (Wings of Liberty)[11] under development
StarCraft II (Heart of the Swarm) under development
StarCraft II (Legacy of the Void) under development
Diablo III[12][13] under development action-oriented fantasy role-playing game
An unannounced next-gen MMO[14] under development MMO
StarCraft: Ghost indefinitely postponed third-person shooter

Notable unreleased titles include Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, which was cancelled on May 22, 1998, Shattered Nations, and StarCraft: Ghost, which was "indefinitely postponed" on March 24, 2006 after being in development hell for much of its lifespan, and whose current status is in question. The company also has a history of declining to set release dates, generally saying their products are "done when it's done."[15]

Pax Imperia II was originally announced as a title to be published by Blizzard. Blizzard eventually dropped Pax Imperia II, though, when it decided it might be in conflict with their other space strategy project, the now-legendary StarCraft. THQ eventually contracted with Heliotrope and released the game in 1997 as Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain.

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that they will be producing a Warcraft live-action movie. The movie will be released by Legendary Pictures.[16]

Former employees

Over the years, some former Blizzard employees have moved on and established gaming companies of their own:

Controversies

Battle.net

Main article: Battle.net

Battle.net is an online gaming service used for its games Diablo, Starcraft, Starcraft: Brood War, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition, Warcraft III, and Warcraft III Expansion Set: The Frozen Throne. It was released in January 1997 coinciding with the release of Diablo. It functions as a way to play over the Internet, featuring cooperative and player-versus-player game playing, a game matchmaking system, and online chat among other features. Battle.net is free, and only requires an Internet connection and account registration in order to use.

A group of gamers reverse engineered the network protocol used by Battle.net and Blizzard games, and released a free (under the GNU GPL) Battle.net emulation package called bnetd. With bnetd, a gamer is not required to use the official Battle.net servers to play Blizzard games.

In February 2002, lawyers retained by Blizzard threatened legal action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against the developers of bnetd. Blizzard games are designed to operate online exclusively with a set of Blizzard-controlled servers collectively known as "Battle.net". Battle.net servers include a CD key check as a means of preventing software piracy.

Despite offers from the bnetd developers to integrate Blizzard's CD key checking system into bnetd, Blizzard claims[This quote needs a citation] that the public availability of any such software package facilitates piracy, and moved to have the bnetd project shut down under provisions of the DMCA.[citation needed] As this case is one of the first major test cases for the DMCA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation became involved, for a while negotiations were ongoing to resolve the case without a trial. The negotiations failed however, and Blizzard won the case on all counts: the defendants were ruled to have breached both StarCraft's End User License Agreement (EULA) and the Terms of Use of Battle.net.[citation needed]

This decision was appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also ruled in favor of Blizzard/Vivendi on September 1, 2005.

Warden Client

Main article: Warden (software)

Blizzard has made use of a special form of software known as the 'Warden Client'. When running, the client scans an individual's computer in order to verify compliance with the EULA/TOS. The Warden client is known to be used with Blizzard's World of Warcraft online game, and all players consent, via the EULA and terms of use, to the Warden software performing these scans while World of Warcraft is running.[25]

The Warden client scans the process names, window titles, and a small portion of the code segment of running processes in order to determine whether any of these third-party programs are running. This determination is made by hashing the scanned strings and comparing the hashed value to a list of hashes assumed to correspond to cheat programs.[26] The Warden scans all processes running on a computer, not just the World of Warcraft game, and could possibly run across what would be considered private information and other personally identifiable information. It is because of these peripheral scans that Warden has been accused of being spyware and has run afoul of controversy among privacy advocates.[27][28][29]

The Warden's reliability in correctly discerning legitimate vs illegitimate actions has been called into question due to actions Blizzard has taken regarding the information gathered by Warden. Most notably, that it appears that many players are reported as violating the EULA/TOS by the program, and subsequently banned, when in fact they are not cheating. A large scale incident happened when many Linux users were banned after an update to Warden caused it to incorrectly detect Cedega as a cheat program.[30] Blizzard issued a statement claiming they had correctly identified and restored all accounts and credited them with 20 days play.[31] Blizzard has regularly stated that the Warden sends no information, only a violation flag, to the home server. However, without specific information, having been sent by the Warden software initially, it would have been impossible for Blizzard to discern Cedega users from actual violators.[32]

The Warden is not the first time Blizzard Entertainment has attempted to look at their customer's computers. In 1998 Blizzard Entertainment had a class action lawsuit filed against them for "unlawful business practices" for the action of collecting data from a user's computer without their permission.[33]

FreeCraft

Main article: Stratagus

On June 20, 2003, Blizzard issued a cease and desist letter to the developers of an open source clone of the Warcraft engine called FreeCraft, claiming trademark infringement. This hobby project had the same gameplay and characters as Warcraft II, but came with different graphics and music.

As well as a similar name, FreeCraft enabled gamers to use Warcraft II graphics, provided they had the Warcraft II CD. The programmers of the clone shut down their site without challenge. Soon after that the developers regrouped to continue the work by the name of Stratagus.

Blizzard Account

Blizzard released its Blizzard Account system in 2008. This service allows people who have purchased Blizzard Products (particularly StarCraft, Diablo II, and WarCraft III and their expansions), to download games they have purchased, without needing the CD. Soon, it will store a player's "Blizzard Level" (similar to a Gamerscore), when World of WarCraft's Achievement Points get added to the system, and expanded with future Blizzard titles, like StarCraft II and Diablo III.[34]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blizzard Entertainment.

References

  1. ^ a b "Company Profile". Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
  2. ^ Brandon Sheffield (2007-07-13). "E3 Exclusive: Blizzard Establishes Third Team, New Game Expected". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-07-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b M. Abraham (2006-11-06). "UCLA Engineering Celebrates Accomplishments at Annual Awards Dinner". UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  4. ^ "Blizzard Entertainment 10th Anniversary Celebration". Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Blizzard Timeline". Blizzard Entertainment. {{cite web}}: |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
  6. ^ "Ported by Blizzard Entertainment Inc". Mobygames.
  7. ^ Morhaime, Mike (2002-11-22). "Blizzard Insider" (url) (Interview). Interviewed by Blizzard Insider. Retrieved 2007-06-23. {{cite interview}}: More than one of |subject= and |last= specified (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c d "A Decade of Blizzard". IGN. 2001-02-01. Retrieved 2008-07-07. Commodore 64 Battle Chess, Windows Battle Chess, Amiga Battle Chess II, Amiga Lord of the Rings, and Windows Shanghai were some of our early projects.
  9. ^ a b c d "Company Profile". Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-07-07. Prior to the release of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Blizzard served as a third-party developer, creating entertainment software for various platforms, including DOS, Macintosh, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo. The company's best-known titles from this era include Rock 'n Roll Racing, The Lost Vikings, Blackthorne, and The Death and Return of Superman.
  10. ^ "Blizzard North: Condor and Diablo". Blizzard Entertainment.
  11. ^ Ocampo, Jason (October 10, 2008). "Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Worldwide Invitaional 2008
  13. ^ http://us.media.blizzard.com/232309/_images/en-US/splash.swf
  14. ^ http://pc.ign.com/articles/841/841058p1.html
  15. ^ GamePro Staff (2006-08-29). "GamePro Q&A: Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan on The Burning Crusade". GamePro. Retrieved 2006-09-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Blizzard Entertainment - Press Release". 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2006-08-31.
  17. ^ About Flagship Studios
  18. ^ ArenaNet
  19. ^ About Ready At Dawn Studios
  20. ^ Red 5 Studios
  21. ^ About Castaway Entertainment
  22. ^ Click Entertainment
  23. ^ Carbine Studios
  24. ^ "Austin GDC 2008 Speaker List".
  25. ^ WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use
  26. ^ rootkit.com
  27. ^ WoW's Warden stirs controversy - news - play™
  28. ^ Definitions and Supporting Documents
  29. ^ Look! what is Blizzard doing on your pc? - MMOsite News Center
  30. ^ Linux Users Banned From World of Warcraft? | Linuxlookup
  31. ^ Blizzard Unbans Linux World of Warcraft Players | Linuxlookup
  32. ^ http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=blizzard-archive&t=33&p=1&tmp=1#post33
  33. ^ Errata: Blizzard Entertainment
  34. ^ http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/01/blizzard-accounts-achievements/

External links

Company & Corporate

The Bnetd case

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