Chris Metzen was only twentie years old when he started working for Blizzard as an animator and an artist back in 1993. Since then he’s gone on to achieve incredible things, by providing voice talent and overseeing the stories for Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft, to becoming the Senior Vice President of Story and Franchise Development at Blizzard.
He’s only 42, but after all these incredible achievements he’s now able to retire completely from the industry, and for good reason; he wants to spend more time with his “wife and three kids, Rest. Lay around on the couch and get fat.”
“I had just turned twenty years old when I started working at Blizzard. Seems like a lifetime ago. Guess it was. Those first few years were the start of a very grand adventure for me, one that would take me around the world, introduce me to thousands of wonderful geeks just like me—and ultimately shape the course of my adult life.” said Metzen in a farewell message posted on the official Battle.net forums.
“For nearly twenty-three years I’ve had the very distinct privilege of shaping worlds and building games with the brightest creative minds in entertainment. I’ve walked with giants (and stood on some giants’ shoulders, too). In short, I’ve had the time of my life.”
“pretty much had the coolest job ever—but the truth is, sometimes it was really hard. Building games with dozens of brilliant, passionate alpha-geeks with their own red-hot instincts and perspectives can be pretty tricky. Coming to consensus about certain design decisions, story motifs, or courses of art direction takes a lot of communication, patience, and “give and take.” It stretches you. Sometimes it wasn’t all that pretty. But engaging with your teammates and collaborating through the potential quagmire of all that creative tension is where the real magic happens.”
“The reason I use the word “retire” is because I’m not going to some other company or starting up new projects or anything remotely like that. It’s been a long, amazing stretch of years. Now it’s time to slow it down. Rest. Lay around on the couch and get fat. Well, fatter…
Seriously though, I’ll be focusing on the one thing that matters most to me in all the world—my family. They’re the core of my life and the source of my deepest joy and inspiration. In addition to raising our two little ones, we recently welcomed our new baby into the family! Being home with them all, having time and space to really live…to love my wife with all my strength…that’s my career now.”</b>
We wish you a happy retirement Chris, good luck with everything in the future and thank you for the games! You can read his full statement here.
