Allen: The Early Years

In 1991, Allen Adham had a dream to make games for a living. He convinced his two friends - Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce - to join him in this risky endeavor, founding Silicon & Synapse. In the early years, no one had any idea that Silicon & Synapse would become a leader in the industry. Back then, all anyone wanted to do was just make great games.

Bob: StarCraft!

In 1991, no one knew that Blizzard would continue its run of success. First Warcraft II and then Diablo blew out all expectations. Programmer Bob Fitch was working on the next game that would make or break Blizzard's tradition of winners. That game was called StarCraft, and although it started out as "Warcraft in space," it ended up being much more.

Mike: Growing Up

Silicon & Synapse's first original games in 1993 - Rock 'n Roll Racing and Lost Vikings - were instant hits, but the next year, in 1994, the company experienced some unexpected changes. Silicon & Synapse changed its name to Blizzard, but more importantly, Mike Morhaime and Allen Adham had to decide whether they wanted to give up their independence and sell their company to educational software maker Davidson & Associates

Frank: Warcraft!

By late 1994, Blizzard was ready to publish its first game: Warcraft. A year later, Blizzard followed that up with the sequel, Warcraft II. With the release of these two games, Blizzard joined the ranks of the elite game makers and helped create an entirely new genre of games. Frank Pearce, who today is leading the development of the long-awaited sequel, Warcraft III, had a unique chance to witness the rise of Warcraft from its humble beginnings to its position today as one of gaming's most beloved franchises.

Blizzard North: Condor and Diablo

After the successes of Warcraft and Warcraft II, Blizzard wanted to branch out into new game worlds. At the same time, Condor, a company founded by David Brevik, Max Schaefer, and Erich Schaefer, was pitching a game called Diablo. The subsequent merging of the two companies resulted in the creation of Blizzard North and the Diablo franchise.

Samwise: That Blizzard Magic

Every game since Warcraft has had a certain magic quality to it that has ensured its success. It's hard to describe that Blizzard magic. It's in the look of the games, the humor, and the polish. Samwise Didier, the art director of Blizzard, is responsible for the unique, cartoon-like look of many Blizzard games, and even he is hard-pressed to quantify the Blizzard magic. But it exists, and it's undeniably a part of every game that Blizzard creates.

Stu: Blizzard's International Success

By 1998, Blizzard had succeeded in earning the respect of gamers across the United States. The company was beginning to understand the importance of worldwide markets and became committed to earning the trust and loyalty of customers abroad. Stu Rose, one of the earliest Silicon & Synapse artists, saw firsthand just how Blizzard extended its impressive success to global proportions.

Joeyray: Blizzard Movie-Making

At the same time that Blizzard was raising the bar in strategy games, the newly formed Blizzard Film Department was raising the bar in computer game cut scenes. Blizzard legitimized the intermission cut scene and took movie making in computer games to a whole new level. Joeyray Hall, who joined Blizzard as an artist and moved to making game movies, was there when Blizzard set its sights on raising the industry bar on game cut scenes.