Blizzard has released a long and immensely entertaining video retrospective that traces the company from its earliest days as Silicon & Synapse to StarCraft 2 and beyond.
Blizzard is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month and to mark the occasion, the company has put together a 48-minute look back at its long and storied history. And it’s not just a dull recitation of facts and high-water marks; it’s a much more intimate look at a company that in the span of two decades grew from a shoestring operation that survived on credit card cash advances to one of the most dominant forces in the videogame industry
You’ll learn about things like the Jawa Wall; about how Blizzard almost wound up as a division of Interplay; about the contortions involved in changing the name from Silicon & Synapse to Blizzard Entertainment; and about how Frank Pearce makes a really cute little receptionist. The video touches on the company’s history with titles like Rock & Roll Racing, The Lost Vikings and Blackthorne before settling down to talk more in-depth about the Warcraft and StarCraft franchises. Surprisingly little is said about Diablo, however, beyond its early concept as a turn-based, claymation RPG.
It’s a long video, but a lot of fun to watch and completely worth the time. If you’re any kind of Blizzard fan, you won’t want to miss it.
