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Blizzard North

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blizzard North
FormerlyCondor
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1993
Founders
Defunct2005
Headquarters
San Mateo, California
,
U.S.
ProductsJustice League Task Force, Diablo, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Websitewww.blizzard.com

Blizzard North (formerly known as Condor) was an American video game development studio based in San Mateo, California. The studio was the Bay Area division of Blizzard Entertainment, and it was known for the Diablo series. The company was originally based in Redwood City, California, always serving as the northern counterpart to Blizzard Entertainment's main development studio in Irvine, California. In 2005, Blizzard North was closed to reallocate its staff to the development of World of Warcraft.

History

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Blizzard North was founded in 1993 under the name Condor by David Brevik, Erich Schaefer, and Max Schaefer. The three met while working at FM Waves, a clip art production studio. Upon the closure of FM Waves, the trio scavenged its equipment to create Brevik's concept of a dungeon crawler game based on Dungeons & Dragons with roguelike gameplay.[1][2] Brevik served as the president of the company between 1993 and 2003, while the Schaefer brothers held the Vice President positions.

The company was purchased and renamed as Blizzard North by Blizzard Entertainment's former owner Davidson & Associates about nine months before the release of their hit PC game Diablo in 1997.[3][4] However, Blizzard North had complete autonomy from Blizzard Entertainment while David Brevik and the Schaefer brothers continued to manage the company respectively as the President and Vice Presidents.[5] Diablo was highly successful, and its 2000 sequel Diablo II even more so. An expansion pack, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, followed the year after.

Upon the 2001 completion of Diablo II and its expansion content, Blizzard North split its development staff between Diablo III and a Diablo-like game set in space, dubbed Starblo by the studio. In June 2003, Blizzard North executives Bill Roper, Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik emailed Blizzard Entertainment's then-parent company, Vivendi Games, threatening to resign unless provided financial protections and communication on Vivendi's intent to sell Blizzard. Vivendi accepted their resignations effective immediately, spurring them to found Flagship Studios and recruit similarly disgruntled Blizzard North employees.[1]

In August 2005, Blizzard Entertainment closed Blizzard North, claiming that its headquarters in Irvine, California, was struggling to supervise this secondary studio's troubled development of Diablo III.[6] Blizzard North employees were offered the chance to interview for positions in Southern California supporting the development of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the first expansion to the company's MMORPG, whose success had far outpaced the Diablo series in sales.[1]

A few employees from the Diablo team, including Eric Sexton, Michio Okamura, and Steven Woo, launched a new company, Hyboreal Games.[7]

Castaway Entertainment

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Castaway Entertainment was established by former employees of Blizzard North, and was also based in Redwood City, California. The company signed a publishing agreement with Electronic Arts in March 2004,[8][9][10] but had yet to produce any products for that publisher when it was shut down in 2008.[11]

Former Blizzard North members who joined the studio include Michael Scandizzo, Stefan Scandizzo, Alan Ackerman, Steven Woo, Rick Seis,[12] Ted Bisson, Bruno Bowden, Peter Brevik, Michael Huang, Kelly Johnson (artist), Michio Okamura, Tom Ricket (also known as Sluggy Freelance's Shirt Guy Tom), and Fredrick Vaught (after whom the Halls of Vaught in Diablo II were named).

Other notable employees include game designer Bill Dunn and art director Rick Macaraeg.

On April 4, 2008, Michael Scandizzo announced that Castaway was suspending operations due to financial problems.[13][14]

Moon Beast Productions

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Moon Beast Productions, founded circa 2023 by industry veterans from Blizzard North, is an independent game development studio dedicated to revitalizing the action role-playing game (ARPG) genre. With decades of experience from iconic titles like Diablo, Diablo II, and Torchlight, the team at Moon Beast Productions aims to innovate and expand upon traditional ARPG mechanics. Key Blizzard North staff members, including Erich Schaefer, Peter Hu and Phil Shenk, are part of this new venture. Their upcoming projects promise to introduce new gameplay elements and user-generated content, offering fresh and dynamic experiences for players.

Games

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As Condor

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As Blizzard North

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As Castaway Entertainment

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Cancelled

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Schreier, Jason (October 2024). Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. New York City: Grand Central Publishing. pp. 32–43, 68–75, 110–112. ISBN 9781538725429.
  2. ^ "Indie Insider Podcast with David Brevik".
  3. ^ "Davidson & Associates, Inc. Signs a Definitive Merger Agreement With Condor, Inc". PR Newswire. 1996-03-06. Retrieved 2009-09-28.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Merger Madness Continues". GamePro. No. 94. IDG. July 1996. p. 16. Condor's name will change to Blizzard North as it finishes up Diablo, an eagerly awaited RPG due next month.
  5. ^ "Escapist Magazine - The Rise of Blizzard".
  6. ^ Fahey, Rob (3 August 2005). "Blizzard North shut down; Diablo team moves to Irvine". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
  7. ^ Hyboreal Games Q&A - Shacknews - PC Games, PlayStation, Xbox 360 and Wii video game news, previews and downloads Archived October 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Electronic Arts Signs Publishing Agreement with Castaway Entertainment". www.businesswire.com. 2004-03-22. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  9. ^ "EA signs deal with Castaway Entertainment". GameSpot. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  10. ^ EA in Agreement with Castaway - IGN, 22 March 2004, retrieved 2020-01-28
  11. ^ "Castaway Entertainment shipwrecked, suspends operations". Engadget. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  12. ^ "New Hires at Castaway Entertainment". GamesIndustry.biz. 2005-09-07. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  13. ^ Castaway sends out SOS
  14. ^ Geddes, Ryan (2008-04-08). "Castaway to Close its Doors". IGN. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  15. ^ "Blizzard considered "Diablo Junior" for GBC/GBA". 12 October 2012.
  16. ^ "Diablo Junior for Game Boy Color". 15 October 2012.
  17. ^ Brevik, David (11 May 2016). "Diablo: A Classic Game Postmortem". Game Developers Conference (conference talk). 30 minutes in. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 6 January 2019 – via YouTube.
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