Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment Inc. is a video game developing and publishing company based in Irvine, California. The company was founded on February 8, 1991 by three UCLA graduates. They are most famous for creating the Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo computer game series', as well as the world famous MMORPG World of Warcraft.

Background Information

Blizzard Entertainment began as a company under the name "Silicon & Synapse" founded in February of 1991 by Allen Adham, Michael Morhaime, and Frank Pearce, all of whom graduated from UCLA.

In 1994, the company established the name "Blizzard" and was acquired by Davidson & Associates.

In 1996, CUC International purchased Davidson & Associates along with Blizzard.

In 1997, CUC International and HFS Corporation merged to form Cendant Software, and a year later, Cendant Software sold Blizzard to Havas, which soon was purchased by Vivendi.

In December of 2007, Vivendi and Activision Publishing Inc. merge, Blizzard becomes part of the company under the name Activision Blizzard.

Games

Blizzard Entertainment has focused on PC games throughout the lifetime of the company. Their first breakthrough game, Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, published in 1994, became the anchor and first of many games in the Warcraft series. Not that long after, Diablo and StarCraft were published and released in 1996 and 1998, respectively. These three games were the beginnings of the three main franchises of Blizzard Entertainment.

Warcraft Series

Beginning with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, the Warcraft series has grown to include three games and three expansion packs:

Year	Title
1994	Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
1995	Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
1996	Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal*
1999	Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition*
2002	Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
2003	Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne*

* denotes game was released as an expansion pack

All seven games in the Warcraft series are real-time strategy (or RTS) games, in which the user collects resources, creates a base, and controls an army. Real-time strategy games rely more on strategy and teamwork than most other types of video games. Warcraft originally began with two races, Orcs and Humans, however in Warcraft III, Blizzard introduced two more races, Night Elf and Undead.

Diablo Series

Diablo was created by Blizzard North, a specific division of Blizzard Entertainment, and released in 1996. It has grown to include three games with a fourth title expected to release soon.

Year	Title
1996	Diablo
2000	Diablo II
2001	Diablo II: Lord of Destruction*
2012**	Diablo III

* denotes game was released as an expansion pack

* denotes expected release date

The Diablo series differs from the StarCraft and Warcraft series as it is a role-playing game, also known as an RPG. Role-playing games allow the user to control a specific character and make decisions regarding the character's actions throughout the length of a story or adventure. Diablo is a dark fantasy themed game in which the player must attempt to rid the world of many evil creatures including Diablo, the Lord of Terror.

StarCraft Series

The original StarCraft game was released in 1998 with an expansion pack which came out later in the same year. The StarCraft series has expanded to three total games with two more in the making:

Year	Title
1998	StarCraft
1998	StarCraft: Brood War*
2010	StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
2012**	StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
2013**	StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void

* denotes game was released as an expansion pack

** denotes expected release date

The StarCraft series is also composed of real-time strategy games, having many similarities to the Warcraft series. There are three major races in StarCraft: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg.