Blizzard has announced that Chris Metzen, a veteran Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo designer, has returned to the company as a creative advisor after several years away.
In a post on the World of Warcraft website, Warcraft general manager John Hight said “It is with great joy that I announce Chris Metzen has joined the Warcraft Leadership Team as Creative Advisor. Chris’s focus initially will be on World of Warcraft, then his work will expand to other projects across this growing franchise.
— John Hight (@JHight_Gamer) December 15, 2022
“Chris was one of the original team members working on the Warcraft universe back when it began in 1994, and we are so happy to be reuniting him with the world he helped create.”
Metzen left Blizzard in 2016 after an almost 23-year career with the company. He was instrumental in the creation of the Warcraft universe back in the mid-90s, and has since served as creative director on numerous Blizzard projects, including his well-respected tenure as lead and writer on Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. He was also the creator of Overwatch’s Soldier 76, and is known by fans as the voice of Thrall, one of Warcraft’s most important orc characters.
After leaving Blizzard, Metzen set up tabletop gaming company Warchief Gaming in 2020, which last year launched its first project, Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent.
Metzen’s return to Blizzard sees him reunited with the universe he created as a creative advisor. While the job initially sees him advising the World of Warcraft team, he’ll eventually expand to help other projects in the franchise (presumably Hearthstone.)
World of Warcraft has just expanded again with Dragonflight, which we described as “a sharply-written and breathtaking experience for the first few dozen hours, but suffers from somewhat threadbare endgame options” in our review.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.