Over the past weekend of BlizzCon news, you might have heard someone exclaim, “Oh my goodness, Allen Adham has come back to Blizzard!” This sentiment was quickly followed by someone else saying, “Awesome! Who?”
Don’t feel embarrassed if you are unfamiliar with Adham. He is the lesser-known original founder of the company who first roped in Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce to make games back in the early 1990s (Pearce in particular has been adamant in multiple interviews that Adham isn’t a co-founder but the founder). Adham remained involved with the company over the next decade, taking on the lead designer role for World of Warcraft in 2000. However, burnout set in, and a desire to be with his family led to Adham’s departure from Blizzard in 2004 before the MMORPG launched.
After 12 years away from Blizzard, Adham met with Morhaime and both men expressed a desire for Adham to rejoin the studio he helped to create as a senior vice president. Considering how many big and notable names have left Blizzard over the past few years, such as Rob Pardo and Chris Metzen, it’s at least a nice shot of publicity to be able to boast of one returning studio giant.
