Looks like there’s a changing of the guard over at Activision Blizzard: The company just announced that World of Warcraft Executive Producer J. Allen Brack is taking over from Mike Morhaime as president of Blizzard. Morhaime will remain with the company as a “strategic advisor.” There’s a bit more to the leadership shift too, as Allen Adham and Ray Gresko have been appointed to the company’s “executive leadership team.”
Here’s the whole press release, complete with quotes from Actiblizz CEO Bobby Kotick.
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the appointment of Blizzard veteran and World of Warcraft® Executive Producer J. Allen Brack as the new president of Blizzard Entertainment succeeding Mike Morhaime, who will remain a strategic advisor to the company. The company also announced the appointments of Chief Development Officer Ray Gresko and Blizzard Founder Allen Adham to Blizzard’s executive leadership team.
“J. has been with Blizzard for over 12 years leading the World of Warcraft team, and it takes vision, creativity and unwavering commitment to excellence to sustain a community of players the way J. has for over a decade,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “J. is an inspiring leader. He has shown unwavering commitment to our community, to innovation and creative excellence and he cares deeply about ensuring the very best of Blizzard culture will be protected.”
“I am also excited to have Allen Adham, Blizzard’s founder, who rejoined the company two years ago and Ray Gresko, Blizzard’s Chief Development Officer, join Blizzard’s executive leadership team. I have known both Allen and Ray for more than 25 years and they are two of the most capable entrepreneurs in the game industry. They will help make certain that inspiration and creativity remains the focus of Blizzard,” said Kotick.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to serve as Blizzard’s next president, and to lead one of the best entertainment companies in the world, thanks to the passion and dedication of our player community and employees,” said J. Allen Brack, president, Blizzard Entertainment. “Blizzard was founded on the promise of making great games, and I plan to continue this fierce commitment to quality, our community, and our purpose. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s next given the strength of our pipeline.”
“Thanks to Mike Morhaime’s wonderful stewardship and masterful job of building a truly extraordinary team, epic games and a global community of beloved players, Blizzard is one of the very best game companies in the world,” Kotick added.
“I want to thank all of the talented and hardworking people at Blizzard for their dedication, creativity and passion. It has been a privilege to lead this team. I’m also very grateful to Blizzard‘s player community for their support,” said Mike Morhaime.
Brack, MMORPG players will recall, has been spearheading the WoW Classic effort. Should make for an even more interesting BlizzCon, yeah?
