It turns out that World of Warcraft’s narrative director left Blizzard last November and no one said anything about it. No, that doesn’t mean fans or even the company failed to notice; it just means that no big announcements were made then or even now. Fans just happened to catch that Steve Danuser’s LinkedIn page reflects that he departed the company around the same that former-and-now-current Blizzard narrative head honcho Chris Metzen got his promotion.
According to Danuser himself, Metzen’s return had nothing to do with his departure; he simply disagreed with the company’s aggressive return-to-office policy and wanted to do something else after eight years. He hasn’t announced any future plans at this time.
Danuser’s time running WoW’s narrative side was controversial, to say the least. While he can be credited with several stories that were largely well-received such as the Legion order hall stories and the N’Zoth whispers, his most controversial decisions come back to the treatment of Sylvanas Windrunner as well as her explicit romantic relationship with Nathanos Blightcaller. Given that her hard villainous turn and ultimate fate are both what the majority of fans remember about him, most WoW fans will be unlikely to mourn his departure from the game, but it is unusual that his exit was marked with a distinct lack of fanfare.
