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Archive for the 'Lich King' Tag

Cost of Blizzard staff, development hits Vivendi expenses

March 4th, 2008, 5:20 pm by

Blizzard is still turning high profits on World of Warcraft for parent company Vivendi, but the latest revenues statement shows Blizzard is paying more right now to keep its current employees and to develop the Wrath of the Lich King and StarCraft II.

In Vivendi’s 2007 earnings released, Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy says that the company’s expenses increased because of Blizzard.

Levy said that Blizzard’s “higher compensation costs related to retention plans and by the current development of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and of StarCraft II” meant higher expenses for the company. No specific figures for Blizzard’s expenses were given.

After leaving Blizzard, some workers went on on to create their own gaming companies — including Carbine Studios and Red 5 Studios, both in Orange County.

WoW’s Lich King details

August 3rd, 2007, 3:09 pm by

Wrath of the Lich King

Do I need to elaborate? By now, details of Blizzard’s expansion to WoW — World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King — is everywhere on the Internet.

But in case you missed it:

Just seven months after updating the massively multiplayer game World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled today another expansion to the computer game in front of the 8,000 attendees at BlizzCon. It was standing room only in the Hall A at the Anaheim Convention Center, where there was enough seating for 2,800 people.

Frank Pearce, a Blizzard co-founder, is stunned by BlizzCon’s attendanceCalled World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, the expansion will add 10 more levels of game play so players can work up a sweat getting to the new Level 80.

Frank Pearce, Blizzard’s executive vice president of product development (pictured on right), was man of the hour as he introduced the new game and showed video of the work in progress.

The new expansion unveils Northrend in Azeroth — the icy domain of the Lich King from Warcraft III.

There will be new talents, new player-vs.-player modes, new arenas, new battle grounds and new professions, like “inscription” to enhance a player’s spells and abilities.

There is also a new hero character class, the necromantic Death Knight:

Death Knight Another Death Knight

Rumors had been buzzing for months that the new game being announced at BlizzCon would be another Diablo or a non-Warcraft project from its Blizzard North team, which moved to Orange County a few years ago.

Neil Brasfield, a Warcraft fan, shows up in full troll mage uniformBut Neil Brasfield, a Bay-area resident dressed as a “Troll Mage,” said he’d heard Blizzard was going to update WoW every few years.

“It was quite surprising, but not a shock,” Brasfield said. “But more surprising was the hero class. It had been mentioned a few years ago but we hadn’t heard anything about it since.”

After the speech, the crowds headed to the far back corner of the convention center where Blizzard had 500 computers with a working prototype of the Lich King. Players got 30 minutes to try to get a sense of the new game.

500 computers dedicated to “WoW: Wrath of the Lich King” game play

I’ve posted Blizzard’s Lich King Q&A below…

Read the rest of this entry »

Screenshots from WoW: Wrath of the Lich King,

August 3rd, 2007, 11:30 am by

It’s officially 11:30 a.m. in BlizzCon time. As promised, here are screen shots from the upcoming expansion to World of Warcraft: Warth of the Lich King that was just announced by Blizzard Entertainment.

All images courtesy of Blizzard. Click each shot for a larger look.

Borean Tundra Daggercap Bay Grizzly Hills

Westguard Howling Fjord Howling Fjord (looking from clift)

New Agamand Nifflevar (looking outwards) Nifflevar

Utgarde Keep Valgarde Vengeance Landing

For the latest BlizzCon 2007 updates (and anything you’ve missed), click HERE.

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