LogInSamwise Didier, one of the creators of the visual style of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo, has left Blizzard after 32 years of work.
Samwise Didier announced his departure from Blizzard on his Twitter account. He did not disclose his plans for the future.
Didier is one of the most well-known game artists. He began his career at Blizzard in 1991 when the company was still known as Silicon & Synapse. Didier acted as the lead art director for each game in Blizzard's major franchises. He became one of the creators of the distinctive cartoonish art style of the company's games, including Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo.
Image credit: Samwise Didier
"Today is a huge day for me and I wanted to share the news with you all. I am retiring from my beloved Blizzard Entertainment, and today will be my last day. Now most kids I know move out of the home when they are 18, (well, maybe not these days). For me, it took me damn near double that! It is inspiring and intimidating all at the same time.
Blizzard was never just a job for me. I joined the company in 1991 and it immediately became my second home. I found out I had family that I didn't even know I had! I grew up there. I learned almost everything I know about art there. I learned how to use a company (I know knew Atari 2600 and Nintendo), I learned how to use Photoshop, I learned how to create UI and make thousands of buttons. I learned how to create 3D models of my art, how to texture and animate them, and even make them shoot fireballs or lasers. I got see my art come to life! Hell, I even joined my first band at Blizzard. And to top it all off, I got to work on some of the greatest games this here ol' world has ever known. Thank you Blizzard, for everything."
Samwise Didier
Replying to the announcement, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra said the artist's talent helped build Blizzard’s signature art style. "I know many of our artists have learned so much from you over the years. Thanks for what you did for them, and for gamers and artists everywhere,” wrote Ybarra.
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