Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard Entertainment is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. It also operates Battle.net, an online gaming service. Its other online multiplayer games include Hearthstone, a collectible card game, and Heroes of the Storm, a battle arena game.

Blizzard was founded as Silicon & Synapse in February 1991 by Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce. All three had earned bachelor's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles. It took the name Blizzard Entertainment by May 1994. Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023, and Blizzard is part of the larger Xbox division.

Blizzard Entertainment became part of Vivendi Games in 1998. Its staff grew from around 400 employees in 2004 to 1600 by 2006.