Now, however, it appears that Metzen is going to take a long-deserved break from video game design and development to focus on his family and personal life. Metzen announced his retirement internally to Blizzard on Monday before creating a post in the Blizzard forums hours later to explain to his many fans why he’s choosing to step back from the industry at the young age of 42:
Metzen is best known as the man behind the epic stories that characterize Blizzard games, with writing creative and compelling enough to serve as the inspiration for the most successful video game movie of all-time in Warcraft. Although his contributions to the lore of Starcraft and Diablo were no less important, fans will likely remember Metzen most for the hours of writing, plotting, art design and voice acting work he put into World of Warcraft, as he was prominently showcased in a World of Warcraft documentary that reflected on the game’s first ten years of existence.
While Blizzard has yet to make an official statement and there will be no replacing a talent like Metzen, the games he played a pivotal role in creating will still continue on. Blizzard is already hiring for an unannounced Diablo project, while World of Warcraft successfully launched its Legion expansion to rave reviews and is gearing up for its first major patch called “Return to Karazhan”.
For now, however, gamers the world over who have been influenced or inspired by classic Blizzard titles like Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft have to say goodbye to the man who made all of those vibrant universes a reality. Although it might be difficult to imagine those worlds without Metzen’s touch, he’s given 22 years of his own life breathing some into 2D or 3D animations, and there are few figures in gaming who have earned a peaceful retirement as much as he has.
Source: Official Blizzard Forums (via Business Insider)
