Skip to content
CGMagazine
  • News
  • ArticlesExpand
    • Buyers Guides
    • Features
    • Interviews
    • Previews
    • Spotlight
    • The Vault
  • ReviewsExpand
    • Game Reviews
    • Comic Reviews
    • Anime Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • Tabletop Reviews
    • Hardware Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • TV Reviews
  • Guides
  • Magazine
  • MediaExpand
    • Podcasts
    • Video
    • Sound Off
    • First Fifteen
    • Weekly Goods
    • Video Interviews
    • Video Reviews
  • Store
  • Newswire
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
CGMagazine
Hearthstone Director Ben Brode Leaves Blizzard to "Start a New Company" 1

Hearthstone Director Ben Brode Leaves Blizzard to “Start a New Company”

  • Joe DeClara Joe DeClara
  • April 20, 2018
  • 2 Minute Read

Hearthstone’s game director Ben Brode has announced that, after nearly ten years of working on the card-collecting game, he is leaving Blizzard to “help start a new company.”

“After 15 years at Blizzard and almost 10 years working on Hearthstone, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to embark on a new journey,” Brode said in a forum post on Battle.net. Later in the post, Brode also alludes to what’s next for him and this new company he’s helping start up.

“I am very fortunate to be able to take a crazy risk right now in my life, and I’m excited to be scrappy and a little scared. I’m going to help start a new company. We’ll probably make games, but we haven’t figured anything else out, yet. I’m looking forward to designing, programming, and actually creating things again.”

Brode Joined the Hearthstone team, called Team 5, back in 2008, having climbed the ranks within Blizzard from lowly “Night Crew Game Tester” at age 20. He would eventually go on to become the director of the hit card game, which officially launched back in 2014. Brode earned a reputation as the charismatic face of Hearthstone’s team; while he was always the first to respond to fans’ concerns and criticisms on platforms like Reddit and Twitter, he also became well-known for appearing in wacky YouTube videos—like last month’s The Witchwood reveal video—and writing rap songs about Hearthstone.

Brode’s move from a head position at a large-scale game studio (Team 5 consists of 80+ developers) to a “scrappy,” “new company” is a familiar trend in the games industry. Last year, we heard from Ken Levine, creator of the Bioshock series, on how his next, smaller game will compare to his AAA works. Josh Holmes, ex-director of the Halo games at 343 Industries, announced a few years back that he would be pursuing independent game development.

Last week, we got a chance to speak with Brode at PAX East about Hearthstone’s most recent expansion, The Witchwood, and how the Hearthstone team managed to include “the most challenging card to implement of all time.”


Liked this article and want to read more like it? Check out  Zubi Khan’s Blizzard Gamescom 2017 Rundown!

Want to see more videos? Subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out the First 15: Fe, Monster Hunter World Beta: the Insatiable Nergigante, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT,  Star Wars Battlefront II, Sonic Forces + Episode Shadow, and  Super Mario Odyssey!

Don’t forget to tune in every Friday the Pixels & Ink Podcast to hear the latest news, previews, and in-depth game discussions!

Never miss when new CGM articles go out by following us on Twitter and Facebook!

CGMagazine is Canada’s premiere comics and gaming magazine. Subscribe today to get the best of CGM delivered right to your door! Never miss when a new issue goes live by subscribing to our newsletter! Signing up gives you exclusive entry into our contest pool. Sign up once, you’ll have a chance to win! Sign up today!

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on reddit
Joe DeClara

Joe DeClara

All Articles

Must Read

Samsung Reveals Galaxy S21 Lineup at Unpacked 2021 5

Samsung Reveals Galaxy S21 Lineup at Unpacked 2021

ASUS ROG Line Expands With RTX 30 Series and 11th Gen Intel CPUs 12

ASUS ROG Line Expands With RTX 30 Series and 11th Gen Intel CPUs

Star Wars Open World Game In Development With Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment

Star Wars Open World Game In Development With Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment

MORE FROM Joe DeClara

PlayStation Unveils New DualSense Controller 2

Report: PS5 Will Have Limited Units And Hefty Price At Launch

Auto Draft 333

What the New PS5 and Xbox Controllers Mean for Next-Gen

Sky Racket (Switch) Review

Sky Racket (Switch) Review

Below Coming to PS4 With Easier Mode

Below Coming to PS4 With Easier “Explore” Mode

CGMagazine Logo

Advertise with us
Jobs @ CGMagazine
© 2020 CGMagazine Publishing Group

Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Linkedin
Instagram
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Policies
  • Jobs
  • Contests
  • CNW News
Menu
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Policies
  • Jobs
  • Contests
  • CNW News
  • News
  • Articles
    • Buyers Guides
    • Features
    • Interviews
    • Previews
    • Spotlight
    • The Vault
  • Reviews
    • Game Reviews
    • Comic Reviews
    • Anime Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • Tabletop Reviews
    • Hardware Reviews
    • Music Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • TV Reviews
  • Guides
  • Magazine
  • Media
    • Podcasts
    • Video
    • Sound Off
    • First Fifteen
    • Weekly Goods
    • Video Interviews
    • Video Reviews
  • Store
  • Newswire
Search