Warcraft veteran Chris Metzen returns to Blizzard to work on World of Warcraft

Chris Metzen is returning to Blizzard Entertainment to work on this World of Warcraft, Warcraft CEO John Hight

announced Thursday. Metzen was one of the lead creators of the Warcraft franchise and wrote much of the lore and world-building behind the original real-time strategy games. Metzen continued to direct creative projects World of Warcraft until his retirement in 2016 as senior vice president of story and franchise development.

Now Metzen will act as creative advisor world of warcraft, with future contributions to other games in the franchise.

In a statement posted to Blizzard’s website, Hight wrote:

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Chris Metzen has joined the Warcraft Leadership Team as a Creative Advisor. Chris’ focus will initially be on World of Warcraft, then his work will expand to other projects in this growing franchise.

Chris was one of the original team members working on the early days of the Warcraft universe in 1994, and we’re thrilled to reunite him with the world he helped create.

Metzen has helped develop several of the game’s most iconic races, from the classic Orcs and Humans to the (relatively) newer Forsaken and Night Elves. He also serves as the voice for Thrall, longtime orc warchief and figurehead of the Horde. After retiring in 2016, Metzen worked with Mike Gilmartin on a tabletop role-playing game called Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent.

World of Warcraft has experienced ups and downs since Metzen’s departure. The story of Sylvanas that caught on Battle for Azeroth

and shadowlands, was largely pushed back from the player base due to narrative inconsistency and mistreatment of beloved characters. The Warcraft games franchise includes the MMO, trading card game Hearthstoneand the upcoming mobile game Arclight Rumble.

Blizzard has also experienced significant cultural upheaval, with lawsuits from former employees and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging sexual harassment and discrimination against the developer in a court case. Metzen, along with other senior alums like Mike Morhaime, apologized in 2021 for “the role I played in a culture that fostered harassment, inequality and indifference.”