Blizzard Entertainment (video game developer & publisher)

Origin and founding

Blizzard Entertainment began in February 1991 as Silicon & Synapse, founded by Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce and headquartered in Irvine, California, United States. The studio later took the Blizzard Entertainment name and grew into a major developer and publisher known for franchises such as Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, Overwatch, and the Battle.net online service. (en.wikipedia.org)

Ownership and corporate status

Blizzard operated as an independent studio through the 1990s and became part of larger corporate groups over time; most recently, Activision Blizzard announced and completed a transaction that placed Activision Blizzard (and Blizzard Entertainment within it) into the Microsoft corporate family. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard publicly marked the integration in October 2023, and Microsoft now holds ultimate ownership of Blizzard as part of its gaming businesses. (newsroom.activisionblizzard.com)

Manufacturing / Production footprint

As a developer and digital publisher, Blizzard's primary production and headquarters are in the United States (Irvine, California) but game development, publishing, localization, and live-operations work are performed across multiple studios and partner locations worldwide, so products are produced in multiple countries with the United States as the primary origin. (en.wikipedia.org)

Summary

Blizzard Entertainment is an American-origin video game developer and publisher founded in 1991 (originally Silicon & Synapse) and today is ultimately owned by Microsoft Corporation following the 2023 acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The studio remains headquartered in the United States while development and production work span multiple international locations. (en.wikipedia.org)