blizzard Metzen on Why He Left Blizzard

[Starym 3,801]

 

It came as quite a shock to all of us when Chris Metzen announced he was retiring, not only from Blizzard but from gaming in general. Now, in an interview with Scott Johnson of the Instance podcast, Chris talks about the reasons behind his decision. The whole thing is well worth a listen, but here are some highlights:.

"Leaving Blizzard was an incredibly difficult thing. I'd been there since, essentially, I was a kid. I think I was 19 when I got hired and it was my whole life, it was my identity. And it was in many ways, all-consuming. It was just incredible, but there can be a cost sometimes to running that hard."

As expected, developing Titan and then transforming it into Overwatch was extremely difficult and took its toll.

"I think during those years I burned out really hard. I think in my heart, I needed a change in my life. I wanted to slow down, I wanted to just not carry the weight of it all. But when you've been at a company like Blizzard for as long as I have, I think about Shawshank Redemption: I'm an institutional man now. I'm a Blizzard guy, through and through. I love that place. I love the people. It made me feel schizophrenic."

"I started having panic attacks left and right and just non-stop anxiety. Before I finally retired, I think I had been having panic attacks all the time, but I didn't know what they were. Kat and I would go on dates to go to a movie and almost all the time, I would start panicking in the middle of a movie. I had no idea what was going on."

That and his new born daughter added up to the decision to leave Blizzard and the wider gaming world behind, a decision we can all respect, and, in our own selfish way, be saddened by.

Unfortunately SoundCloud embeds don't seem to be working right now so you can listen to the full interview here.

Via Eurogamer.

[Valhalen 1,486]

I can't start to imagine how stressful it must have been to him. In many ways he was the face of Blizzard, and having to please everyone must be hard, with all the pressure to deliver the quality the clients and the corporation expect. I think he deserves a rest. He left a huge legacy in very capable hands.

[trArchangel 1]

For all interviews for Metzen, this one certainly is the most personal and I am glad to have been a part in being a listener to it. Although sad to see that he left Blizzard I cant see any place than now to best end it with such an epic win. I wish him all the best in retirement and hope to see his name sprawled across any other media he puts himself to.

[greatCraft 29]

pscyh issues can be incredibly intrusive. I would know first hand. poor guy

[asherpen 1]

感谢梅森！

[ghostdeini 12]

Thanks for putting this article  up.  It's really nice to hear from Metzen and I think a lot of people can empathize with him.  The man is a legend and he did a lot for us Blizz fans.

[Donir 8]

Besides not having his problems, I can totally agree with this guy. Go Chris and live your life, it's what matters after all. We miss you but we're happy for you <3

[Darkjester79 47]

I can't even imagine the stress he must have been under.  It is a well deserved rest then.  He gave us so much and deserves every hour of every day of his retirement.  Have fun Chris and we will see you in Azaroth!

[Valks 2,407]

He makes a very interesting point in that, not only did we see Blizzard and Metzen as one, but it sounds like he did too when going through life. Fair play to him for finally saying enough.

[DArchon137 0]

I can empathize with this man as somebody with anxiety issues as an adult alongside PTSD from a crap childhood and I hope he deals with his life well.

This is also why I'm never having children as well. Video games are literally the only thing that bring me happiness anymore and I would rather die than be forced to cut video games out of my life to raise a child or anything else for that matter when I can barely take care of my own issues half of the time let alone take care of another human.

Life sucks and dem gaimz are life :D

[Valks 2,407]

24 minutes ago, DArchon137 said:

Life sucks and dem gaimz are life :D

Doesn't that mean games suck? What are you saying! :(