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Blizzard Entertainment: Living in Orange County
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Blizzard Entertainment Overview
Irvine, CA
1001 to 5000 employees
1994
Subsidiary or Business Segment
Media
$1 to $2 billion (USD) per year
Blizzard Entertainment develops and publishes software titles such as the record-breaking Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo series, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, and Overwatch. Blizzard offers its online gaming service that enables millions of players around the world to ... Read more
Mission: Dedicated to creating the most epic entertainment experiences...ever.
Company Updates
![Blizzard Entertainment Logo]()
![Blizzard Entertainment Logo]()
So proud of our University Relations team for all their hard work! Students, remember that 2018 summer internships go up later this year, see http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vQeHD for more details.
How Blizzard Increased Its Number of Female Interns by 166% in One YearThe video game community isn't known for its gender diversity. With women making up just 22% of all game developers internationally, the industry really needs to welcome more women into the workforce. One company breaking that mold is Blizzard Entertainment, publisher of games like World of Warcraft and one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2017.
Blizzard Entertainment – Why Work For Us?
Blizzard Entertainment® is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software. After establishing the Blizzard Entertainment label in 1994, the company quickly became one of the most popular and well-respected makers of computer games. By focusing on creating well-designed, highly enjoyable entertainment experiences, Blizzard Entertainment has maintained an unparalleled reputation for quality since its inception.
Blizzard Entertainment's track record of back-to-back #1-selling games spans more than a decade, and with blockbuster hits such as World of Warcraft®, Warcraft® III: Reign of Chaos®, Diablo® II, and StarCraft®, the company has earned several consecutive Game of the Year awards. In addition, Blizzard Entertainment’s online-game service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players. Recent projects include expansions for Diablo® III: Reaper of Souls™, StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™, World of Warcraft®: Warlords of Draenor™, as well as the release of Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft™, a free-to-play digital strategy card game.
The high-quality products based on Blizzard Entertainment’s game universes have also proven popular with gamers. These products include action figures, novels, comics, manga, board games, pen-and-paper role-playing games, and apparel. Extending the reach of its games even further, Blizzard Entertainment is currently at work with Legendary Pictures, the studio behind the feature films The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Watchmen, 300, and Superman Returns, on a live-action Warcraft® movie.
Who We Are
Making Diablo, StarCraft, Warcraft and more gets us up in the morning. We were gamers before we started at Blizzard, and we’ve transformed our enthusiasm into our careers. Hard work, iteration and polish go into the Blizzard “secret recipe,” but the most important ingredients are our people and their passion.
Craft Epics
Every workday, we pour a tremendous amount of heart, soul, and time into building something fun. Finishing a game to our standards takes constant iteration and an ethos of polish, but the reward—of creating something bigger than what one person can do alone, seeing it come to life and entertain people for years—is why we make games.
Get it Right, Together
In our company, every voice matters, and that’s because Blizzard projects thrive on collaboration. When you gather a bunch of people who love fantasy, sci-fi, and gaming together in a room, passionate opinions, serious thoughts, and lively “debates” aren’t just part of the process—they’re what makes fun ideas real.
On Blizzard culture…
By nature, Blizzard culture is constantly evolving. It reflects the collective values, beliefs, passion, and philosophies of our employees. We’re committed to the exploration of creativity, to understanding that true success is a collaborative effort, and to embracing the challenge of making epic entertainment experiences a reality. Frank Pearce (Chief Development Officer) recently reflected on this evolution from his unique perspective as company co-founder…
We are actively recruiting for key positions spanning a variety of skill levels across our game development, Battle.net, and Business Operations teams. Visit our job board to view all our current openings.
SOFTWARE ENGINEERS
Server | Engine/Graphics | Gameplay | Reliability | Tools | R&D | Risk Systems | Security Java | .NET | Mobile | User Interface
ARTISTS
3D Environment | 3D Character | FX | Dungoeon Texture | Prop | Storyboard | Concept | User Interface
DESIGNERS
Battle.net | Game | User Interface | User Experience | Game Systems
Of course, keeping millions entertained takes a global team as dedicated and passionate as our players are with our games. With over 4,000 employees worldwide, Blizzard has offices around the globe. For an in-depth look at our various locations, visit our careers site.
Students, recent grads, and those looking to break into gaming, chances are Blizzard's University Relations team has the program for you.
The Internship Program gives students the opportunity to work directly with development teams and business operations departments to gain hands-on experience. For 12 paid weeks every summer, interns embed themselves with our teams to learn, collaborate, and contribute to the intensity and fun of making games. For more information, visit our University Relations page.
New Grad Program - Graduating and looking for a chance to put your degree to immediate use? You're in luck - our UR team partners with various groups within Blizzard to create entry level roles exclusively for graduating seniors. Check out our job board under "New Grad Opportunities" - note that these roles fill quickly and new opportunities are going up all the time, so keep checking back if you don't find a match right away!
Blizzard offers a competitive insurance and benefits package, a wide breadth of onsite activities to support work / life balance, and a host of fun events and activities for employees to enjoy social time with one another, their friends and their families.
Benefits & Insurance
401(k) Savings Plan
Health Insurance (Medical, Dental and Vision)
Sitter City and Elderly Care
Paid Vacation, Holiday and Personal Float Days
Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts
Employee Assistance Program
Family and Medical Leave
College Savings Plan
Bereavement Leave
Paid Sick Leave Benefits
Business Accident Insurance
Short and Long-Term Disability Insurance
Supplemental Legal and Life Insurance
Jury Duty and Military Leave
Work / Life Balance
Campus Facilities
Fitness Center and Locker Rooms
Basketball and Sand Volleyball Courts
Blizzard Theater and Museum
Adjacent Running and Bicycle Trail System
On-site Car Wash Service
Team Lounges and Gaming Areas
Blizzard’s Boars Nest Café
Healthy Eats - Subsidized Eats, Brewed Starbucks Coffee, FroYo Station, Salad Bar & More
Onsite Classes and Programs
Blizzard’s Annual 5K and 10K Runs
On-site Boot Camp, SuperXFit and Muay-Thai Classes
On-site Yoga and Running Program
Smoking Cessation Courses, Weight Watchers Access
Wellness Incentive Program — Blizzard Subsidized Programs
Rideshare Program — $$ to All Eligible Participants
Wellness for the Body
Pets on Campus — Bring Your Best Friend to Work
Ships Counselor — Free Onsite EAP Counselor
FitBit Healthy Incentive Program — Earn $$ While You Step
Active Ergonomics Program — Standing Desks and more
On-site Massages and Chiropractor
On-site Mobile Salon Service
Wellness for the Mind
Education Tuition Reimbursement Program — $$ Expand Your Career
Headhunter Employee Referral Program — $$ for Employee Referrals
Blizzard Academy — Product dev-focused skills training (Maya, Drawing, etc.)
Learn and Grow Program — Professional skills and training for all career levels
Lunch-n-Learn Series — Various topics presented in the Blizzard Theater
Note: Some programs and classes are employee paid.
Games & Campus Events
Games & Loot
Free World of Warcraft Subscription and Digital Add-Ons
Free Collectors, Standard, and Digital Editions of all Blizzard Games
$500 in annual Battle.net Codes to Spend on Games, BlizzCon, Swag and more
Free and Discounted Activision Games — Destiny, Call of Duty, Skylanders, etc
Early Access/Beta to all Activision Blizzard Titles
Tons of Swag and Loot
Campus Events
BlizzCon — free employee access and discounted tickets for friends and family
Show-N-Tell Events — sneak peek into all our games and projects
Game Launch Celebrations — champagne toasts and BBQs
Summer Fest — annual company picnic
Food Truck Rush — monthly foodie’s delight
Circle of Honor Service Awards — steins, swords, shields, rings, and helms (oh my!)
Game Franchise Parties — celebrating game launches and milestones
Campus Holiday Events — special events, like our Halloween costume contest and friends & family campus trick or treat
Annual Holiday Party — epic in every way you can imagine...seriously
Blizzard Entertainment Reviews
Blizzard Entertainment490Recommend to a friend
Approve of CEO
Mike Morhaime
378 Ratings
- Featured Review
Helpful (18)
![Blizzard Entertainment Logo]()
"Dream Job: brilliant people, inspiring projects, and a culture of family!"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Blizzard Entertainment full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
- Passionate people
- Super intelligent colleagues
- Culture of learning & growing
- Relaxed, friendly work environment
- Family-friendly with good work-life balance
- Stability
- Excellent benefits
- People have fun while creating fun for others!Cons
- Compensation is not as competitive as comparable jobs at other companies
- Cost of living is high
- Large, risk-averse company means that change happens slowlyAdvice to Management
Overall the C-suite and senior leadership is doing a fantastic job. Feedback is consistently sought, and they're always looking for ways to level up the company.
Providing a clearer picture of career progression would be a significant improvement. Additionally, many managers across the company could use training and assistance with providing meaningful, actionable feedback to their reports about their areas of strength and weakness.
While one of Blizzard's core values is "Gameplay First", it can sometimes feel like employees who are not designers on game teams are second class citizens; continuing to push the "one Blizzard team" initiative and provide opportunities to shine for other disciplines will help combat this feeling.
Keep up the good work!Blizzard Entertainment 2017-04-11 16:46 PDT
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Blizzard Entertainment Interviews
Experience
Experience
60%
15%
23%
Getting an Interview
Getting an Interview
70%
11%
7%
4
2
1
1
Difficulty
2.9
Average- No OfferNegative ExperienceEasy InterviewBlizzard Entertainment 2017-08-18 16:48 PDT
Application
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Blizzard Entertainment (Irvine, CA).
Interview
Process took about a little over a month.
Applied online by reference, briefly spoke to a recruiter over the phone. She asked me general questions, also about expected salary.
A week went by and then I got asked to do a phone interview. The phone interview was a lot of behavioural with general mixed technical questions mostly discussing C# vs C++, WPF, MVVM, and UI. No riddles or anything.
I then got a test over email to create a tool and send back the code over email. Less than 24 hours after submitting I got asked onsite, which is a marked improvement over my last interviews with Blizzard which took over a month to hear back.
I visited onsite from 10am to 5pm. Groups of interviews with people from the team of all areas. Artists, designers, producers, and the team I was applying for. They all asked nearly identical questions, but were really nice people. It was an enjoyable experience, but the technical questions were a bit of a mess. At one point there was even a debate and disagreement among the interviewers, referring to Google for the answer. It wasn't particularly impressive and kind of threw me off. I was also asked some rather low level binary questions that were much different from the test and what was on the phone interview which I hadn't expected. Felt like they came out of nowhere. I believe those are why I was rejected, I didn't respond quickly to them, they were kind of irrelevant to the role though so it was disappointing and put a damper on things. But that was early on so we still interviewed with everyone else.
I was told I'd hear back the next day or after the weekend on Monday. A week went by without word and I had to email twice over several days before getting a response at the end of day on a Friday. Rejected, no feedback. Not sure it was worth all that time and effort, and the recruiter was slow to respond, didn't even call to give news or acknowledge the emails.Interview Questions
- What is MVVM and why would use it versus alternatives? Answer Question
- Have you used Winforms, why is it dated? Answer Question
Blizzard Entertainment Awards & Accolades
- 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune, 2017
- World’s Most Admired Companies (Entertainment), Fortune, 2017
- 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune, 2016
- United States of America's Most Attractive Employers (IT), Universum, 2016
- United States of America's Most Attractive Employers (Business), Universum, 2016
Work at Blizzard Entertainment? Share Your Experiences
