Former Blizzard Entertainment Senior Vice President of Story and Franchise Development Chris Metzen has launched “a grand adventure together” with former Blizzard Entertainment Vice President of Quality Assurance Mike Gilmartin. That grand adventure is named Warchief Gaming, a premiere tabletop roleplaying game development studio to actively create new tabletop gaming worlds and experiences for tabletop gaming enthusiasts.
The announcement was posted to the newly-minted warchiefgaming.com website and via the previously established Warchief Gaming YouTube channel. In the announcements, Metzen and Gilmartin relate their origin stories as avid tabletop gamers in their youth, and how the skills and passion developed playing those games lead to their famed careers in the video game industry. They also tell how the Warchief Gaming club they formed in 2018 turned into the Warchief Gaming dev studio, and what types of products we can expect to see from it in the future.
It was also announced that Metzen and Gilmartin have drawn in a third party member for the Warchief Gaming team. Former Blizzard Entertainment game designer Ryan Collins (Hearthstone) is now the Lead Product Developer, and has been tasked with helping to bring “Warchief’s big ideas into reality.”
As the Metzen and Gilmartin backstory goes, the two have been close longtime friends, and assembled by happenstance the group of gamers that became the Warchief Gaming club. According to the announcement, “Warchief Gaming was a way for the games industry veterans to create a haven for tabletop gamers in the Southern California area.” The level up into an official company doesn’t mean the closing of the club, as it “will remain operational and will be located at the company’s headquarters in Orange County, CA.”
I have found all of this has really kind of brought me back to life, and rekindled my, my passion and my imagination, and my longing to build ideas and worlds that people can get lost in.” - Chris Metzen
Warchief Gaming’s focus will be on building worlds, telling stories, and “enhancing the community and elevating the services that gaming clubs can provide.” The team isn’t ready to state what specific gaming ideas and products they have in the works, but add that over the next month or so they’ll be updating the website and socials with that information.
To me, it’s the next phase of my life, it’s the next piece of my journey that I want to partake in.” - Mike Gilmartin
You can currently connect to Warchief Gaming through the website, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube to stay tuned in to more info as it gets released.
Source: Warchief Gaming