Blizzard Leadership Change - Immediate

General Discussion
1

JAB is stepping down and leaving Blizzard.

August 3, 2021

I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra have been appointed co-leaders of Blizzard. Jen and Mike will share responsibility for development and operational accountability for the company. Both are leaders of great character and integrity and are deeply committed to ensuring our workplace is the most inspired, welcoming environment for creative excellence and to upholding our highest game development standards.

Many of us already know Mike and Jen and have experienced their leadership, their empathy and their unwavering sense of accountability:

  • Jen is an 18-year company veteran and the former head of Vicarious Visions studio. As Executive Vice President of Development at Blizzard, she has been providing senior development leadership and support to the Diablo and Overwatch franchises.

  • Mike has been in the technology and gaming industries for over 20 years, including 7 years as a senior executive at Microsoft’s XBOX division. Most recently Mike was Executive Vice President & General Manager of Platform and Technology at Blizzard overseeing [Battle.net](http://Battle.net) and our Development Services organizations.

With their many years of industry experience and deep commitment to integrity and inclusivity, I am certain Jen and Mike will lead Blizzard with care, compassion and a dedication to excellence.

With Jen and Mike assuming their new roles, J. Allen Brack is leaving the company to pursue new opportunities.

Daniel

To all members of the Blizzard Community,

We want to let you know about an important leadership change at Blizzard Entertainment.

Starting today, J. Allen Brack will be stepping down as the leader of the studio, and Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will co-lead Blizzard moving forward.

Jen joined Blizzard in January as executive vice president of development, where she’s been providing senior development leadership and support to the Diablo and Overwatch franchises. Jen is the former head of Vicarious Visions (which is now part of Blizzard Entertainment).

After many years at XBOX, Mike joined the company in 2019 as the executive vice president and general manager of platform and technology, where he’s been overseeing the evolution of Battle.net and our development services organization.

Jen and Mike have more than three decades of gaming industry experience between them. Moving forward, they will share responsibilities over game development and company operations.

Both leaders are deeply committed to all of our employees; to the work ahead to ensure Blizzard is the safest, most welcoming workplace possible for women, and people of any gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or background; to upholding and reinforcing our values; and to rebuilding your trust. With their many years of industry experience and deep commitment to integrity and inclusivity, Jen and Mike will lead Blizzard with care, compassion, and a dedication to excellence. You’ll hear more from Jen and Mike soon.

The following is a message from J. Allen Brack:

“I am confident that Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will provide the leadership Blizzard needs to realize its full potential and will accelerate the pace of change. I anticipate they will do so with passion and enthusiasm and that they can be trusted to lead with the highest levels of integrity and commitment to the components of our culture that make Blizzard so special.”

Finally, thank you all for being a part of the Blizzard community, and for your passion and determination for safety and equality for all.

Not going to lie, I am kind of excited to see what Jen from VV does - yay for a Diablo related person in a leadership role!

Looks like Jen Oneal started in game testing and QA back in 1998 and worked her way up. Very cool. Jennifer O'Neal - MobyGames

12 Likes
2

The investor call should be interesting today.

Aug 3, 2021 at 4:30 PM EDT

4 Likes
3

Big news, Blizzard starting to clean the house from the top.

2 Likes
4

That is what I am thinking too. I have to try to remember to listen this afternoon.

2 Likes
5

Not unexpected, but I’m a little surprised at how fast it happened.

6

Interesting shake-up. Glad to see it.

1 Like
7

I really hope they can get D4 out before more heads get chopped. Rod Fergusson who oversees all things Diablo has not been with Blizzard that long so maybe he was not part of this long running problem. Is Bobby next?

4 Likes
8

I’m sure this warms the hearts of people around the globe, but all I really care about is how this affects Blizzard’s games moving forward.

They’re still tethered to Activision and Kotick. So what difference do they make in theory?

Better communication, less cashgrab tendencies, competent game directors…what?

Point being, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge if nothing changes for the better when it comes to business.

3 Likes
9

Both are from outside Blizzard. We’ll have to wait and see. Generally, if you’d want to maintain the culture (the good stuff), you’d want to promote from within. This is news is done as part of their ‘damage control’.

4 Likes
10

Corporate doohickery.

Means nothing to me.

7 Likes
11

Maybe it won’t be such a lame show anymore and no more need for little hints like every nook and cranny. We might actually see something in the next updates. Let’s get a release date.

12

This take seems spot on:

Jason Schreier @jasonschreier
Titles mean a lot in the corporate world. Until 2018, Mike Morhaime was CEO. When Brack took over, he was president. Now, Oneal and Ybarra are described as “co-leaders.” A clear glimpse at who’s really in charge: Bobby Kotick

6 Likes
13

Hey JAB, don’t you have a job?

2 Likes
14

I truly hope they will be able to change the culture within to the better.

One thing that jumped out in your previous thread, was the phrase that it was considered ok for the teams to blow of steam because the workloads were so huge…

So instead of creating a better work environment it was better to allow the employees to drink their brains to dust.

I am still stunned to be honest, simply unbelievable.

Good luck and hope for the best for all, especially for all that suffered.

Oh maybe replacing a good portion of the HR is a smart move aswell!!!

1 Like
15

I wish they would sell Blizzard to Dreamhaven and have Mike in charge again. Then I could say there will be a ‘real’ change. Not a publicity stunt, cooperate crap. Not going to happen though…

1 Like
16

Interesting considering the issue started when he was in charge at Blizzard, this is not new.

  • Did you not read his letter?
2 Likes
17

Based on the stories we have heard so far, replacing the HR department, seems more important than replacing the leadership.

5 Likes
18

I did. He took responsibility as in ‘he should’ve done better’. Not necessarily that he promoted that kind of thing. Mike is a good person. If you see the list of hires in Dreamhaven, you’ll see that pretty much all are Ex-Blizzard employees. That should tell you something…

19

Now then, what about Bobby?

6 Likes
20

JAB was the fall guy considering this situation was going on long before he was in charge.

  • Bobby will shield himself by offering up others. The tap dance at the investors call today should be interesting.
5 Likes