Chris Metzen
- "Metzen" redirects here. For the Feast of Winter Veil NPC, see Metzen the Reindeer.
Chris Metzen is the Franchise Creative Director for Warcraft and former Senior Vice President of Story & Franchise Development at Blizzard Entertainment.[1][2][3] After 22 years with the company he announced his retirement on September 12, 2016, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.[4] Metzen was succeeded by Lydia Bottegoni.[5]
On December 15, 2022, it was announced that he had returned to Blizzard as a Creative Advisor, first for World of Warcraft and then for other games of the franchise.[6] On September 26, 2023, Metzen was promoted to full time Executive Creative Director of the Warcraft universe,[7] with the title later simplified to Franchise Creative Director in 2024.[8]
Biography
Metzen grew up as "an RPG kid," and was particularly invested in RPG sourcebooks.[9]
Early career
Metzen began his career in Blizzard Entertainment as an artist[10] in 1994, at the age of 19.[11] He'd been performing in a band one night in Orange County when he ran into Blizzard employees who were impressed with a dragon he'd doodled on a napkin. They encouraged Metzen to join them as an artist. When he arrived at Blizzard's office, Metzen was blown away at what would later be described as "geek Mecca," given the copious amount of superhero posters, action figures, and staff members playing Super Nintendo games. In truth, Metzen didn't even know what Blizzard did, but would later state that he wanted a piece of it.[12]
Metzen began working on Warcraft: Orcs & Humans late in the game's development.[13] The storyline was done by the design team, led by others, like Allen Adham and Ron Millar.[14] While he had started work on animation and drawing, Metzen discovered that he had a knack for storytelling.[12]
In Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Metzen took a bigger role as the designer of the story, but also made artwork and voice acting.[15] Bill Roper had developed the lore for the first game, and Metzen expanded on his ideas. Roper would later commend Metzen's talent.[12]
In Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal Blizzard Entertainment outsourced Cyberlore Studios to do the game and Metzen was in charge of storyline consultation and editions.[14] Metzen was among those who worked on Warcraft: Legends, but he and a number of other staff members were dissatisfied with Mike O'Brien's leadership and approached Mike Morhaime. Morhaime agreed, and O'Brien was taken off the project.[16] Legends was cancelled and replaced with Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos,[17] on which Metzen served as creative director.[13]
In the 2000s, Metzen came up with the concept of "strike teams" that were not assigned with any of Blizzard's numerically-designated development teams, in order to provide feedback and keep the company's culture intact.[11]
Metzen worked with Blizzard's cinematic team, and gave feedback on its storyboards.[18] He was also credited as creative director for Overwatch.[19]
His style characterized the earlier Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo series and he eventually became art director.[2] His position in creative development gave him the reins over lore and storylines created for the games of the Blizzard franchises, the foundations of which were laid by previous designers.[14] Metzen later served as co-producer of the 2016 Warcraft film,[20] and wrote the story for both the film's prequel novel Warcraft: Durotan and novelization. The last Warcraft project Metzen worked on before his retirement was the intro cinematic for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth.[21]
Retirement
In September 2016 Metzen announced his retirement, at the age of 42, after nearly 23 years at Blizzard. In a special post on all Blizzard forums Metzen shared the story of his entry into the games industry, his experience working at Blizzard, and the importance of friendship in gaming, describing Blizzard as a "tribe" and a "second family". He explained that he chose the word "retire" to reflect that he was not moving onto new projects, but stepping back from all projects, saying it was "time to slow it down" and to focus on "the one thing that matters most to me in all the world—my family", including his newly arrived third child.
The announcement saw a large response on the forums and social media from players and coworkers alike, and was reported across the gaming media and beyond.[22][23][24][25] World of Warcraft Systems Designer Russ Petersen remarked, "One man's contributions to a large project are sometimes overstated. Not so for Chris Metzen and Warcraft. It wouldn't be, without him."[26] Metzen later confirmed on Twitter that he would continue to voice Thrall.[27]
During this period, Metzen briefly worked with Frost Giant Studios on the development of Stormgate.[28]
Return
On December 15, 2022, John Hight announced that Chris Metzen had joined the Warcraft Leadership Team as Creative Advisor, with an initial focus on World of Warcraft and planned involvement in other projects for the franchise.[29] According to Metzen, at that time the team had already spent about ten months developing what would become The War Within; with the expansion slated to release around the game's 20th anniversary, he proposed turning it into a climactic storyline that would pull together and resolve various plot threads that had persisted through the game's lifespan, with the scope growing to the point that it would require multiple expansions to tell.[8] On September 26, 2023 he was promoted to a full-time role as Executive Creative Director of the Warcraft universe, focused on helping the leadership of the World of Warcraft team and shape the future stories that will be told over the next few years.[30] At BlizzCon 2023, he announced The Worldsoul Saga, a narrative arc that would span a trilogy of expansions: The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan.[31]
Voice credits
- Thrall[32][34][35]
- Vol'jin
- Arcanist Doan
- Scarlet Commander Mograine
- Jammal'an the Prophet
- Sandfury Executioner
- Witch Doctor Zum'rah
- Chief Ukorz Sandscalp
- Archaedas
- Lord Serpentis
- Nefarian[36]
- Ragnaros[35]
- Bloodlord Mandokir
- Jin'do the Hexxer
- Hakkar the Soulflayer
Gallery
- For more, see Category:Images by Chris Metzen.
Other works
- Warcraft Saga (author)
- Alliance & Horde Compendium, co-author
- Of Blood and Honor, a warcraft novel
- Snow Fight: A Warcraft Tale, a children's book
- Manual of Monsters, co-author
- He was also part of "Creative and Rules Design Assistance and Additional Material" staff for the entire Warcraft and World of Warcraft RPG series. As well as Interior Artist for several of the books.
- Metzen also supervised the lore created for the pen & paper RPG, mangas, and novels.
- World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 (2015) shared with Matt Burns and Robert Brooks
- Bonds of Brotherhood
- World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 2 (2017) shared with Matt Burns and Robert Brooks
- World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 3 (2018) shared with Matt Burns and Robert Brooks
Notes and trivia
- He has voiced numerous characters in the Warcraft and StarCraft games.[35]
- In World of Warcraft, his responsibility extended into coordinating with artists to create environments that give players a sense of continuity and cohesiveness.[2]
- Metzen has used the alias "Thundergod" in multiple online venues, and also self-styles himself as "The Bourbon Cowboy".
- "Thundergod" is also one of the highest Alliance ranks one can attain in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.
- Metzen's favorite hero in Warcraft lore is Malfurion Stormrage.[37]
- Metzen is a fan of both DC and Marvel.[38] He has cited Walter Simonson's run on The Mighty Thor as his personal favorite comic book run ever and perhaps his single greatest inspiration as a storyteller. He further described the comic as having been "hardwired into Warcraft's DNA from the very start" and jokingly stated that he'd never publicly admit to having lifted several ideas from it and incorporated them into the Warcraft setting.[39]
- This is presumably also the inspiration behind Metzen's "Thundergod" nickname.
- In an attempt to calm down the disappointed Horde audience at BlizzCon after it was announced that the Warcraft movie would focus on the Alliance perspective, he said that "His heart lies with the Horde" but "a blockbuster movie its a little rough to try and tell it from the perspective of this green looking dude."[40] The former line has since been highly exaggerated by the Warcraft fan base.
- His main World of Warcraft character is a human retribution paladin.[41][42] His two second highest characters are on Horde: a tauren druid and orc warrior.[43] He has also played as a vulpera hunter, which he stylized after Robin Hood from the titular 1973 Disney film.[44]
- He has a cameo appearance in the Warcraft movie's deleted scenes as a perfume merchant.[45]
- Chris Metzen was part of Team Alliance on Azeroth Choppers, along with Monte Krol and Terran Gregory.[46]
Personal touches
- The Feast of Winter Veil features a quest to rescue Metzen the Reindeer from kidnappers. Doing so rewards players with the ability to transform their mount into a similar-looking reindeer.
- Additionally, there is an officer of the Argent Dawn (and later Crusade), Avenger Metz, who bears a strong resemblance to Metzen's avatar on Sons of the Storm.
- A necromancer named Necro Overlord Mezhen is stationed at Gjalerbron in the Howling Fjord.
- A draenei shaman named Shem Reznict (an anagram of "Chris Metzen") appears in the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. In addition to having a beard and glasses similar to Metzen's, he also wields a lightning-infused hammer similar to Thor and Thrall.
- In StarCraft II, the pilot of Thor looks very much like Metzen and says "I, AM A THUNDERGOD!" after being clicked several times.
See also
References
- ^ Blizzard on Social Media. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2014-05-20.
- ^ a b c Karune. BlizzCast Episode 2. Retrieved on 2009-12-29.
- ^ Chris Metzen | Linkedin. Retrieved on 2011-10-06.
- ^
Kaivax 2016-09-12. A Message from Chris Metzen. Retrieved on 2016-09-13.
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment Establishes Book-Publishing Label. Business Wire (2016-12-08). Retrieved on 2016-12-09.
- ^ John Hight on Twitter: "It is with great joy that I announce CHRIS METZEN has joined the Warcraft Leadership Team as Creative Advisor. Chris's focus initially will be on World of Warcraft, then his work will expand to other projects across this growing franchise. Chris was one of the original team members working on the Warcraft universe back when it began in 1994, and we are so happy to be reuniting him with the world he helped create."
- ^ Warcraft on Twitter
- ^ a b WoWCast: One-on-One With Chris Metzen
- ^ Forging Worlds: Stories Behind the Art of Blizzard Entertainment, pg. 12
- ^ Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Human manual, pg. 35
- ^ a b Phillip Kolar. The Three Lives of Blizzard Entertainment. Polygon. Retrieved on 2014-10-04.
- ^ a b c Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, pg. 25
- ^ a b Phillip Kolarpublisher=Polygon. Dear Chris Metzen: Thank you. Retrieved on 2016-09-15.
- ^ a b c Karune. BlizzCast Episode 12. BlizzCast. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2009-12-29.
- ^ Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition manual, pg. 94
- ^ Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, pg. 61
- ^ Game Informer #308: Reforging Real-time Strategy, pg. 53
- ^ 2015-05-27, BlizzCon 2014 – Overwatch Origins Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2015-05-31
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4332152/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
- ^ http://deadline.com/2016/06/warcraft-china-advance-ticket-sales-record-legendary-wanda-furious-7-box-office-preview-1201767728/
- ^ Special Interview: Chris Metzen 2.0 by Scott Johnson 24 - Soundcloud (around 36:40). Retrieved on 2018-08-10.
- ^ http://venturebeat.com/2016/09/12/blizzard-loses-a-22-year-veteran-as-executive-chris-metzen-retires/
- ^ http://www.polygon.com/2016/9/13/12898806/blizzard-chris-metzen-retires
- ^ http://uk.businessinsider.com/blizzard-senior-vp-chris-metzen-is-retiring-2016-9?r=US&IR=T
- ^ http://uk.ign.com/articles/2016/09/13/blizzards-chris-metzen-retires
- ^ Russ Petersen on Twitter (2016-09-12). “One man's contributions to a large project are sometimes overstated. Not so for @ChrisMetzen and Warcraft. It wouldn't be, without him.”
- ^ Chris Metzen on Twitter (2016-09-12). “My intent is to keep playing Thrall. Makes me happy. :)”
- ^ Stormgate, Kickstarter. Retrieved on 2023-12-06
- ^ A Message From Warcraft
- ^ https://twitter.com/ChrisMetzen/status/1706745033905537511
- ^ 2023-12-08, StarCraft successor Stormgate teams up with top Blizzard veteran. PC Games, retrieved on 2023-12-09
- ^ a b Chris Metzen. IMDB. Retrieved on 2009-12-29.
- ^ Talking To Himself. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. “Chris Metzen, best known as a story-writer, also voice acts two characters in Warcraft III. These characters, Thrall and Rexxar, happen to get a lot of dialogue in the expansion pack orc campaign.”
- ^ BlizzCon '08 - Day 1 Friday Oct 10. Animesou.com. Retrieved on 2009-12-29. “...although Chris Metzen still retains his role as Thrall...”
- ^ a b c d e Chris Metzen (2009). Blizzcon Panel. BlizzCon 2009. YouTube. Retrieved on 2009-12-29.
- ^ Seth Schiesel 2006-05-06. Interview: Jeff Kaplan on World of Warcraft Expansion. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-12-29. “
Q. So is that you talking on the Nefarian class calls?
A. No that's not me. I think that might actually be Chris Metzen.” - ^ Medievaldragon. Chris Metzen & Micky Neilson Pocket Star Books Lore Q&A Video Interview. BlizzPlanet. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. “I mean Malfurion's always been, personally, my favorite Warcraft hero...”
- ^ Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, pg. 197
- ^ The Comic Volume 1, pg. 3 - 4 — Chasing Thunder: A foreword by Chris Metzen
- ^ Warcraft Movie Details Revealed At BlizzCon. Archived from the original on 2012-09-18.
- ^ World of Warcraft: Looking for Group
- ^ Chris Metzen on Twitter (2018-01-22). “Human. Retribution. Paladin. Yes, I LOVE Thrall and the Horde a lot, but I’ve been playing human paladins since I was 12. #sturmbrightblade”
- ^ Chris Metzen on Twitter (2018-01-22). “my 2nd 2 highest are Horde. Tauren Druid and orc warrior. Im a proud warrior of the Horde, son - but my heart is a paladin. :)”
- ^ 2024-08-21, Chris Metzen on the Worldsoul Saga | WoWCast. YouTube, retrieved on 2024-09-11
- ^ Behind the scenes of the Warcraft movie with Chris Metzen. Blizzard Watch (2016-06-01). Retrieved on 2016-06-03.
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment 2014-04-10. Official: Azeroth Choppers.
External links
SonsOfTheStorm.com Profile on Sons of the Storm SonsOfTheStorm.com Art Gallery on Sons of the Storm IMDB.com Listing on IMDb- Interviews
BlizzPlanet Chris Metzen & Micky Neilson Pocket Star Books Lore Q&A Video Interview (part 1 and 2 videos and transcript)Warcraft stuff starts about 7 min into part 1.