Craig Amai, creator of many of your favourite quests in World of Warcraft, and Legacy of the Void lead writer James Waugh have left Blizzard Entertainment in order to explore new roads.
Maybe they’re off to make the next great indie game, who can tell.
Amai, lead quest designer on the MMO’s last two expansions having started as a game master shortly before WoW’s 2004 launch, made the announcement in a blog post last week while Waugh announced his departure this morning.
Goodbye, Blizzard. It was a joy making the most epic entertainment experiences… ever with you. What a journey! pic.twitter.com/3EX6KKYvG5
— James Waugh (@Waughtang) September 17, 2016
Amai served Team 2 for more than 12 years, spearheading the development of vignettes and treasures in Warlords of Draenor and the starting experience of Mists of Pandaria, with his last day coinciding with the launch of Legion.
Amai has yet to detail what he is moving on to, only that he feels more than a decade on a single game is as good a time as any to move onto a new challenge, though not locking the door behind him on the way out.
“I don’t think I’m leaving Blizzard behind for good,” Amai says in his blog post. “I couldn’t make a better company and I’d be a fool to try. I suspect I’ll try to come back someday, once I’ve explored a few unfamiliar roads.”
Waugh began at Blizzard in 2008 after attempting to option StarCraft as a movie to Chris Metzen and being offered a writing role on the series he’d played since college. He, too, has yet to announce what he is moving onto.