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Diablo 3 Game Director job ad posted by Blizzard; Executive Producer responds to community’s response to Wilson’s departure

jay-wilson

Before the snow can even settle (unlike that snow which is currently preventing domestic flights around the UK and delaying train journeys up and down the land) Blizzard have followed the announcement that Diablo 3’s game director Jay Wilson will be leaving his post to work on another game with a job ad. For many it will be a dream job, directing the continuing development of Diablo 3, moulding it from its release state into both the game the community wants and pushing it into areas that they could not have expected.

The ad appears in Blizzard’s jobs page, sitting aside positions for internships and system administrator jobs. Here’s a truncated version of what they’re looking for:

‘Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a highly creative individual with outstanding communication skills, proven experience in creative direction, and a track record of shipping AAA titles to lead our future efforts in creating epic video games.

Responsibilities

  • Be the vision holder for the game, set the creative goals for the team.
  • Direct game design while successfully partnering with the production director to deliver an epic gaming experience.
  • Evangelize games to the player community via press announcements, forum posts, interviews, and public appearances.
  • Establish and maintain a creative environment, resolve personnel challenges, motivate qualified developers, and foster a culture of success.

Requirements

  • Knowledgeable and passionate about Diablo
  • A minimum of 5 years’ directing video game development
  • Great sense for what makes a game fun to play
  • Unrelenting self-motivation and initiative
  • A love for Blizzard Entertainment games

You can read the full details and applyhere.

However, there’s been another development from Wilson’s announcement. Members of the Diablocommunity, which he had a shaky relationship with following disagreement witha number of his design decisions and the state of Diablo at release, have taken to the forums to sing his departure as a victory for the game. This gained the attention of Diablo 3’s executive producer Rob Pardo, who posted in response ‘I know that the Battle.net forums have earned a reputation for rough justice, but I do not believe justice is being served by how people are speaking about Jay’s departure from Diablo III.

[…]

‘I’ve worked with many, many designers at Blizzard and Jay is one of the best. He has a great career at Blizzard ahead of him and I guarantee that you will enjoy Jay’s game designs in future Blizzard games.

‘If you love Diablo as much as we do, then please continue to let us know how you feel we can improve the game. If you still feel the need to dish out blame, then I would prefer you direct it at me. I was the executive producer on the project; I hired Jay and I gave him advice and direction throughout the development process. I was ultimately responsible for the game we released and take full responsibility for the quality of the result.’

The search for Diablo’s new director commences.