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Michael Morhaime

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Michael Morhaime
Morhaime atBlizzCon2009
Born(1967-11-03)November 3, 1967(age 56)
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles(BE)
Occupation(s)Business executive;video game developer
Known forCo-founder and formerCEOofBlizzard Entertainment
TitleFounder and CEO of Dreamhaven
Spouse
Amy Morhaime
​
(m.2010)​
[1]
AwardsAIASHall of Fame Award (2001)[2]

Michael Morhaime(born November 3, 1967) is an Americanvideo game developerand entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located inIrvine, California.Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and the formerpresidentofBlizzard Entertainment,a subsidiary ofActivision Blizzard, Inc., that was founded in 1991 as Silicon & Synapse. He served on the Vivendi Games executive committee from January 1999, when Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. became a subsidiary of Vivendi Games, until July 2008.

Early life and education

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Morhaime was born into aJewishfamily and graduated from Granada Hills High School in 1985. He is also an alumnus ofTriangle Fraternity[3]and received hisbachelor's degreein Electrical Engineering in 1990 from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles(UCLA).[4][5]

In sixth grade, Morhaime, along with his brother and sister, purchased a video game console called theBally Professional Arcade,first released in 1978. Morhaime discovered that the console was programmable, and he taught himself how to write simple games on it, building off of example programming code he found in a gaming newsletter.[6]

As an electrical engineering student at UCLA, Morhaime focused more onhardwarethan onsoftware."I procrastinated a lot," he admitted.[6]Things changed after he got an internship at aSan Josemicrochip company. In his internship there, he learned about circuit design, and when he returned to school he was ahead of his computer architecture class. "I used to be the guy that sat in the back," he said, but after his stint inSilicon Valley,he said, "I started sitting up front."[6]

Career

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Blizzard Entertainment

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While at UCLA, Morhaime metAllen AdhamandFrank Pearceand, in 1991, the three founded the company Silicon & Synapse, later renamedBlizzard Entertainment.They rented a small office inIrvine, California,hoping the proximity to other companies would prove advantageous to them.[6]

In 1995, Blizzard releasedWarcraft II,its first number one selling game. "It's probably the game that put Blizzard on the map," Morhaime said. Besides its large number of sales, "it was the first game you could play over the Internet with a good experience," which was a novelty at the time, as well as being a defining selling point for its later titles.[6]

In planning for the release ofWorld of Warcraft(WoW) in late 2004, Morhaime thought that the market for the much larger and more interactive new game, the first in their history to require players to pay a monthly subscription fee, would grow slowly. "We felt it was very likely the fee would be a deterrent for people, and thatWoWwould not sell as quickly as some of our previous games, "he said. All of Blizzard's production and marketing decisions were based on that assumption. To Blizzard's surprise,WoWsold extremely quickly, leaving the underprepared Blizzard unable to keep merchants supplied with the game for a short time. "For the whole first year, we scrambled to keep up with demand," he said. "It probably took years off of our lives."World of Warcrafthad approximately 11 million subscribers as of 2010. In 2017, Morhaime earned $12.3 million as the CEO of Blizzard.[7]

On October 3, 2018, Morhaime announced he was stepping down as the company president and CEO, instead becoming an advisor to the company. Morhaime was replaced by J. Allen Brack, the executive producer onWorld of Warcraft.[8]His advisory role concluded on April 7, 2019.[9]

Dreamhaven

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In 2020, Mike Morhaime founded Dreamhaven, a new video game company. The company is based in Irvine, California, and has two game development studios called Secret Door and Moonshot Games.[10][11]Dreamhaven, Inc. operates under Moonwell Studios LLC.[12]

Controversy

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Following Morhaime's departure from Blizzard, in July 2021, theCalifornia Civil Rights Department(CRD) (formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in relation to unequal pay and retaliation against female employees in the workplace.[13]

Amidst the news of the lawsuit, former Blizzard employees spoke out about their experiences and the harassment they witnessed within the company. A former manager at the then-competitive gaming brand FXOpen Esports, posted to social media about her experience at a Blizzard holiday party in which a senior creative director kissed her in front of a group of Blizzard employees, including Morhaime who was president and CEO at the time.[14][15]While he was not named in the lawsuit, and some employees were uncertain whether he was aware of the allegations, multiple employees confirmed that Morhaime was present at some of the company events where the alleged misconduct took place. Morhaime tweeted an apology saying he was “ashamed” regarding the lawsuit several days after the news broke.[16][17]

Honors and awards

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In 2008, Morhaime was inducted into theAcademy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.[18]On the same year, Morhaime was honored at the 59th AnnualTechnology & Engineering Emmy Awardsfor Blizzard's creation ofWorld of Warcraft.Along withDon DaglowofStormfront StudiosandJohn Carmackofid Software,Morhaime is one of only three designers or producers to accept awards at the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards and at theAcademy of Interactive Arts & SciencesInteractive Achievement Awards.[19]

Morhaime received the nationalErnst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awardin the Technology category in 2012.[20]In 2019, Morhaime was appointed the 2019 Honor Award at the Gamelab Barcelona, in Spain for his success in the gaming industry.[21]

Multimedia

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In 2012, Morhaime made a cameo appearance onThe Guild,a web series about the lives of a gamers' online experiences with an MMORPG that draws references toWorld of Warcraft.He is known for his work with the gaming community, but also worked on the 2016 filmWarcraft: The Beginning.

Personal life

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Morhaime (left) playing with ETC at BlizzCon 2009

In 2010, Morhaime married his long-time girlfriend Amy Chen.[1][22]In 2017, Morhaime bought a mansion in a gatedRancho Miragecommunity inRiverside County,Californiafor $2.25 million.[23]He is a member of the Elite Tauren Chieftain, ametalband formed of and by Blizzard employees, where he playsbass guitar.[24]

References

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  1. ^abSchiesel, Seth (September 23, 2020)."Amy and Mike Morhaime take questions about their new venture, Dreamhaven".Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on September 26, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 28,2020.
  2. ^"D.I.C.E Special Awards".RetrievedJanuary 22,2017.
  3. ^"Notable Alumni".Archived fromthe originalon July 18, 2009.RetrievedFebruary 1,2009.
  4. ^M. Abraham (November 6, 2006)."UCLA Engineering Celebrates Accomplishments at Annual Awards Dinner".UCLAHenry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Archived fromthe originalon December 22, 2007.RetrievedSeptember 22,2007.
  5. ^"Blizzard Entertainment 10th Anniversary Celebration".Blizzard Entertainment. Archived fromthe originalon January 26, 2002.RetrievedSeptember 22,2007.
  6. ^abcdeSarno, David (August 8, 2010)."Video games are serious business for Blizzard CEO Michael Morhaime".Los Angeles Times.Archived fromthe originalon August 20, 2010.RetrievedSeptember 30,2017.
  7. ^Makuch, Eddie (February 13, 2017)."Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime Is Leaving A Very Lucrative Job".Gamespot.Archivedfrom the original on June 30, 2019.RetrievedOctober 4,2018.
  8. ^"Activision Blizzard Names World of Warcraft® Executive Producer J. Allen Brack As New President of Blizzard Entertainment".Business Wire(Press release). October 3, 2018.RetrievedOctober 3,2018.
  9. ^Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangement of Certain Officers.,January 7, 2019,retrievedJanuary 10,2019
  10. ^Skrebels, Joe (September 23, 2020),Blizzard Co-Founder Opens New Game Company, Dreamhaven, Developing Two Games - IGN,retrievedSeptember 24,2020
  11. ^Schiesel, Seth (September 23, 2020)."Longtime Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime starting new game studios and publishing company".Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.RetrievedSeptember 23,2020.
  12. ^"Privacy Policy".dreamhaven.RetrievedSeptember 23,2020.
  13. ^Paul, Kari (August 8, 2021)."Activision Blizzard scandal a 'watershed moment' for women in the gaming industry".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.RetrievedOctober 8,2024.
  14. ^Liao, Shannon (August 6, 2021)."At Blizzard, groping, free-flowing booze and fear of retaliation tainted 'magical' workplace".The Washington Post.RetrievedOctober 8,2024.
  15. ^Jonathan Bolding (July 24, 2021)."Former Blizzard head Mike Morhaime: 'I am extremely sorry that I failed you'".PC Gamer.RetrievedOctober 8,2024.
  16. ^Writer, Jeffrey Rousseau Staff (August 6, 2021)."Report: Morhaime, other Blizzard execs were informed of rampant misconduct".GamesIndustry.biz.RetrievedOctober 8,2024.
  17. ^Wagner, Alexander Charles (July 24, 2021)."Blizzard Co-Founder on Activision Sexual Harassment Suit: 'I Am Ashamed'".CBR.RetrievedOctober 8,2024.
  18. ^"The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences:: Hall of Fame".Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.RetrievedJanuary 17,2013.
  19. ^"The King of Games, Michael Morhaime's 27-Year Journey".invenglobal.April 6, 2019.RetrievedAugust 22,2019.
  20. ^"Ernst & Young Engineer Of The Year Award winner".ey.November 17, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon January 21, 2016.RetrievedJuly 27,2016.
  21. ^Takahashi, Dean (May 29, 2019)."Mike Morhaime, cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, to be honored at Gamelab Barcelona".VentureBeat.RetrievedAugust 22,2019.
  22. ^Takahashi, Dean (September 23, 2020)."Blizzard cofounder Mike Morhaime launches new gaming endeavor Dreamhaven".VentureBeat.Archivedfrom the original on September 26, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 28,2020.
  23. ^Leitereg, Neal J. (February 13, 2017)."Blizzard president Mike Morhaime expands his realm in Rancho Mirage".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on October 7, 2018.RetrievedSeptember 28,2020.
  24. ^Gilliam, Ryan; Sarkar, Samit (October 3, 2018)."Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime stepping down after 27 years".Polygon.RetrievedOctober 3,2018.
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