Blizzard chief creative officer Rob Pardo leaves studio

Blizzard’s chief creative officer Rob Pardo has left the iconic studio after 17 years.

Pardo’s reasons for leaving the company are unclear but a post from him on the Blizzard forums reads in a positive tone.

’Blizzard Entertainment has been simply the best place in the world to be a game designer. The best aspect of designing games at Blizzard is that the entire company is passionate about the gameplay within each and every product,’ said Pardo. ’I look forward to playing Blizzard games as a player for many years to come. Most important, now I have plenty of time to learn how to build a competitive Hearthstone deck.’

Pardo does not confirm what he is going to do next or even if he will remain in the industry, although he does comment that the games industry in general is an exciting place at present. Instead, he states that his current priorities are to enjoy the summer with his family and play plenty of games. In true Blizzard fashion, he adds that he will have an answer to the question of where he's going next 'when it's ready'.

One of the first projects that Pardo worked on was the original Starcraft, something which he describes as ’a dream come true’ due to his passion for the real time strategy genre.

During Pardo’s time at Blizzard, he has been the lead designer of World of Warcraft and the company’s executive vice-president of game design. In 2006, he was also named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.