Cofounders leave Blizzard North

According to a Reuters report, four key figures at Blizzard North have "resigned from the company to pursue other opportunities." Blizzard Entertainment told Reuters that the Blizzard North cofounders Erich Schaefer, Max Schaefer, and David Brevik, plus Blizzard vice president Bill Roper, recently left the company. The report also quotes a VU Games executive as saying that Vivendi Universal's public efforts to sell its game division, including Blizzard, has had some effect on employee morale.

Brevik and the Schaefer brothers founded a development company called Condor in 1993, and started developing Diablo for Blizzard in early 1995. The studio was renamed Blizzard North when Blizzard acquired Condor in February 1996.