Rob Pardo is heading to the Game Developers Conference (Paris 2008 GDC) on June 22-24 at the Coeur Défense Convention Centre, where he will be a keynote speaker. The keynote Q&A is titled: “In the Eye of the Blizzard.” Early registration discount will close on May 14. Visit www.parisgdc.com for more details.
DESCRIPTION / From Diablo to World of Warcraft to Starcraft II, Blizzard’s VP of Game Design Rob Pardo has his finger on the pulse of what gamers want. However, developing games that meet both the exacting standards of core gamers, yet have the accessibility and footprint to live and flourish on most people’s computers is a complex real time strategy game all by itself. In this keynote Q&A, GDC executive director Jamil Moledina interviews Pardo on his inspirations, challenges, and next steps at Blizzard. The discussion is informed by Blizzard’s lessons learned, resources unlocked by success and merger, and the raw talent in evidence in their development team. Moledina also includes questions submitted online from the community of developers in the myGDC forums, to give everyone a piece of the action.
ROB PARDO / VP GAME DESIGN, BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT – BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT
Rob has been contributing to the success of Blizzard’s games since 1997, when he joined the company as a designer and strike-team member on the original STARCRAFT. After being named lead designer on the STARCRAFT expansion set, STARCRAFT: BROOD WAR, Rob went on to serve in that role for the development of WARCRAFT III: REIGN OF CHAOS; its expansion set, WARCRAFT III: THE FROZEN THRONE; and also Blizzard’s largest undertaking to date, WORLD OF WARCRAFT. The latest Blizzard title to reach players under his leadership was the WORLD OF WARCRAFT expansion set, THE BURNING CRUSADE. In his current position, Rob continues to oversee all aspects of game design for WORLD OF WARCRAFT and its upcoming second expansion, WRATH OF THE LICH KING, as well as Blizzard’s other games in development, including the highly anticipated STARCRAFT II.
