Blizzard CCO, lead WoW designer Rob Pardo retires

On Thursday, Blizzard Entertainment chief creative officer and former lead designer of World of Warcraft Rob Pardo announced that he is leaving the company. The 17-year Blizzard veteran has had a hand in nearly every major release by the developer, enjoying his first listed credits in the original Starcraft for PC.

Pardo claimed lead designer status on a number of beloved Blizzard titles, including the original World of Warcraft and its first expansion, The Burning Crusade, along with Starcraft's Brood War expansion and both Warcraft III and its expansion pack. As chief creative officer, Pardo took a more public stance in the company, delivering keynotes at annual BlizzCon events and talking at length in public about the company's lengthy design process.

In a blog post recounting his company experiences and thanking fans for their support, Pardo offered a vague hint at future work in the video game industry: 'I don't have an answer for you yet... but I will 'when it's ready.' The game industry is such an exciting place right now with PC gaming thriving, the new consoles, mobile games, and virtual reality becoming an actual reality. It's like having an empty quest log and going into a new zone for the first time.'

Time will tell whether that hint lines up with Pardo's public comments in 2012 about the changing games industry: 'You are seeing a lot more innovation that isn't possible in the AAA space because of the money and the risk involved. You'll see a lot of these really innovative indie games, mobile games, social games, that people can try out and test new and innovative ideas.'