24th May 1994
Silicon & Synapse becomes Blizzard Entertainment

Video game developer Silicon & Synapse was founded in 1991. In late 1993, the company changed its name to Chaos Studios, but ran into a legal challenge. In response, April 1994 saw another change of name to Ogre Studios, but new company owners Davidson & Associates did not approve. Finally, in May 1994, the name Blizzard Entertainment was chosen.

As Silicon & Synapse, the company had had some success with games such as Rock & Roll Racing, The Lost Vikings, and Blackthorne.

However, it was Blizzard Entertainment that released the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. By 2017, World of Warcraft had made over $9 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time.

Related information:

• Centre for Computing History: Blizzard Entertainment
• Los Angeles Times: From Chaos to Blizzard, May 24 1994

Images:

• Blizzard Entertainment logo
  Credit: Blizzard Entertainment. Images remain the copyright of the original copyright holder. Used under fair use policy for educational purposes only.

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Silicon & Synapse, later Blizzard Entertainment, is founded