A Tour Through Blizzard’s Headquarters

We’ve pointed out other tours of Blizzard’s Irvine campus in the past, but since it houses dream-like working facilities for any PC gamer, I’ll go ahead and point out this latest picture-heavy article on Ars Technica.

This is not an actual picture of the server room for World of Warcraft. We were allowed to peek in through a window, but no images. We could not enter the room. Even our guide had only been in twice. What we saw were weather maps making sure things were stable at the data centers around the world. Data and charts flashing on the large screens hanging on the wall. Rows of computers in the middle of the room being tended to by very serious looking people. Millions of players, around the world, all watched and tended to from that room. It was quite the sight. This is simply an artist’s interpretation.

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The corporate culture at Blizzard is intense. After working with the company for five years, you get a sword. After ten years, you get a shield. Each year a new design for each is created, meaning long-time employees will all have different combinations. Peeking into the offices, we saw many, many swords and shields.

The number of job applications they have to sift through each and every day must be staggering.