Chris Kaleiki, known for his 13 years-long tenure at Blizzard as one of the game designers for World of Warcraft, has announced that he is leaving the studio. According to a video announcing his resignation from Blizzard, Kaleiki reveals that he worked on class design and PvP in World of Warcraft, among many other responsibilities.
In his video, Kaleiki expresses frustration at the direction World of Warcraft has taken from a game design perspective. The release of World of Warcraft Classic also played a role in his decision, owing to its massive success and the lessons current World of Warcraft can learn from Classic going largely unheard.
"For a while now, probably too long, I've just been unhappy with the state of the game," says Kaleiki.
"Warcraft and WoW has always had a story," he says later in the video, "but lately I think in the modern game the story is just a bigger part of it. The characters and all their own dramas really soak up a lot of air in the game. Whereas I think in a virtual world, in an MMO, really the players are the story."
World of Warcraft is currently gearing up for the release of its newest expansion, Shadowlands. The expansion is set to go live on Monday, and takes players on adventures through the afterlife of the World of Warcraft universe.
