Blizzard's Samwise Didier Retires After More Than 30 Years

mmorpg.com:

Blizzard’s Samwise Didier is retiring after more than three decades of shaping the look and feel of several of the biggest franchises on the planet.

Didier announced his retirement today with a statement on X (Twitter), saying “Today is a huge day for me and I wanted to share the news with you all. I am retiring from my beloved Blizzard Entertainment, and today will be my last day. Now most kids I know move out of the home when they are 18, (well, maybe not these days). For me, it took me damn near double that! It is inspiring and intimidating all at the same time.”

Didier joined the company way back in 1991 and if you’ve ever played a Blizzard game, you’ve seen, or even heard, his work. Art was his specialty, as the senior art director for many years, and also pretty well known andloved in the community, even sharing art lessons on his YouTube channel)

“I learned almost everything I know about art there. I learned how to use a computer (I only knew Atari 2600 and Nintendo), I learned how to use Photoshop, I learned how to create UI and make thousands of buttons. I learned how to create 3D models of my art, how to texture and animate them, and even make them shoot fireballs or lasers. I got to see my art come to life! Hell, I even joined my first band at Blizzard. And to top it all off, I got to work on some of the greatest games this here ol' world has ever known. Thank you Blizzard, for everything.”

In a reply to Didier’s announcement, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra said “Your talent helped build Blizzard’s signature art style, and I know many of our artists have learned so much from you over the years. Thanks for what you did for them, and for gamers and artists everywhere.”