Blizzard Entertainment is a massive gaming company, folks responsible for some of the most popular online games to date – World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and more. Their legacy includes games that defined genres or evolved them, with series like StarCraft, Diablo, and WarCraft. They weren’t always this monolithic corporation, though.
In a reveal via a pre-Blizzcon livestream, Blizzard co-founder, CEO, and president Mike Morhaime revealed that he founded the company with a $15,000 loan from his grandmother.
“Allen [Adham] and I each contributed $10,000,” Morhaime said. “In order to get my $10,000, I borrowed $15,000 from my grandmother. This is the loan. She didn’t charge me any interest, that was very nice of her. Before we had any games, before we had actually done anything you know, this was basically the doors opening and us starting out.”
This information was revealed during a look at Blizzard’s actual real-life Blizzard Vault, an archive of documents and artwork from the company’s history throughout the years. The piece of paper dates back to February 4th, 1991, and was signed by his grandmother – Mildred Miller. His grandmom was so generous she charged no interest and asked for monthly repayments of $100.
“My grandparents were always just very supportive,” Morhaime recollected. “She wasn’t a gamer, she didn’t play our games, but I know she was always so proud of everything that I did.”
When asked what kind of advice he would give his younger self just starting out with a potentially risky investment, Morhaime seemed even more thankful for their success.
“I know that it would have definitely relieved a lot of anxiety if I could see into the future and see what was to come,” he said. “I would probably just say ‘Relax and just focus on the games.'”
So let’s all give thanks to Mildred for helping create one of the greatest developers the industry has ever seen. I’ve spent countless hours across StarCraft, Diablo, Diablo 2, Warcraft 1+2+3, World of Warcraft, and even Heroes of the Storm. What Blizzard games are you fond of or currently playing? Sound off in the comments below!
