Summary
Long timeBlizzardtechnical director Monte Krol just announced his last day at the company. This legendaryBlizzarddeveloper is moving on after nearly 23 years of development onDiablo,StarCraft, andWarcraft.
Krol was introduced to Blizzard games before the turn of the century, when he became a huge fan ofDiabloandStarCraft. He joined Blizzard Entertainment in October 2000, rose to the position of lead software engineer in 2007, and was promoted to technical director in 2020. Over his long career, Krol has done work on nearly everyBlizzard project fromWarcraft 3throughDiablo 4.
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Now, Krol has announced his departure from Blizzard after 22 years and nine months. On his personal Twitter, the Alliance-loving developer shared a picture of himself next to a Jainastatue on the Blizzard campuson July 21–his final day at the company. He signed off with a heartfelt statement giving love to his former colleagues, and reminding them to “drink some great coffee,” as Krol is a well-known connoisseur of the beverage.
Here are a few of Krol’s biggest accomplishments while working with Blizzard:
The comments section of Krol’s farewell tweet was quickly filled with heartfelt goodbyes from friends, fans, and family. Award-winning Blizzard author Christie Golden, senior narrative designer Anne Stickney, andWarcraftcreative advisor Chris Metzen–who himself just returned from his own departure in 2016–were a few of the big names in the crowd wishing him the best. It remains to be seen if Krol is retiring or moving on to another project, but fans can expect to hear more about his journey soon.
Krol’s final major development project wasWarcraft Arclight Rumble. The elusive mobile game has been in closed beta for over a year now, butWarcraft Arclight Rumblehas yet to receive a release date or much media attentionafter its initial announcement last May. Players can almost certainly expect to hear more about Krol’s capstone project at Blizzcon this November, whereBlizzardwill likely announce when the title is planning to launch.
