Claim: Blizzard Entertainment launched World of Warcraft in 2004.

Blizzard Entertainment , Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine , California , and is a subsidiary of the American company Activision Blizzard . The company was founded on February 8 , 1991 , under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of the University of California , Los Angeles : Michael Morhaime , Frank Pearce , and Allen Adham . The company originally concentrated primarily on the creation of game ports for other studios before beginning development of their own software in 1993 with the development of games like Rock n ' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings . In 1994 the company became Chaos Studios , then Blizzard Entertainment , Inc. after being acquired by distributor Davidson & Associates .   Shortly thereafter , Blizzard released Warcraft : Orcs & Humans . Blizzard went on to create several other video games , including Warcraft sequels , the Diablo series , the StarCraft series , and in 2004 the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft . Their most recent projects include the first expansion for Diablo III , Reaper of Souls , the online collectible card game Hearthstone : Heroes of Warcraft , the sixth expansion for World of Warcraft , Legion , the multiplayer online battle arena Heroes of the Storm , the third and final expansion for StarCraft II : Wings of Liberty , Legacy of the Void , and the multiplayer first-person shooter Overwatch .   On July 9 , 2008 , Activision merged with Vivendi Games , culminating in the inclusion of the Blizzard brand name in the title of the resulting holding company . On July 25 , 2013 , Activision Blizzard announced the purchase of 429 million shares from majority owner Vivendi . As a result , Activision Blizzard became a completely independent company .   Blizzard Entertainment hosts conventions for fans to meet and to promote their games : the BlizzCon in California , United States , and the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in other countries , including France and South Korea .