Hearthstone director Ben Brode leaves Blizzard after 15 years

Hearthstone game director Ben Brode is leaving Blizzard Entertainment, wrapping up 15 years the company.

Brode has, like other Blizzard game directors, become the public face of the title for much of the titles fanbase, and has been working on Hearthstone for the last ten years. Brode joined the company when he was 20, and worked in QA for Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft before bouncing up the ranks.

His LinkedIn currently has him listed as ??? at ???, based in Tustin, California. This sheds very little light on his new plans, but in a blog post discussing his departure, Brode says: "I’m going to help start a new company. We’ll probably make games, but we haven’t figured anything else out, yet. I’m looking forward to designing, programming, and actually creating things again. I’m going to miss the on-campus Starbucks, though. Dang."

He also says that he gets too much credit on the game, because of his role as the public face of the title.

"I get too much credit by virtue of being a public face, but the 80+ people on the development team are still there, and they are the ones actually making the cards, brawls, events, missions, and features," he said, in a blog post announcing his departure.

"I am confident the game is in the best possible hands, and I’m excited to see where a new generation of leaders takes Hearthstone from here."