TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 1,997
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Somebody does have to make the next one, after all.
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Today at GDC, San Francisco's annual summit of games industry professionals, former Blizzard chief creative officer Rob Pardo delivered this year's keynote address, sharing a lessons learned from a game development career spanning from his days as lead designer on Starcraft: Brood War and Warcraft 3 to founding his own studio at Bonfire, developers of the recently revealed Arkheron.
Throughout his hour-long keynote, Pardo reiterated that—despite the fact that he worked on some of history's most celebrated, enduring games—even he can't say with certainty what makes a hit. But as he closed his address, he directed a message at industry executives: If your developers have already delivered a success, the best way to repeat it is by keeping those developers on the payroll.
That wisdom might seem self-evident, but this is the business that recently laid off Battlefield 6 developers after they had delivered a game that sold 7 million copies in three days and was one of the most-played releases of 2025. That's only the latest in a long line of demonstrations that the games industry is all too happy to reward massive success with loss of employment.
"To those of you who are executives or business leaders, I will leave you with one final thought: If you create a game that truly endures, it's incredibly difficult. And if you're fortunate enough to launch one of those games, the rewards can be extraordinary," Pardo said. "But in my experience, if you built a game like that, you also built an incredible team. And personally, I think the game team is more valuable than the game itself."
That value, Pardo had earlier explained, comes from the fact that behind every successful game, there was a development cycle with its own series of unforeseeable setbacks, well-intentioned missteps, and necessity-driven solutions, and we only see the results of that work: "All of the mistakes, the learning, and the north stars that led the team to the final product are long buried," he said.
As an example, Pardo said that Blizzard's initial concept for Warcraft 3 was even more focused on heroes and smaller-scale conflict, something that the team eventually had to admit to itself wasn't working. But while that original concept was abandoned, its successful elements—an emphasis on heroes, leveling, and items—became some o...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Today at GDC, San Francisco's annual summit of games industry professionals, former Blizzard chief creative officer Rob Pardo delivered this year's keynote address, sharing a lessons learned from a game development career spanning from his days as lead designer on Starcraft: Brood War and Warcraft 3 to founding his own studio at Bonfire, developers of the recently revealed Arkheron.
Throughout his hour-long keynote, Pardo reiterated that—despite the fact that he worked on some of history's most celebrated, enduring games—even he can't say with certainty what makes a hit. But as he closed his address, he directed a message at industry executives: If your developers have already delivered a success, the best way to repeat it is by keeping those developers on the payroll.
That wisdom might seem self-evident, but this is the business that recently laid off Battlefield 6 developers after they had delivered a game that sold 7 million copies in three days and was one of the most-played releases of 2025. That's only the latest in a long line of demonstrations that the games industry is all too happy to reward massive success with loss of employment.
"To those of you who are executives or business leaders, I will leave you with one final thought: If you create a game that truly endures, it's incredibly difficult. And if you're fortunate enough to launch one of those games, the rewards can be extraordinary," Pardo said. "But in my experience, if you built a game like that, you also built an incredible team. And personally, I think the game team is more valuable than the game itself."
That value, Pardo had earlier explained, comes from the fact that behind every successful game, there was a development cycle with its own series of unforeseeable setbacks, well-intentioned missteps, and necessity-driven solutions, and we only see the results of that work: "All of the mistakes, the learning, and the north stars that led the team to the final product are long buried," he said.
As an example, Pardo said that Blizzard's initial concept for Warcraft 3 was even more focused on heroes and smaller-scale conflict, something that the team eventually had to admit to itself wasn't working. But while that original concept was abandoned, its successful elements—an emphasis on heroes, leveling, and items—became some o...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?