EPT![[image loading]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/thereisnosaurus/makeagamelogo.jpg)
I was all prepped and ready to write something deep and insightful for this week's fun post, but then I read a few articles while waiting for a plane and came up with something different. Today we strap on power armour, heft a bolter in one hand and a gauss rifle in the other and wade into the bloody seas of that perennial fanboy favourite- Blizzard or Games Workshop?
For almost as long as the internet has existed, there has been a cancer creeping across the forums and newsboards of the web, percolating into replies and blossoming into fiery life at conventions and meets across the globe. Perhaps only equalled by the turgid rantings of the Sony vs Microsoft zombies and the cakepie flashpoint.
So deep in the psyche of gamers does this rift run that in the three Starcraft 2 reviews in different publications I read at the airport on my way home from a funeral, all three included a paragraph noting the history of the Blizzard vs GW IP battle. That was enough that I thought I'd have a go myself
The two companies that have had unequalled influence not just on the field of games, but that of fantasy culture in general. Games workshop, from a tiny company producing supplements for games like Dungeons and Dragons and Traveller has grown into an IP empire, covering the fantasy and sci-fi genre with a comprehensiveness equalled only by Star wars. Computer games, card games, boardgames, roleplay games, puzzle games and of course their flagship tabletop wargames all issue from the maw of GW's creative department. And that's not even counting movies, books and conventions.
Blizzard's rise to prominence was similarly just as unlikely and just as precipitous. From somewhat shaky beginnings, the company took off with a bang producing two instant classics- Warcraft and Diablo. From then on it's been uphill all the way, and every title Blizzard has produced in house has been a phenomenon. Like Games Workshop, they have expanded into producing games across all media, though with somewhat less success, however their IP has proved just as popular in prose and comic form and a transition to the silver screen is generally thought to be only a matter of time.
![[image loading]](http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2940/haveyoufinishedcoloredb.jpg)
screw marvel vs capcom, give me some sugar baby...
So what makes these two companies great? They have a clear lead over any other single creative entity in their industries and their intellectual property is among the most valuable on the planet. What do they do right, and what do they do wrong?
It's interesting to read the similarities between the two companies. Both have a long tradition of close cooperation and engagement with their communities of fans, both are unique in hosting a successful company specific, fan centred convention annually. Both have an aesthetically similar pair of science fiction and fantasy settings that they try out many different game structures within. Both have fostered a rich scene of competitive gameplay and have tremendous numbers of passionate, informed fans and take advantage of the creativity of those communities to enrich their formal output. Both are tyrannical in their control over their intellectual property at times. Both, as a bit of trivia, have at one point had signed theme metal bands in their employ. Both have had consistent and powerful artistic direction from a single source (John Blanche and Samwise Didier) Both even have giant bronze statues of iconic figures from their worlds outside their respective headquarters
![[image loading]](http://www.thecontrarianmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/blizzstatp1040918jpg.jpeg)
![[image loading]](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/14/18077075_3712aa1c71.jpg)
At one point GW even had a sort of Madame Tussauds up the back of their headquarters that had a history of their company and everything from life-size terminators and genestealers to a wax-worked imperial guard trench. Blizzard's headquarters is similarly littered with custom memorabilia and creative output. Both companies give an impression of being fiercely proud of what they have produced and creative in the way they express it. It pains me sometimes to read comments that mark one or the other as derivative. I just can't see how you could typecast either of these studios as the sort who would copy someone because they don't have their own good ideas. It's testament to the creative clout that the two companies have generated that they both produce more good ideas than they know what to do with.
Games workshop was founded by Ian Livingstone, now the president of Eidos, and Steve Jackson (no not that Steve Jackson) who now runs Lionhead alongside Peter Molyneux. It subsequently gained the irrepressible Andy Chambers (who ended up being the creative director for Starcraft 2, go figure) and Jervis Johnson (who's still around, understandably as he pioneered two of GW's most successful IP's- bloodbowl and Warhammer 40,000). Games workshop has also signed some of the finest painters and illustrators in the UK, Adrian Smith, John Blanche and Paul Dainton to name just a few
Blizzard, as a younger company and one in more contemporary pursuits, has not suffered the same level of migration as GW, but Ex blizzard designers have taken up leading roles in a plethora of games, most notably those from blizzard north, reinterpreting the boot and loot genre in games like Hellgate and Torchlight. It's interesting to see that unlike GW, Blizzard is still sucking up more talent from their community than losing existing heavyweights to other companies. Perhaps as the company ages this will be something it has to worry about.
As I mentioned above, another similarity/difference between the two companies is their visual artwork. Both companies have had long time creative powerhouses with big personalities and very distinctive styles in Samwise and John. It could perhaps be this that is the root behind the aesthetic differences in GW and Blizzard's output. John Blanche is a classically trained artist, prone to using inks and watercolours. His art is often criticised as arcane, messy and bizzare, but what terms better describe the worlds of warhammer? Didier on the other hand has a bright, bold american comic style, with beefy men and curvy women rendered in a larger than life heroic fashion. Again, sounds pretty Blizzard right?
![[image loading]](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080806045034/starcraft/images/9/94/Marauder_SC2_Cncpt1.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://animewallpapers.lt/albums/DESIM/DarTinka/FANTASY-ART---WarHammer/normal_john_blanche_warhammer_036.jpg)
It is very interesting to look at just how much these two figures have influenced the games they help imagine. It's not just a visual thing. Blanche's artwork is chaotic, dirty and full of intricate detail. Without that detail, many of the ideas that have made warhammer so successful would not have come into being. Along with Johnson and Chambers, he guided the feel of the realms of chaos in their early stages and the initial conception of warhammer 40,000 as a deep, unique universe. The very first ideas and concepts were more modern, punky and (much to the joy of the fanboys) blizzardish. But soon, under the guidance of Blanche. the setting matured into the almost impossibly grand, Ghormenghastian place it is today. The creation story of the Imperium took on aspects of Milton's Paradise Lost- aspects reinforced in the recent series of novels looking at that time, and 40k became the game for informed rebels, an Orwellian future that fit right in with the metal and punk movements of the time
On the other side of the pacific, Didier guided the bright and beautiful art of Blizzard, creating heroic worlds where the player could make a real difference. His character design informed the modelling styles of Warcraft and Starcraft games, particularly when 3d hit with the advent of Warcraft 3 and WoW. Far from Blanche's sombre and classically influenced visions, Didier brought about the visual genre of pop-fantasy almost singlehandedly.
The most amusing thing to me is that now the two companies are actually trending towards each other. While as a whole, Games workshop has retained their gritty, bloodstained aesthetic, their introductory games have trended away from the dirty, mature feel they attained in games like 40k 3rd and 4th editions, necromunda, BFG and fantasy 6th edition to a cartoony feel more reminiscent of blizzard.
From this:
![[image loading]](http://www.gamehobby.net/images/products/warhammer_40000_3rd_edition.jpg)
To this:
![[image loading]](http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1860394_60010199005_BlackReachBoxLid_445x319.jpg)
And vice versa, Blizzard art has become more intricate, technical and full of the little touches that made Blanche's early work so visionary.
From this:
![[image loading]](http://wow.mmodb.com/images/items/renders2/25594-l.jpg)
To this:
![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_eN5HwuUuzII/S-1SfQzZbUI/AAAAAAAAARo/bI6ql4-1vXE/s1600/shadowmourne10596.jpg)
The two companies are, in other words, trending together- and not through influencing each other, but to try and compete. Blizzard's games now have a market so large they can appeal to the mature without needing to worry about parental concerns that come from flaming-vagina-skull shenanigans (not that they're quite to that point yet), while GW's core market is very much the sort to have parents concerned that little Timmy is learning such devotional phrases as BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD. Still, the essences remain in place, and we can be glad of it.
A final note. Sad as it might be for me as a games designer, despite the amazing design both of these companies have generated over the years, it is not their games that will last, but the creative vision behind the worlds that those games produced and the fandom they maintained. Both blizzard and Games workshop novels feature regularly in the NYT bestseller list these days. Regardless of the cross influences and possible occasional idea filched, each company has produced a world that will remain with us as long as those of Tolkien and Lucas do, longer than their games, perhaps.
Till next time
learned stuff i didnt know beforehand 
