Ben Brode
Brode wearing plaid and sitting behind a microphone against a background with BlizzCon logos
Brode at BlizzCon 2013
OccupationVideo game designer
Employer(s)Blizzard Inc. (2003–2018)
Second Dinner (2018–present)
Known forLead designer of Hearthstone (2015–2018)

Ben Brode is an American video game designer. He was the game director and public face of Hearthstone until 2018 when he left to found his own game studio, Second Dinner, where he is now Chief Development Officer.

Life and career

Brode joined Blizzard Entertainment as a video game tester at the age of 20, working on Warcraft III and World of Warcraft, a position in which he worked for a total of 18 months before becoming Environment Test Lead.[1][2] During his work testing these games he spent time making custom maps for Warcraft III, one of which became 'Map of the Week' and was released to the wider community. Brode began looking for a new position at Blizzard, including applying for a position as a designer on StarCraft II, before finding himself in a creative position on the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.[2]

Brode became lead designer of Hearthstone in 2015, and was promoted to game director later in the year.[2] While working on Hearthstone, Brode was the public face of the game, giving interviews,[3] responding to player feedback, explaining game concepts,[4] and providing updates on the game's development.[2][5][6] When the Journey To Un'Goro expansion was released without an accompanying song, he recorded his own at the community's request.[7]

After 15 years working at Blizzard, Brode left the company in 2018 to start his own game development studio called Second Dinner along with several other ex-Blizzard employees.[1][8][9] Brode is the Chief Development Officer at the company.[10] In 2019 the company announced that it had received a US$30 million investment from NetEase, along with the license to create a mobile game for Marvel.[3] The game, Marvel Snap, was first revealed in May 2022, for mobile devices and personal computers.[11] In designing Marvel Snap, Brode said he was directly inspired by his experiences working on the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game and Hearthstone - he wanted to make a card game that was quicker to play and had a lower barrier to entry.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b Chalk, Andy (20 April 2018). "Hearthstone game director Ben Brode is leaving Blizzard". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Winkie, Luke (31 January 2018). "The unstoppable rise of Hearthstone's Ben Brode". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b Wilson, Jason (3 January 2019). "Ben Brode's Second Dinner orders a Marvel license and $30 million from NetEase". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  4. ^ Wilson, Jason (9 October 2017). "Hearthstone boss Ben Brode gives me new insight on what 'casual' means". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  5. ^ Prescott, Shaun (9 August 2016). "Hearthstone lead designer explains why new Priest card is so bad". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Hearthstone's Ben Brode: "If you knew how good a card is by looking at it, we wouldn't need a balance team"". PC Gamer. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  7. ^ Winkie, Luke (5 August 2019). "Every Hearthstone expansion ranked by its theme song". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  8. ^ Wood, Austin (12 July 2018). "Ben Brode's new studio is called Second Dinner". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  9. ^ Schreier, Jason (3 January 2019). "A Bunch Of Former Top Hearthstone Designers Are Making A Marvel Game". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  10. ^ Notis, Ari (16 January 2023). "Why you can't trade cards in Marvel Snap". Polygon. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  11. ^ Leone, Matt (19 May 2022). "Marvel Snap is a new card game from ex-Hearthstone devs". Polygon. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  12. ^ "'I craved a bite-size experience': Ben Brode on the making of Marvel Snap". the Guardian. 11 November 2022. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  13. ^ Liao, Shannon (15 December 2022). "'Marvel Snap' developer was inspired by friend's mishap while gaming on the toilet". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023.

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