WotC New WotC President Is World of Warcraft's John Hight

After WotC president Cynthia Williams resigned a couple of months ago, taking up the CEO role at Funko, we've been waiting to hear who her replacement will be.

WotC has now announced that John Hight--who previously managed the World of Warcraft franchise for Blizzard Entertainment--is taking over. Like Williams, Hight comes from a video gaming background.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said "I admire John’s career focus on fostering community. He is a true embodiment of our mission to bring people together through play. John’s love of D&D and Magic: The Gathering, combined with his leadership in video games, will be crucial as we expand our digital offerings to deliver what our fans crave."

Hight worked at Blizzard for 12 years, on both World of Warcraft and Diablo. According to Business Wire, his role includes oversight of Hasbro's network of gaming studios and digital licensing agreements.

 

[Parmandur]

Doesn't it say something that people even need to ASK whether Hight had a part to play in the misconduct? Like, I can't find anything in google connecting his name to any of the scandals, and given the history at Blizzard, is there any way Hasbro would have hired him without a thorough professional background check? Isn't it likely Microsoft performed their own investigations post-acquisition to make sure those bad eggs were removed as liabilities as well? I think if there was cause for concern, one wouldn't need to ask. You'd find a paper trail and already know.

Well, I'd say that is somewhat optimistic, but we are unlikely to ever know.

 

[Zaukrie]

THE SKY IS FALLING.

didn't read the comments, but I'm guessing 1/4 of them say that, without knowing the first thing about the new person. That certainly seems to be what YT wants to feed me (i'm done with the click baity channels, and am actively telling YT to stop recommending them to me anymore. So tedious).

 

[Aldarc]

They're doing it progressively. My day one Alliance guild now has Horde members in it, for instance, and all or almost all (I don't remember which) instanced content can now be done cross-faction.

I would guess we're an expansion away, at most, from everyone being able to group together all of the time. It wouldn't shock me if that was part of the surprise 20th anniversary updates we're getting this November. (Blizzard has been quietly recreating all of the old world assets with modern graphical quality for several years now and hasn't deployed them, which seems like a plan to drop it all at once on the 20th anniversary.)

I'm not sure about it. I think that Metzen may be the sort who would want to walk that back, as there have been some things found in the War Within beta that hint at future faction conflict... again...

 

[Nikosandros]

Yes, Hight's background is very interesting, but my only question is this: how does he feel about the quasi-elemental planes? Will he end decades of unjust oblivion and restore Ash and Minerals to their glorious and rightful place in D&D cosmology?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Then don’t. But you ain’t got to act like this about it.

A ‘sorry don’t have the time right now’ would have been sufficient.

I'm glad that would have been for you, and it's good of you to say that!

However:

Has this ever stopped the 'write me an essay or I will harass you forever' traditions of Enworld?

Has been mostly my experience in the past. I will say it's worse on some other places than ENworld, esp. these days. I get that's not where you were going now, but it's very hard to predict ahead of time.

 

[bedir than]

Light reading

Blizzard settles with Cali for $54 million

California settles Activision Blizzard gender discrimination lawsuit for $54 million

In the meantime, Microsoft bought ActiBlizz for $68 billion.

www.theverge.com

Blizzard settles with US EOC for $18 million

Judge approves Activision Blizzard’s $18 million harassment settlement

The settlement has been approved.

www.theverge.com

Blizzards settles with US SEC for $35 million

Activision Blizzard Will Pay SEC $35 Million To Settle Claims

The video game giant was scrutinized by the federal agency for how it disclosed information to its investors.

www.forbes.com

One of the Jane Doe lawsuits

Activision Blizzard is once again being sued for sexual harassment | TechCrunch

For over a year, Activision Blizzard employees have protested against the company's poor handling of ongoing sexual harassment allegations.

techcrunch.com

Den of Geek overview

Everything You Need To Know About The Activision Blizzard Scandal

Activision Blizzard is at the center of an investigation that has changed the gaming industry. Here's what you need to know about this historic event.

www.denofgeek.com

Now, I don't see Hight mentioned in these. I just browsed quickly. But for those who want to read more those five links include dozens more, each.

 

[KYRON45]

Does everyone here scrutinize every company they buy things from with this much intensity?

 

[Zaukrie]

Does everyone here scrutinize every company they buy things from with this much intensity?

No.

 

[Scribe]

Light reading

Well then. I thought it was just one settlement!

 

[Malmuria]

Does everyone here scrutinize every company they buy things from with this much intensity?

I'm sure anyone who is on a discussion forum dedicated to a specific product is as highly invested in all aspects of that product.