Warcraft creative guru Chris Metzen returns to Blizzard in advisory role

The voice of Thrall and longtime creative voice for the world of World of Warcraft is coming home. Announced earlier today by SVP and General Manager of the Warcraft franchise John Hight, former Warcraft and World of Warcraft creative designer Chris Metzen returns to the MMORPG franchise in a Creative Advisor role. The announcement comes from social media, along with a message from Hight about Metzen's return and his influence on the franchise from the beginning.

"Chris's focus initially will be on World of Warcraft, then his work will expand to other projects across this growing franchise," said Hight in the statement. The return Warcraft return by Chris Metzen isn't his first WoW role since his retirement from Blizzard in September of 2016. In addition to serving as the voice of Thrall in World of Warcraft, Metzen also had a cameo role in the somewhat maligned Warcraft live-action film.

Metzen's Warcraft work dates back to the beginning of the franchise. Works include serving as Creative Director for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, illustration and graphic design work for the overall Warcraft series, and numerous novelizations that serve as the backbone to World of Warcraft canon. His non-Blizzard work includes a number of graphic novels under IDW Publishing and its Transformers line of comics.

The return of Chris Metzen marks a significant good faith move by Blizzard. This should make fans of WoW happy, while also reveals moves for the future. The statement makes remarks about "other projects across the franchise," meaning that more Warcraft could be coming at some point in the future. Whether this means new Warcraft-centric, non-WoW games or a long-rumored reboot of the Warcraft film franchise, longtime fans should rest easy knowing Metzen is involved.

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