Blizzard Entertainment Recruits On Campus
A representative from the influential game studio offered career guidance to students
Summer Ortiz (r) answers questions during a packed Q-&-A session
The name Blizzard Entertainment carries a lot of weight with gamers, as the studio is responsible for such influential franchises as Starcraft, Diablo, and the massive hit World of Warcraft. With that credit list, it’s no surprise that a recent campus visit from Blizzard recruiter Summer Ortiz (Manager, Community Relations and Internal Mobility) drew a massive crowd of students looking to learn more about their career opportunities.
During her visit, Ortiz gave an hour-long presentation covering the wide range of jobs available throughout Blizzard’s different departments, from the creative to the managerial. To put it in perspective, World of Warcraft alone features over 1.5 million visual assets, and 5.5 million lines of code – all of which requires the talent of multiple artists, animators, and audio engineers to support the online role-playing game.
Ortiz showcased some of the most recent projects the company has been working on, with trailers for the eagerly-anticipated Starcraft II and Diablo III. She also displayed concept sketches for the game’s 3D models, and explained their requirements when looking for artists to fit in with Blizzard’s signature style.
“The main thing we look for is acting and emotion with your character,” she said. “You want people to feel a connection to them. Creating mods is also a good way for us to see what you can do, so it’s definitely worth submitting those.”
After a behind the scenes look at Blizzard’s hiring process, she opened the floor to questions. Students quickly lined up, using the opportunity to ask questions about everything from Blizzard employees’ quality of life, to the type of workload they can expect when working on such massive franchises.
“We have pretty tight deadlines for getting our games out,” Ortiz said. “So Full Sail does a good job of preparing you for these schedules. Blizzard also takes very good care of their employees, making sure people are happy and have everything they need to do their best work.”
Final questions covered their freelance opportunities and processes for submitting reels and portfolios, as well as Ortiz’s best piece of advice for breaking into a company like Blizzard after graduation.
“More than anything else, read the job description so you know what you’re applying for,” she said. “Then you can create reels and portfolios based on the art needs of that company. Just taking the time to do something that simple can be a huge help in your career.”
During her visit, Ortiz gave an hour-long presentation covering the wide range of jobs available throughout Blizzard’s different departments, from the creative to the managerial. To put it in perspective, World of Warcraft alone features over 1.5 million visual assets, and 5.5 million lines of code – all of which requires the talent of multiple artists, animators, and audio engineers to support the online role-playing game.
Ortiz showcased some of the most recent projects the company has been working on, with trailers for the eagerly-anticipated Starcraft II and Diablo III. She also displayed concept sketches for the game’s 3D models, and explained their requirements when looking for artists to fit in with Blizzard’s signature style.
“The main thing we look for is acting and emotion with your character,” she said. “You want people to feel a connection to them. Creating mods is also a good way for us to see what you can do, so it’s definitely worth submitting those.”
After a behind the scenes look at Blizzard’s hiring process, she opened the floor to questions. Students quickly lined up, using the opportunity to ask questions about everything from Blizzard employees’ quality of life, to the type of workload they can expect when working on such massive franchises.
“We have pretty tight deadlines for getting our games out,” Ortiz said. “So Full Sail does a good job of preparing you for these schedules. Blizzard also takes very good care of their employees, making sure people are happy and have everything they need to do their best work.”
Final questions covered their freelance opportunities and processes for submitting reels and portfolios, as well as Ortiz’s best piece of advice for breaking into a company like Blizzard after graduation.
“More than anything else, read the job description so you know what you’re applying for,” she said. “Then you can create reels and portfolios based on the art needs of that company. Just taking the time to do something that simple can be a huge help in your career.”
