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Warren Spector, Blizzard COO to lead University of Texas game program

Mike Schramm — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:00:00 EST

Developer Warren Spector and Blizzard Entertainment COO Paul Sams will help oversee a new gaming academy being put into place at the University of Texas at Austin. The Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, named after co-founders Wofford Denius, Sams and his wife, will begin in 2014 with only 20 spots for students, and will award a postbaccalaureate certificate rather than a graduate degree, which the school says will help it remain industry-focused.

Spector, the creator of Deus Ex and the Disney Epic Mickey series, will put together the curriculum, which will include a 12-month intensive program where students will make a game themselves. Students selected for admission will also get a tuition waiver and a $10,000 stipend for fees and housing expenses. The program will begin next fall.

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Warren Spector, Blizzard COO to lead University of Texas game program originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 13 May 2013 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Blizzard suing over Korean StarCraft broadcast rights

David Hinkle — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:10:00 EST

According to a report from The Korea Times, Blizzard CEO Paul Sams is none too happy with Korean channels MBC Game and OnGameNet. They've been broadcasting StarCraft tournaments without the company's consent, Sams revealed in a press conference in Seoul yesterday. Last month, Blizzard filed to sue both networks and he says the company is currently considering filing against the Korea e-Sports Players Association (KeSPA) as well, who manage these tournaments. Bupropion seems to be having little effect on the popularity of the game in the country.

The other side of the argument, uh, argues that games used in public tournaments such as these should be considered part of the public domain and Blizzard has no right to charge licensing fees. "StarCraft is not a public domain offering, as Blizzard has invested significant money and resources to create the StarCraft game and the overall StarCraft universe,'' Sams said. "Classifying StarCraft and other e-sports as part of the public domain deprives developers such as Blizzard of their IP rights. There will be no incentive to do what Blizzard had done to balance the games for competition, which is a more difficult task than creating a normal game." Back in August, Blizzard inked a deal to the broadcast rights for StarCraft 2 with GomTV.

Currently, the company is deciding whether to file a preliminary injunction against the broadcasts, which would legally halt all contests until the dispute could be settled in or out of court.

Report: Blizzard suing over Korean StarCraft broadcast rights originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard COO one of the Pittsburgh Steelers' new owners

Ben Gilbert — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EST

Sure, he could buy his own private island or snag a ticket for the first Virgin Galactic flight to space, but Blizzard COO Paul Sams would much rather just buy a chunk of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers' official website names Sams and his family as one of 10 new joint owners of Pittsburgh's football team.

We've already seen some of the fruits of Blizzard's labor in the company's fawncy new campus, but buying a share of a major football team wasn't exactly what we expected. Though with upcoming World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm not too far in the distance and a subscriber base of over 11 million strong, we suggest owners of other football teams watch their backs. You could be next!

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Blizzard COO one of the Pittsburgh Steelers' new owners originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlizzCon 2009: Diablo 3 not yet ruled out for consoles

Kevin Kelly — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:20:00 EST

Blizzard COO Paul Sams mentioned at BlizzCon that they haven't yet ruled out Diablo 3 for consoles. "We've met with the major manufacturers, and they've made some pretty compelling arguments," Sams said. We can safely assume he means Sony and Microsoft, because it's nearly impossible to imagine this game running on the Wii.

Sure, it's what Blizzard says about all of its projects as they relate to consoles and yet, here we are, with nary a Blizzard console game in sight. But Sams did reiterate Blizz's interest saying that we will be seeing its games on consoles in the future. "Whether that's three years from now, five years, I can't say," Sams noted. "But I have no doubt that we'll be making games for consoles."

BlizzCon 2009: Diablo 3 not yet ruled out for consoles originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ex-PopCapper Canessa heading up new Battle.net

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:15:00 EST

Well folks, it took approximately 12 hours to squash the rampant rumors and speculation surrounding Greg Canessa. Bob Colayco of Blizzard Entertainment, Canessa's new employer, informed us today that the man will be taking the reins of Battle.net as project director.

The former VP of game development at PopCap jumped ship recently to work on an "unannounced project in the online space." Apparently that "unannounced project" is a revamping of the Battle.net structure, totally announced last February by Blizzard's own Paul Sams. Colayco clarified Mr. Canessa's role in the project, saying, "He will report to our vice president of online technologies and work closely with the executive team to help fine-tune the next version of Battle.net, currently in development." Speculation officially squashed.

Ex-PopCapper Canessa heading up new Battle.net originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 May 2009 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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