Blizzard Entertainment

Logo descriptions by LogosForTheWin and CuriousGeorge60 Logo captures and editions by CuriousGeorge60 Video captures courtesy of Pccollection, corgrath, djkag2006, ToToo088, SimonFriberg, WillTurner18, gentlenoiz, and eventzz

Background: Blizzard Entertainment, formerly "Silicon & Synapse", was founded on February 8, 1991 by Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce, being renamed to its current name in 1994 shortly after being sued by Interplay. In July 2008, it merged with Activision to become Activision Blizzard, but it still remains a subsidiary of it. They're best known for creating the Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft franchises, all of which have become worldwide hits.

Silicon & Synapse

(1991-1994) Silicon & Synapse (1992)Silicon & Synapse/Software Creations (1993)

Logo: We see a crystallized rectangle. On the left of the rectangle is a brain wearing sunglasses with its arms and legs crossed in a crystallized style. On the right is "Silicon & Synapse" in a crystallized styled font.

Variant: On the SNES version of Rock n' Roll Racing, the Software Creations logo is shown in the bottom right corner.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None, or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Appears on games throughout the era like The Lost Vikings and Rock N' Roll Racing (the Genesis version of the latter title however, has the Blizzard logo instead).

Editor's Note: None.

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Blizzard Entertainment

1st Logo (1994-1995) Blizzard Entertainment (1994)Blizzard Entertainment (1995) (The Lost Vikings II Variant)Blizzard Entertainment (1994)

Logo: On a black background, we see the text "BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT", with "BLIZZARD" in a jagged blue font, and "ENTERTAINMENT" in a straight light-blue font.

Variants: On the Sega 32X version of BlackThrone, the logo is in CGI and has a spotlight-like effect. Plus, "ENTERTAINMENT" is in a different font and it's a bit bigger than before. On the SNES version of The Lost Vikings II, the main characters of the game, Erik, Baleog and Olaf, fall onto the logo and become dizzy. FX/SFX: None. The animation on The Lost Vikings II variant.

Music/Sounds: A long, quiet "whoosh." Sometimes, the opening theme of the game is heard.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the Genesis version of The Death and Return of Superman, it's silent.

Availability: Appears on Warcraft: Orcs & Humans for MS-DOS and Mac OS. It also appears on The Death and Return of Superman for Genesis and SNES, Justice League: Task Force for SNES, and other Blizzard games throughout the era.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1995-1998)

Logo: On a black background, we see the word "BLIZZARD", in the same jagged blue font as the last logo, fly in from the bottom-left side of the screen. It stops in the center, and a white spark zooms across the screen from left to right, forming the word "ENTERTAINMENT", this time in blue.

FX/SFX: Good CGI for its time.

Music/Sounds: A big, loud "whoosh", followed by a "boom"-like sound that trails off, and some "twinkling."

Availability: Easier to find than the last logo, but still pretty rare. Can be found on Warcraft II and Diablo. It appears on the PlayStation versions of said titles as well.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1998)

Logo: On a black background, we see a bunch of wavy lines moving around in the middle of the screen. After a few seconds, "BLIZZARD" appears, the wavy lines disappear, and "ENTERTAINMENT" fades in below.

Variant: On the Nintendo 64 version of StarCraft (known as StarCraft 64), it's a still logo.

FX/SFX: The wavy lines, done in really cool effects. None for the still variant.

Music/Sounds: Various electric sounds, followed by a small "whoosh", a loud "slam" when "ENTERTAINMENT" appears, and quiet "twinkling." For the still variant, the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Rare. Seen only on StarCraft for Windows, Mac OS, and Nintendo 64.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (2000-2002)

Logo: On a black background, we see multiple blue lights emitting though the background, much like the 1997 Activision logo. After a few seconds, the lights slowly come together, revealing a black Blizzard logo. "ENTERTAINMENT" shines below the Blizzard logo, and the screen flashes, causing the Blizzard logo to turn blue, and the lights to disappear.

FX/SFX: Nice animation. Unlike the animation in the previous Blizzard logos, it still holds up to this very day.

Music/Sounds: Cracking sounds when the lights are emitting and coming together, a "whoosh" when "ENTERTAINMENT" appears, a "slam", and quiet "twinkling."

Availability: Seen on Diablo II and Warcraft III.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (2001)

Logo: On a black background, we see a bunch of white lines tracing the Blizzard logo. After about six seconds, the lines disappear, and the Blizzard Entertainment logo appears.

FX/SFX: The tracing lines.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the trailer.

Availability: Seen only on the first trailer for the famous MMORPG, World of Warcraft.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (2003)

Logo: On a black background, we see a huge blue/purple light shine across the screen from top-right to center. The light then disappears, revealing the Blizzard Entertainment logo.

FX/SFX: The shining light.

Music/Sounds: A big "whoosh."

Availability: Seen on the trailer for the unreleased third-person shooter, StarCraft: Ghost.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (November 23, 2004)

Logo: On a smokey yellow background, the text "TEN YEARS", with a red/orange light shining over it from right to left, fades in. After about four seconds, the text fades out, and more text, reading "OF WARCRAFT", with a registered trademark next to "WARCRAFT" and another red/orange light shining over the text from right to left, fades in. After about seven seconds, it fades out, and yet another red/orange light appears, once again shining from right to left, slowly revealing the Blizzard Entertainment logo, this time in gold instead of blue. Once the logo is fully revealed, the light disappears, and the Blizzard Entertainment logo slowly fades out.

FX/SFX: Impressive animation, clocking the logo in at about twenty-five seconds.

Music/Sounds: A low synth note held throughout, accompanied by some loud "whooshes", a choir, and a loud "slam" when the Blizzard Entertainment logo is fully revealed.

Availability: Common. Seen on the famous MMORPG, World of Warcraft.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Logo (January 16, 2007)

Logo: On a black background, the gold Blizzard Entertainment logo from before slowly fades in. When it completely fades in, it flashes, and then slowly fades out.

FX/SFX: The fading and flashing. Pretty disappointing compared to the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the game, accompanied by some "whooshes."

Availability: Seen on the World of Warcraft expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

Editor's Note: None.

9th Logo (2007)

Logo: An extended remake of the 3rd logo: We start out by seeing some blue static. The static disappears, and we see a big explosion of blue light. The light suddenly zooms to the center of the screen and starts forming the Blizzard logo. Once the logo is completely formed, the light disappears, and "ENTERTAINMENT" fades in below. After a few seconds, more blue static appears, and disappears very quickly, much like a TV being turned off.

FX/SFX: Again, excellent animation.

Music/Sounds: Various futuristic sounds and vague whispers of the company name.

Availability: Seen on the trailer for StarCraft II.

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo (2008)

Logo: On a black background, we see purple cracks appearing on various parts of the screen and coming together. As the camera rotates and zooms out, the cracks are revealed to be forming the Blizzard logo. Once the Blizzard logo is completely formed, the cracks disappear, the logo turns blue, and "ENTERTAINMENT" appears below.

FX/SFX: Once again, very good animation.

Music/Sounds: Cracking sounds when the cracks are forming, and "whooshing" when the cracks disappear.

Availability: Seen on the trailer for the StarCraft II expansion pack, StarCraft II Zerg (later re-titled StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm).

Editor's Note: None.

11th Logo (2008- )

TBA

12th Logo (Diablo III Variant) (2012)

Logo: On a white cloth, the camera rotates around a frozen red substance splatter with the Blizzard Entertainment logo formed on it. There's also a string above the logo.

FX/SFX: The camera moving, the effects of illumination.

Music/Sounds: An ominous sound, and a man saying "And the end of days...". All are part of the intro of the game.

Availability: Seen on the intro of Diablo III.

Editor's Note: None.