Who Founded Activision Blizzard?

Born in 1944, Levy earned his B.S. and M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University. As a music-industry executive, he recognized that game designers should be credited like recording artists. He co-founded Activision in 1979 as its first CEO, leading the company through its early rapid growth and its 1983 public offering. He stepped down in 1986. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Born in 1953, Crane earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the DeVry Institute of Technology. After working as a programmer at Atari, he left to co-found Activision in 1979 to secure better pay and creative recognition. He designed some of the company's biggest early hits, including the massively successful Pitfall!, before leaving in 1986 to co-found Absolute Entertainment. David Crane was born in 1953.

Born in 1949, Kaplan earned a B.A. in computer science from UC Berkeley. As an early Atari programmer, he helped create several popular games before leaving to co-found Activision in 1979. He designed the hit game Kaboom! for the Atari 2600. He left Activision in 1982 to briefly return to Atari and later worked at other technology companies. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Miller earned a degree in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley. After developing games for Atari, he grew dissatisfied with the lack of creator recognition and co-founded Activision in 1979. He designed several successful early titles before leaving the company in 1984 to co-found Accolade with Bob Whitehead. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Whitehead earned a degree in mathematics from San Jose State University. He joined Atari as a programmer and created several early console games before leaving to co-found Activision in 1979 in pursuit of better compensation and creative credit. He developed several hits for the company before leaving in 1984 to co-found Accolade with Alan Miller. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Adham earned his undergraduate degree from UCLA. In 1991, he co-founded Silicon & Synapse, which would later be renamed Blizzard Entertainment. As lead designer and executive, he guided the creation of foundational franchises including Warcraft and StarCraft. He left the company in 2004 to pursue a career in finance but returned to Blizzard in 2016 as an executive producer. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Born in 1967, Morhaime earned a bachelor's degree from UCLA. In 1991, he co-founded Silicon & Synapse with Allen Adham and Frank Pearce. He served as the president and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment for over two decades, overseeing the launch of World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo. He stepped down as president in 2018 and co-founded Dreamhaven in 2020.

Education: University of California, Los Angeles.

Morhaime was born on November 3, 1967. He sat on the Vivendi Games executive committee from January 1999, when Blizzard became a Vivendi Games subsidiary, until July 2008. He later founded Dreamhaven, a games company based in Irvine, California, where he is chief executive. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

Pearce earned a bachelor's degree from UCLA. He co-founded Silicon & Synapse in 1991 with Allen Adham and Michael Morhaime. As Chief Development Officer of Blizzard Entertainment, he played a crucial role in overseeing the development of World of Warcraft and other major franchises. He stepped down from his leadership role at Blizzard in 2019. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).