At least one major World of Warcraft developer has left Blizzard for good and one is on leave for the imprecise future. Senior Director for Story & Creative Development James Waugh has departed on good terms from the company while Lead Quest Designer Craig Amai is on leave for an indeterminate amount of time.
James Waugh wrote via Twitter:
Goodbye, Blizzard. It was a joy making the most epic entertainment experiences... ever with you. What a journey!
Craig Amai wrote on his personal blog:
I'm lucky to have found Blizzard, lucky to have had the opportunity to design quests, and lucky to have met so many wonderful souls in my time working on WoW. I'm still lucky, to have so many people from such a respected and impressive company express such eagerness to welcome me back when I'm ready. And I'm lucky to have this beautiful family of mine supporting me through all of this, making any claim of 'alone' kind of a blatant lie.
These announcements come during a big week for now ex-Blizzard employees. Earlier in the week, Rob Pardo and friends revealed their new company and Chris Metzen departed the company.
You can read more at the links above. We'll keep you posted as the stories develop.
