Michael Morhaime was born on November 3, 1967. He is an American video game developer and business leader. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, a company based in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known for co-founding and serving as president of Blizzard Entertainment, a company that is now owned by Activision Blizzard, Inc. Blizzard Entertainment was originally created in 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse. From January 1999 to July 2008, Morhaime was a member of the executive leadership team at Vivendi Games, which owned Blizzard Entertainment during that time.

Early life and education

Morhaime was born into a Jewish family and graduated from Granada Hills High School in 1985. He was also a member of Triangle Fraternity and earned his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1990 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

In sixth grade, Morhaime, along with his brother and sister, bought a video game console called the Bally Professional Arcade, which was first released in 1978. He learned that the console could be programmed and taught himself to write simple games on it by using example programming code from a gaming newsletter.

While studying Electrical Engineering at UCLA, Morhaime focused more on hardware than on software. "I procrastinated a lot," he admitted. His perspective changed after he worked at an internship at a microchip company in San Jose. During the internship, he studied circuit design, and when he returned to school, he was ahead of his computer architecture class. "I used to be the guy that sat in the back," he said, but after his time in Silicon Valley, he added, "I started sitting up front."

Career

While at UCLA, Morhaime became friends with Allen Adham after discovering they both used the same computer password, "Joe." After graduating, Adham encouraged Morhaime to decline a job offer from Western Digital and instead start a company called Silicon & Synapse in February 1991. The company later changed its name to Blizzard Entertainment. They hired their friend Frank Pearce, who was also a UCLA graduate, and rented a small office in Irvine, California, to be near other technology businesses.

In 1995, Blizzard released Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, which became their first game to sell the most copies. Morhaime said this game helped make Blizzard well-known. It was also the first game that allowed players to compete online with a good experience, which was something new at the time and became an important feature for later games.

When planning to release World of Warcraft (WoW) in late 2004, Morhaime believed the game, which required players to pay a monthly fee, would not sell quickly. He said they thought the fee might discourage people from buying the game. All of Blizzard’s decisions about making and promoting the game were based on this belief. However, to their surprise, WoW sold very quickly, and Blizzard struggled to meet the high demand. Morhaime said they worked very hard to keep up with the demand for the first year. As of 2010, World of Warcraft had about 11 million subscribers. In 2017, Morhaime earned $12.3 million as the CEO of Blizzard.

On October 3, 2018, Morhaime announced he would leave his role as president and CEO of the company and instead become an advisor. He was replaced by J. Allen Brack, who was the executive producer of World of Warcraft. Morhaime’s advisory role ended on April 7, 2019.

In 2020, Morhaime started a new video game company called Dreamhaven, based in Irvine, California. The company has two internal studios: Secret Door and Moonshot Games.

In 2025, Dreamhaven released its first games developed internally: Sunderfolk, a cooperative tactical RPG by Secret Door, which came out on April 23 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. Also released was Wildgate, a crew-based space-shooter by Moonshot Games, which launched on July 22 for Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Controversy

In July 2021, after Morhaime left Blizzard, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) sued Activision Blizzard. The lawsuit claimed the company allowed sexual harassment and discrimination based on gender, including unequal pay and punishing female workers for speaking up.

At the same time, former employees shared their experiences. A former manager from FXOpen Esports, a competitive gaming company, described an event at a Blizzard holiday party. A senior creative director kissed her in front of other employees, including Morhaime, who was then Blizzard’s president and CEO. Morhaime was not named in the lawsuit, but some employees confirmed he was present at events where the alleged misconduct occurred. Morhaime later apologized on Twitter, saying he felt “ashamed” after the lawsuit was announced.

Honors and awards

In 2008, Morhaime was added to the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. That same year, Morhaime received an award at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Blizzard's development of World of Warcraft. Morhaime is one of only three designers or producers who have received awards at both the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Interactive Achievement Awards, along with Don Daglow of Stormfront Studios and John Carmack of id Software.

In 2012, Morhaime was given the national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Technology category. In 2019, Morhaime was honored with the 2019 Honor Award at Gamelab Barcelona, Spain, for his achievements in the gaming industry.

Multimedia

In 2012, Morhaime appeared briefly in The Guild, an online show that follows the lives of gamers playing an online game called an MMORPG, which includes characters and events from World of Warcraft. He is well-known for his contributions to the gaming community and also worked on the 2016 movie Warcraft: The Beginning.

Personal life

In 2010, Morhaime married his long-time girlfriend, Amy Chen. In 2017, Morhaime purchased a mansion in a gated community in Rancho Mirage, Riverside County, California, for $2.25 million. He is a member of Elite Tauren Chieftain, a metal band formed by Blizzard employees, where he plays bass guitar.