David Brevik is a legend in the gaming industry. He's usually accredited with spearheading Diablo 2's development into the direction of becoming a historical landmark in gaming. Well, news recently broke that Brevik's latest work with Gazillion Entertainment has come to an end.
Gamespot is reporting that David Brevik has left Gazillion Entertainment, where he worked as the CEO. Dave Dohrmann from the board of directors has been named the interim CEO until they find a replacement. According to VentureBeat the split was on good terms and there's no bad blood between Brevik and Gazillion.
In an statement issued on the matter, the former Marvel Heroes CEO explains where he stands on the split after working at Gazillion for six and a half years:
It was my first opportunity to work on a live-service product and interact with our amazing community and it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I'm very proud of all the work our talented team has done together. Though the time has come for me to move on, I'm excited about the future of Marvel Heroes and look forward to what’s next from studio director Jeff Lind and the team.
Gazillion Entertainment also issued a response, stating that they were proud of the work that David Brevik accomplished on Marvel Heroes 2015, which was the iteration of the Marvel Heroes game that gained a lot of attention and press.
David Brevik had previously come from out of the Blizzard wheelhouse of development, originally helping make games like Diablo a household name before moving on. Some of you might remember the infamous incident involving former Diablo 3 design director Jay Wilson saying to “F*ck that loser” in that leaked Facebook post that managed to make its way around the internet.
Brevik handled the situation well enough, using it to put some eyes and attention on Marvel Heroes, which was actually a spiritual successor to Diablo 2. The game itself is an isometric, hack-and-slash style, MMOARPG. Gamers get to assume the role of some of their most cherished heroes from the Marvel comic book universe, brought to life on screen in the form of 3D characters.
The gameplay of Marvel Heroes could almost be described as a mix of Marvel Ultimate Alliance fused with Diablo. The game has been generally received with positive reviews due to its depth, constantly expanding content, and the deep library of skins and options made available for the heroes in the game. But that was only after the soft re-launch as Marvel Heroes 2015 – the initial release of the game had some rather unfavorable feedback.
However, much like every other MMO out there, the game was improved, updated, and patched to finally come up to par. It does seem odd that, after the successful relaunch, Brevik would part ways with the company now that the game is finally hitting its stride.
The articles don't say exactly what David Brevik has planned next following his departure from Gazillion. It wouldn't be surprising if he took some time off away from the business to get his bearings before diving back into the thick of things.
