Blizzards Former Heads Talk About What They Have Cooking At Magic Soup Games

Given the founders' backgrounds, there is reason to be excited about what these three are planning.

Three former Blizzard Entertainment executives have formed a new game company, Magic Soup Games.

The three leaders are respectively J. Allen Breck, John Donham and Jane O'Neill. Oneal is the CEO of the company. They say they are a team of five and call themselves chefs. In Jen's words:

“Everyone who is part of Sopa Mágica is called a chef out of respect for their skill and discipline. And we are a beginner, we did all the dishes.

In an interview with VentureBeat, the three shared details about the company, but also talked a little about their experiences at Blizzard.

All three are veteran game developers and executives who held senior positions at Blizzard when issues of inclusion and diversity were first tackled.

As summarized by GameSpot, J. Allen Breck was president when the company faced a harassment and discrimination lawsuit. He left the company and Jen Onall took his place along with Mike Ybar. However, Jen herself left after three months due to problems with Blizzard. John Donham served as Chief of Staff and Vice President of Special Projects for one year from 2019 to 2020.

These details are important because the three have stayed in touch since leaving Blizzard and found not only that they still had something to contribute to the industry, but that their visions were moving in the same direction.

Jay Allen Breck shares this story.

“I remember Jen and I having dinner a year ago. As the evening drew to a close, we struck up a conversation about what we wanted to build next. When I put my #1 game idea on the table. 1 and Jen put their game idea, #1, on the table. 1 was essentially the same game. We both sat on the chairs and said nothing, just thought. We didn't know it at the time, but it was our "diaper changing moment" that led to what we are talking about today. There is power in having a shared vision, not only of the game we want to create, but also of the culture we want to create."

Jay Allen Breck also takes his Blizzard experience seriously.

“I thought a lot about my role in managing cultural change. I heard and read many personal stories and opinions about which was better. As a leader and as a person, he encouraged my commitment to continuous improvement.

I continue to believe that Blizzard can once again be a haven of creativity with a positive culture for all employees, and I know there are many good people who put their energy into it.”

Notably, Magic Soup Games is a startup, not a big new studio backed by bigger companies like Amazon or Tencent. John explains why the three decided to start over.

“Developing any game is difficult, but a startup is a different matter than making games at big, well-known companies. We have a lot of energy and passion to create games. We are very happy to do it together. And we believe that we can build something substantial."

Magic Soup Games is still keeping the details of their projects under wraps, but given the company's pedigree, there's reason to be excited about what these three are up to. You can read the full interview here and learn more about his take on the industry.