Europe’s largest video game festival honors Kaplan for his exceptional career—recognizing his contributions to the industry as current game director of Blizzard’s Overwatch® and former director of World of Warcraft®—during its 7th annual event, taking place this December in Bilbao, Spain

Fun & Serious, the largest video game festival in Europe, today announced that it will recognize Blizzard Entertainment’s Jeff Kaplan with an Honorary Award at its 7th annual event, taking place from 8 to 11 December in Bilbao, Spain. Kaplan is being recognized for his career and achievements that include work on two of the most successful video game franchises—as game director of Overwatch®, Blizzard’s first-person shooter with more than 35 million players worldwide, and former game director of World of Warcraft®, the company’s acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

During the traditional Awards Presentation Gala at the Guggenheim Museum, Fun & Serious will not only recognize the importance of Kaplan’s career and achievements, but also the significant role Blizzard Entertainment has played in the industry—responsible for some of the most epic, entertaining, and successful games in history, including the Warcraft®, Diablo®, and StarCraft® series.

Kaplan joined Blizzard as part of the World of Warcraft team in 2002 as one of the first two quest designers. He played a vital role in developing the game’s vision and overall direction, eventually becoming game director. In 2008, he moved to a new development team at Blizzard as lead designer on an unannounced project. In the wake of that project’s cancellation, he led the team toward the concept and design for a new game, Overwatch, which was released to global acclaim in 2016.

Alfonso Gómez, head of the Fun & Serious Festival, says: “Presenting an award to a figure like Kaplan—both in his capacity as a creator and leader at the company he represents, Blizzard—is a cause for considerable pride and reflects the key role that Fun & Serious plays as a worldwide point of reference for the video game industry.”

In addition to his attendance at the Awards Presentation Gala, Kaplan will take part in VIT Talks—a series of talks led by experts on video games, innovation, and the latest trends, which will be organized within the framework of the festival and will bring many influential names from the industry in contact with the public.

Over the last seven years, the Fun & Serious Festival has become a key meeting forum for the industry, based on the aim of raising video game creation to the status of an art form, much like the realms of film and music. In this respect, it seeks to recognize the importance of an industry that expects to generate some $4.6 billion USD in profits in 2017, reaching an audience of more than 665 million users.

____________________________________________________________________________

BILBAO | Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Palace of Euskalduna and Bilbao City Hall

From 8 to 11 December 2017

Press Contact: Ana Calleja Vieites // ana.calleja@ziran.es // +34 617676995

About the Fun & Serious Game Festival

The Fun & Serious Game Festival, to be held from 8 to 11 December in Bilbao, is the largest video-game festival in Europe and a key meeting-point for the industry as a whole.

The event's mission is to recognize and promote the work of video-game producers, directors, artists and developers, based on a comprehensive program of conferences, roundtables, networking and activities, aimed at both companies and the general public. As is customary each year, the Festival will conclude with an exclusive Grand Prize-Winning Gala for the best video-games of the year.

The Fun & Serious Game Festival enjoys the support of the Basque Regional Government - SPRI, Bilbao City Hall and the Provincial Council of Biscay, and is sponsored by BBVA and El Correo. The event's strategic partners include Microsoft, PlayStation and Ubisoft. The Festival features the collaboration of the Spanish Video-Games Association (AEVI), UTAD, Virtualware and Digipen.

http://www.funandseriousgamefestival.com/

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, Overwatch®, the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises, and the multifranchise Heroes of the Storm®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes twenty-one #1 games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.

