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Former Blizzard Executive Donates Collection To Strong Museum
The Strong Museum recently received a large collection of games and memorabilia related to Blizzard Entertainment, courtesy of the company's former chief operating officer, Paul Sams. Sams, who left the company and joined The Order: 1886 developer Ready at Dawn earlier this year, gave more than 1,500 of his personal items to the museum.
“During my 20-year career at Blizzard, I accumulated the single largest and most diverse personal global collection of Blizzard Entertainment’s games and franchise-related merchandise that anyone has ever seen,” Sams says. “This collection holds a very dear place in my heart and I wanted to ensure that the materials would be properly preserved for many decades to come. The dedicated and talented team at The Strong were the obvious choice to care for the collection. Most importantly, I wanted to ensure that broadest audience of gamers and fans of entertainment and play would be able to share in this extensive collection of gaming history.”
The collection includes copies of the company's games (dating back to when it was known as Silicon & Synapse), promotional materials, and assorted memorabilia. The museum says it particularly represents Blizzard's success and popularity in countries such as China and Korea.
The Strong Museum recognized World of Warcraft's contributions to video gaming history in June, when the MMO made the organization's inaugural Hall of Fame list. It was one of six games to make the cut, including games such as Pong and Super Mario Bros.
Our Take
It's great that Sams decided to put his past to good use rather than let it sit idle in boxes in a storage unit or basement. Now that it's part of The Strong's collection, historians, researchers, and other scholars can use the materials for years to come.
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