The game director of Hearthstone has left Blizzard Entertainment. The news initially came from the Twitter account of August Dean Ayala (former game director) on September 16, who announced his departure with a series of tweets to the community; explaining that after 11 years at the company he would be moving on to new things. Throughout the tweets he expressed his honour and gratitude at what he and his colleagues had built at Blizzard during those years of developing games and being a part of Hearthstone.
"After 11 years, I am leaving Blizzard. Hearthstone is an incredible game," said Alaya. "To have played even a small part in its creation is an honor I'll never forget. Thank you to all the players, and a special thank you to my fellow game creators. I am proud of all we built together."
Since leaving the company, Ayala's Twitter bio now jokingly includes the descriptor "unemployed" as his last day as the game director at Blizzard was September 17. In a series of tweets following the original announcement, Ayala went on to thank his various colleagues from across the years he had been working at the company, and expressed his gratitude for being able to be at the company and rise through the ranks to his ultimate and final role of game director - which he was promoted to earlier this year prior to his departure. Ayala had risen through the ranks while Hearthstone was developed, and there is no doubt that it will be his legacy at the Californian developer.