Senior Animator Leaves Blizzard

Heroes of the Storm Senior Animator Lana Bachynski left Blizzard yesterday.
Lana Backysnki was the backbone of Heroes of the Storm and left a message on Reddit:

While I most certainly hit my emotional limit yesterday, I wanted to take a moment to stop in and tell you how deeply moved I am by this community.

I am fortunate to have been given some incredible opportunities in my time here: amazing characters to work on, amazing people to work with, and amazing memories meeting with and talking to and sharing in the joy of game development with all of you.

Change is hard. Not only because of the impending ‘newness’ of the future, but in wondering about the kind of mark that is left behind… and so, I wanted to make sure you knew the impact you’ve had on me. Every conversation at BlizzCon, every tweet, every stream — every interaction has been invaluable, and watching this community rally again and again when someone is hurting, or struggling, or celebrating, or in need, is truly remarkable. I am honored to have spent this time with you.

Anyway, I wanted to leave you guys with a little parting gift. I’ve had the chance to share a lot of cool stuff with you over the years, but one thing I’ve shared remarkably little of is design. I’ve had a lot of fun playing around in Illustrator making dev shirts, and I wanted the opportunity to make something for everyone. It’s just a desktop background (1920×1080), and it’s possibly a little trite, but it’s for my team and this community that made me believe that it’s true.

So…thanks! Thank you so much for all the memories, for challenging me to be a better developer, and for the best 5 years of development I could possibly have asked for.

Yesterday was my last day at Blizzard Entertainment, and just to clarify, I’m not leaving because of any hard feelings. I love Heroes and am so proud of everything we’ve released, but as much as it’s comfortable and fun to stay put, sometimes an opportunity comes along that you can’t say no to. A chance to impact a new community. A chance to be a catalyst for change, and bolster diversity. I am so excited and so nervous, but now it’s my turn to rally and support.

I spent yesterday smothered in lovesurrounded by friends, and ultimately overwhelmed by all of this.
Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives.

GLHF, and I’ll see you at BlizzCon.

–Lana B