Team Name:

Job Title:

Creative Director, Overwatch Franchise | Irvine, CA

Requisition ID:

R026458

Job Description:

Your Mission

As the Creative Director for the Overwatch Franchise, you will define and steward the long-term storytelling vision for one of the most beloved universes in gaming. You will craft the narrative roadmap for the next decade of Overwatch, shaping the emotional arcs, thematic pillars, and evolving mythos that will guide storytelling across games, cinematics, publishing, and transmedia.

This role requires a leader with a bold creative voice, a deep understanding of worldbuilding and character-driven storytelling, and the ability to collaborate with cross-disciplinary partners to deliver emotionally resonant, globally inclusive stories that reflect the heart of Overwatch: hope, heroism, and the power of a united world.

The Overwatch Promise

At Blizzard, we believe stories have the power to bring people together. As Creative Director for the Overwatch Franchise, you’ll be entrusted with shaping the heart of a universe that celebrates optimism, heroism, and global connection, building the stories that will inspire the next generation of heroes.

Key Responsibilities

Own the Narrative Vision: Establish and articulate the 10-year story arc for the Overwatch universe, ensuring continuity, emotional depth, and relevance across all media.
Franchise Stewardship: Partner with game, cinematic, publishing, and marketing teams to ensure narrative cohesion across all storytelling touchpoints.
Worldbuilding & Lore Development: Oversee expansion of Overwatch’s lore, timelines, factions, and evolving global narrative landscape.
Character Leadership: Guide the ongoing evolution of existing heroes and the introduction of new ones with rich backstories and authentic voices.
Narrative Integration: Champion story integration within gameplay, live events, and seasonal content to create a cohesive player experience.
Storytelling Excellence: Inspire and mentor teams of writers, narrative designers, and transmedia partners to achieve excellence in storytelling.
Long-Term Franchise Planning: Collaborate with franchise and publishing leadership to align creative goals with long-term business and audience strategies.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in creative direction, narrative design, or franchise storytelling within games, film, or television.
Proven experience developing and executing multi-year narrative strategies for a global IP.
Exceptional worldbuilding, character development, and structural storytelling skills.
Strong understanding of gameplay-driven storytelling and transmedia narrative systems.
Ability to inspire and lead creative teams across disciplines and mediums.
Deep appreciation for Overwatch’s tone, themes, and global fan community.
Excellent communication and presentation skills; able to articulate complex story ideas to diverse audiences.

Bonus Points

Experience leading storytelling for live-service or evolving narrative universes.
Background in screenwriting, television, or cinematic direction.
Familiarity with the Overwatch universe.
Passion for collaboration, mentorship, and building inclusive creative teams.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment.  We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

Ready to Activate Your Future?

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We Provide a Suite Of Benefits That Promote Physical, Emotional And Financial Well-being For ‘Every World’ - We’ve Got Our Employees Covered! Subject To Eligibility Requirements, The Company Offers Comprehensive Benefits Including:

Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $164,800.00 - $304,800.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.

Creative Director, Overwatch Franchise | Irvine, CA

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