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Blizzard makes a wish come true for one brave child
- May 23, 2007 14:58 PM PST
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The creators of the fantasy MMORPG World of Warcraft recently teamed with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to give a terminally ill child a fantasy of his own.
By Eugene Huang
10-year-old Ezra checks out his new Blizzard gear as his father Micah helps him put it on.
10-year-old Ezra Chatterton loves World of Warcraft. In fact, during his hospital stays, the only thing that the fifth grader wanted to do was play the game from his hospital room. Chatterton unfortunately suffers from metastatic cancer, brought about by a brain tumor that has given him splitting headaches and so far drained him of his remaining strength. But if he was allowed only one wish in life, it would be to visit the studios of Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of his favorite video game.
"I wished for a trip to Blizzard because I'd like to see if they could make a character and do some things for us," Chatterton explained in a recent article on the Orange County Register.
Thanks to the cooperation between the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Blizzard, he no longer needs to worry about that wish as it's already been granted. Last week, Chatterton was able to tour the studio, meet with the developers, and even build his very own character from the ground up.
Ezra, along with his father Micah, met with World of Warcraft lead game designer Jeff Kaplan in Blizzard's Irvine studios last Friday. In addition to seeing the development process behind the game firsthand, the starstruck Chatterton spent a portion of his magical day meeting with a character artist to put the finishing touches on his new character, and even spent time in a recording studio to give the character a voice. Ahab Wheathoof, the Old Rancher, and his wild dog Kyle will be added to the WoW lanscape sometime in the next four weeks.
The character of Kyle, of course, is based on Ezra's very own Welsh Corgi dog.
