For many budding game developers, a job at Blizzard would be a dream assignment, though snagging a role at the famous studio is easier said than done. For Luke Mancini, a talented artist from Melbourne, it took the unpredictable forces of the web and a steady stream of quality fan art to secure a place within Blizzard’s walls.
In a recent chat with Screenplay’s James Dominguez, Mancini was happy to describe how he ended up sketching concepts and illustrating artwork full-time at his favourite developer.
Initially, he applied the regular way, sending a resume and portfolio, but his efforts were met with digital silence. His fan art, however, kept bubbling to the surface across the internet, so much so it came to the attention of Blizzard art director Sam “Samwise” Didier. From the interview:
“Samwise and the StarCraft art team kept seeing it pop up online, and they were like, well, this guy keeps doing this stuff, and we like it … They looked me up and found that I had already applied, so they gave me a call and it went from there. Samwise called it a Cinderella story, and I guess it is a little bit.”
Blizzard (and California) has been Macini’s home for three years now, but he did recently pop back to Melbourne to show off his speed painting skills for the local launch of Heart of the Swarm.
Mancini’s efforts show that sometimes, it takes more than applying for a job in the industry and crossing your fingers to get noticed. Sure, it’s not easy finding ways to stand out from the pack, but the hard work can, clearly, be well worth it.
Working for Blizzard: an Aussie artist’s Cinderella story [The Age]
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