WoW co-creator makes Time's Top 100 transformational figures

Each year, Time Magazine publishes an issue highlighting 100 of the world's most influential figures. Rob Pardo, VP at Blizzard Entertainment, netted honors in the "Artists & Entertainers" section.

Pardo, who is vice president of game design for Vivendi-owned Blizzard Entertainment, is cited in the magazine's accompanying article for helping to create World Of WarCraft, which now has over 6 million subscribers, and is "one of the most immersive and successful video games ever created... it could be the future of electronic entertainment", according to Time's Lev Grossman.

I dole out my share of criticism toward Blizzard's seeming aloofness towards player complaints, but no one can argue with World of Warcraft's success. Kudos to Rob Pardo and the entire Blizzard team for breaking yet another barrier towards the mainstream culture.

Check out the full "Rob Pardo Makes Time's Top 100" article at Gamasutra.