Nexus Speaker Series: Mike Morhaime, Co-Founder & Former CEO at Blizzard Entertainment
In collaboration with Manifest at UCI, Nexus is excited to host a fireside chat with Mike Morhaime, Co-Founder & Former CEO of Blizzard and now the CEO of Dreamhaven.
Mike Morhaime’s three-decade career as a leader in gaming has had a profound impact on the industry and beyond. He built one of the most impactful gaming companies in the world which after becoming Activision Blizzard is valued at over $70B.
Under his leadership, Blizzard produced some of the most widely recognized and globally played franchises of all time — including Overwatch, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone, Diablo, and more. The studio launched 20+ best-selling games, earned multiple Game of the Year awards, and received widespread critical acclaim.
During his tenure at Blizzard, Mike led efforts to help grow the company from a Southern California startup to an international powerhouse with regional operations and a significant market presence in more than a dozen countries, including China.
In establishing Dreamhaven, Mike brought together an experienced group of passionate, talented cofounders who are deeply committed to the vision of creating a values-driven game developer/publisher. He and his team are working to create amazing games that bring people together in positive ways.
Mike’s passions extend beyond gaming, and he’s been a staunch advocate for bringing communities together, creating inclusive environments, and striving to have a positive impact on the world at large. This has included supporting numerous charitable efforts.
While at Blizzard, he helped raise millions of dollars and awareness for charity partners such as Make-A-Wish, Girls Who Code, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and many others, and this commitment to giving back has remained a priority for him at Dreamhaven.
Mike has been honored by several organizations, including receiving a Technology and Engineering Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, an Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ernst & Young (EY), and a Gamelab Barcelona Honor Award. In 2008, he was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
About Nexus ♾️ - SoCal's First Intercollegiate Entrepreneurship Society
Nexus is the community for SoCal’s most talented and driven student entrepreneurs. We bring together ambitious builders—engineers, designers, operators, creators, and more—from top universities such as USC, UCLA, UCI, LMU, and Caltech.
Our mission is to foster meaningful connections across schools, helping you build not only incredible projects but lifelong friendships with like-minded innovators you may not have met otherwise.
We are backed by top VCs such as Pear VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Soma Capital as well as founders/executives of billion dollar companies such as Alteryx, and Ring.