Blizzard Entertainment

Team Name:

Story & Franchise Development Operations

Job Title:

Book Editor - Temp (Story and Franchise Development / SFD) | Irvine, CA

Requisition ID:

R025442

Job Description:

Are you passionate about building immersive worlds and bringing epic stories to life?

Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a talented and enthusiastic Book Editor for the Story and Franchise Development (SFD) team in Irvine, California, in a 6 month temporary position. SFD is dedicated to expanding Blizzard’s legendary universes through animation, cinematics, novels, comics, and more, working alongside top-tier creative talent both inside and outside of Blizzard.

In this role, you'll be at the heart of shaping unforgettable narratives, helping craft comics, short stories, and books that push Blizzard’s publishing program to bold new heights. You will collaborate with Blizzard’s game and SFD teams, managing the creative vision for a small list of assigned projects and supporting the books team broadly on departmental tasks. You will work directly with talent, as well as the editorial and design staff of publishing partners on licensed projects.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA. However, we understand each person’s circumstances may be unique and will work with you to explore other possible options, including remote work arrangements.

Responsibilities:

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Pitch, develop, and edit a weekly serialized comic series plus 2-5 additional projects per year in a variety of formats including comics/graphic novels, prose novels, short stories, scrolling comics, and specialty books.
• Independently handle editorial duties on assigned titles, including:
• Craft the initial story concept
• Acquire new talent and manage authors
• Work with Senior Brand Artist on artistic vision for the project
• Review each stage of art and design with Senior Brand Artist
• Line edit outlines and 2-3 manuscript drafts per project
• Draft copy for marketing needs, including back-of-book and retailer pages
• Review copyediting/proofreader changes as needed
• Support actors and directors as editorial contact in VO sessions for motion comics and audio stories
• Work with animators and VFX artists to direct and review animated assets and motion comics.
• Build and maintain up-to-date narrative/lore knowledge on two of Blizzard’s live service games.
• Support Editorial Supervisor on departmental tasks as needed.
• Assemble care packages of relevant media and lore to on-board authors, artists, and VO actors.
• Review projects for canon compliance and lore accuracy
• Check developing book/comic artwork against in-game models to ensure accuracy
• Develop documentation as needed to inform developing content
• Review game development documentation for compliance with established lore

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• Minimum 5 years editorial experience

Knowledge & Skills

• Excellent organizational skills and sharp attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, to collaborate across multiple teams.
• Ability to foster creative environments for colleagues, partners, and talent, within an iterative development process.
• Knowledge of industry trends and competitive landscape.
• Expertise in comic development from concept to final product.
• Strong storytelling skills and the ability to provide constructive feedback.
• Passion for Blizzard’s universes, with an understanding of their lore and intellectual properties.

Extra Points

• Experience in licensed publishing, particularly in gaming or high-profile franchises
• Love for games, movies, comics, and other elements of pop culture
• Extensive understanding of one or more of Blizzard Entertainment’s intellectual properties
• Knowledge of Blizzard Entertainment’s published products, including novels, comics, art books, specialty books, and online publications

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!

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 $55,800.00 - $103,230.00 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.