Ben Brode


 * "There is no way to contain the Brode." - Yong Woo

Ben Brode is a former employee and member of Team 5 who served as Game Director for Hearthstone until his departure from the company on April 20, 2018. He is currently the Chief Creative Officer at the game studio Second Dinner. Brode is featured in the credits card of the same name.

Official
As one of the game designers for Blizzard Entertainment's Hearthstone™: Heroes of Warcraft™, Ben Brode [was] involved in all aspects of the design, including core gameplay design, card powers, balance, artwork selection, programming, and writing. ''Brode joined Blizzard Entertainment in 2003, and during his tenure has served in numerous roles throughout the company. His first role was as a tester on Warcraft III, followed by a position in quality assurance on World of Warcraft®. Before joining the Hearthstone team, Brode was part of Blizzard’s creative development department, in charge of licensed products.

''In his free time, Brode stays true to the rap game as an MC and beatboxer.

Trivia

 * Brode is well-known for his resonant voice and hearty laugh.   This is referenced in his credits card's text - "Your volume can't be reduced below maximum".


 * As of March 2016 Brode has not voiced any of the cards or characters in the game, although he did contribute one of the many voices heard in the tavern's background chatter. Brode however regularly provided voice overs and introductions at events such as, when presenting Hearthstone and other games such as World of Warcraft, described by former World of Warcraft designer Ghostcrawler as "the voice of god".


 * Brode has described Lord Jaraxxus as his #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5 favourite cards. Lord Jaraxxus was also designed either primarily or entirely by Brode.


 * Brode owns the original print of the card art for Fireball.


 * When asked how much he enjoyed his job at Blizzard out of 10, Brode replied "straight up 10".


 * When asked what was likely the worst decision in the history of Hearthstone, Brode replied "maybe not nerfing cards that grant Charge enough the first time?", specifically referring to Warsong Commander.


 * Brode is credited as artist for the WoW TCG card "Hearthstone", released in 2006, long before Hearthstone was conceived. Brode describes it as an "incredible coincidence". Despite the listing Brode describes himself as "barely the artist", crediting Glenn Rane for the art's final appearance.


 * Brode is paid tribute to in World of Warcraft through several items and NPCs, such as the fishing trainer, and in the flavor text of the off-hand item which states "The title reads 'The Brode to Nowhere'". With the  expansion, Brode is fully realised as wandering salesman NPC , complete with a chequered shirt, who wanders players' garrisons selling a variety of Hearthstone-related novelty items. When interacted with, he says "I am SUPER excited to be here today!". A later patch added another NPC by the name of , a wandering lumberjack who can be found roaming across the  in . Selecting the correct dialogue options while talking to Remington will cause him to give the player  they can use to play the Grizzly Hills' iconic music in their garrisons. Players also have the option of telling Reminton that they would rather be in a tavern, which will prompt him to say that "If there's a game of Hearthstone going on there, you'll probably find my father as well".


 * The same chequered shirt seen on both his World of Warcraft avatars can also be seen on Brode's credits card art, as well as in his 2014 official image (see right). When asked whether this was a coincidence or an intentional match, Brode humorously replied, "I am just always wearing that shirt". While Brode has since broadened his tastes to include chequered shirts of other colours, the chequered shirt has quickly become a signature of the developer. Brode states that his flannel habit began many years earlier with a sale at Costco, and that that his favorite brand of flannel shirts is . In 2016 the official Blizzard gear store released a "Hearthstone Flannel Jacket", reflecting the implicit connection between Hearthstone and the popular pattern. The Lich King Interviews for a Job at Blizzard references the chequered shirts several times: the sign outside Brode's office features the pattern; Arthas describes the Blizzard office as a "sweltering bastion of flannel" after being dismissed by Brode; and the video's description raises the question "Will Ben Brode finally accept that it’s summer and lose the flannel?".


 * Brode plays World of Warcraft. As of April 2016 his main is a . He has also mentioned playing "a buttload" of Heroes of the Storm. Brode has all the mounts from the . He also played "a lot" of  when he was younger.


 * Brode "freaking loves" the card game genre, and cites having played ', ', ', ', the ', ', the WoW TCG, the ' TCG, and '.


 * Brode has become the focus of a number of Hearthstone memes, many involving his laugh. In 2016 Senior Game Producer Yong Woo created an internal wiki document to collect the memes, appealing to his Twitter followers to contribute.


 * Brode is currently working on a "meme review" video showcasing his favorite Hearthstone memes, though if he had to choose his favorite one, he has stated a particular fondness for 4 mana 7/7.


 * When asked about favorite deck to play in Hearthstone's history, including open beta, Brode stated that he has "always loved" Control Paladin, and that he also loved Yogg-and-Load.


 * Brode is "definitely not" (read: absolutely is) featured on one of the wanted posters in the background of Sergeant Sally's card artwork.


 * Warcraft III maps worked on by Brode include "Worm War" and "Clash of the Footmen".


 * Brode is 6'4.5" tall.


 * During the game's first April Fools season on April 1st 2014, Brode was featured in reddit.com's /hearthstone channel's "Ben Brode day!" celebrations. All poster icons were replaced with a picture of Ben Brode, while the up and down-vote icons were replaced with alternately inverted images of his head. In the top-left corner of the screen a small figure boasting an oversized copy of the same image of Ben Brode's head greeted readers with the salutation "Brodies!" when moused over. Top comment apparently belonged to none other than Brode himself, posting shortly after midnight with the simple message "WHAT IS HAPPENING".


 * Following Brode's departure from Blizzard, the /r/hearthstone subreddit temporarily changed its header image to an edited version of Leonardo da Vinci's 15th-century painting , with Brode in the center and various famous cards as other persons around him.


 * On 21st January 2021 Ben Brode shaved his beard. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.

Career

 * 2003
 *  - Game Tester


 * 2004
 * World of Warcraft - Quality Assurance Team Lead


 * 2005-2008 (possibly earlier)
 * World of Warcraft Trading Card Game - Approvals


 * 2007
 *  - Creative Development Production


 * 2008
 *  - Creative Development Production


 * 2010
 *  - Strike Team
 *  - Strike Team


 * 2011
 * BRAWL - Programming, Voices, UI


 * 2014
 * Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft - Senior Game Designer


 * 2015
 * Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft - Lead Designer


 * 2016
 * Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft - Game Director


 * 2018
 * Second Dinner - Chief Creative Officer

Quotes

 * About Brode
 * "On a 1 to 10 scale, Ben is a 14 in terms of fun." - Whirthun
 * "Brode is the same person in the office that you see in interviews and on-screen. He's always excited and full of energy and eager to answer your questions. Our area is one big open spot for everyone, and when he laughs you can hear it regardless of where you are sitting. You can't help but laugh a little, too. :)" - Zeriyah
 * "[Ben Brode is] one of the most just incessantly positive people." - Garrett Weinzierl, host of the Angry Chicken podcast