Dossier on studios by Blizzard veterans (2020–present): from AAA curator and indie publishers to new RTS and extraction RPG

We continue our story about studios founded by former employees of Blizzard Entertainment. Since 2020, at least two dozen such companies have emerged, collectively raising over $200 million. They are all led by industry veterans, but most teams have not yet succeeded in releasing anything noteworthy.

This is the second and final part of a detailed dossier on companies created by Blizzard alumni. For a complete picture, we recommend exploring the first piece on 30 studios founded between 1998 and 2019.

Dreamhaven

Founded: 2020

Status: Active

Founders: Mike Morhaime, Amy Morhaime

Investments: Invests in other studios

Games: Sunderfolk, Wildgate

Mike Morhaime is a key figure in Blizzard's history. He founded the company in 1991 (initially under the name Silicon & Synapse) along with Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce later became the third co-founder. All of them are no longer with Blizzard for various reasons.

Morhaime left his longtime studio in April 2019 after 28 years of service. Soon after, he announced a new venture — Dreamhaven, which he launched with his wife Amy. Previously, she handled marketing at Vivendi Games and later managed business operations at Blizzard itself.

Dreamhaven consists of two subsidiaries:

Moonshot Games — working on a team-based PvP shooter about space pirates called Wildgate, featuring procedurally generated maps and role distribution (including peaceful roles);
Secret Door — released a turn-based RPG Sunderfolk on April 23, with gameplay controlled via smartphone.

Dreamhaven's portfolio also includes two projects from external studios: Lynked: Banner of the Spark and Mechabellum. The first is an action RPG with roguelike elements, base building, and co-op play options, while the second is a turn-based tactical auto-battler with PvP mode.

Morhaime clearly defines Dreamhaven's mission as curating talented indie teams and assisting them in creating innovative games by offering publishing services and its own expertise in game design and other areas.

The company also acts as an investor — for instance, in the studio Gardens (former developers of Journey and What Remains of Edith Finch), which in 2023 attracted $31.3 million from Lightspeed Gaming, Krafton, Dreamhaven, and other firms.

However, it's too early to judge the success of Dreamhaven and its games. For example, Mechabellum was picked up by the company after its 1.0 release and after the developers from Game River parted ways with Paradox Interactive. Even though Lynked and Sunderfolk received positive reviews on Steam, they have relatively few user reviews (just over 200 each). Wildgate is still gearing up for release.

Wildgate