Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. Originally founded in 1991, the company is best known for producing the highly influential massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (2004) as well as the multi million-selling video game franchises Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch. The company also operates Battle.net, an online gaming service. Founded as Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles: Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce. The company began developing its own software in 1993, releasing titles such as Rock n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings. That same year, it changed its name to Chaos Studios, Inc. and in 1994, following its acquisition by distributor Davidson & Associates, it was renamed Blizzard Entertainment. In 1994, the company released Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, which would receive numerous sequels and led to the highly popular World of Warcraft.