‘World Of Warcraft’ and ‘Overwatch’ art director Bill Petras has died

Bill Petras, an artist who helped design a number of Blizzard games including World Of Warcraft and Overwatch, has died.

Announcing the news on Linkedin, former Blizzard Cinematic Project Director Harley D. Huggins II said: “I’m writing to share some heartbreaking news. Bill Petras, a game development legend, has unexpectedly passed away. Billy was an amazingly gifted artist who worked at Blizzard Entertainment for almost two decades. He was immensely proud of the work he did there, most notably as the Art Director for World Of Warcraft and Overwatch.”

“Billy and I started at Blizzard the same week and were close friends for 28 years. I will miss our regular, long, rambling conversations about life, game dev, games, art, comic books, toys, monster movies and Conan,” he continued. “He will be deeply missed by me and all who knew him.”

Bill Petras has passed away

With over 20 years of contributions to Blizzard games, Bill served as the Art Director for the original Overwatch, where he helped shape its iconic world and became the namesake of the Petras Act.

Rest in peace, Bill pic.twitter.com/vUnEUca2XS

— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) April 4, 2025

After working with GameTech in the ‘90s on titles such as Ripper and Star Crusader, Petras joined Blizzard to work on StarCraft. He went on to serve as art director for World Of Warcraft. He left in 2005 to co-found Red 5 Studio but returned in 2010 to lead the art of Overwatch. He left Blizzard again in 2021.

Paying tribute to Petras, a mod of the Overwatch subreddit wrote: “Bill suddenly passed away very recently and will be remembered for his work on Overwatch but also contributing to art at Blizzard for 20 years, all the way back to the box art and other work on StarCraft.”

“Say what you will about Blizzard – the art direction has always been one of, if not their biggest strength. RIP to Bill,” replied another fan. “Loss of one talented guy, the gaming scene will miss his beautiful work,” added another.

Saddened to hear that Bill Petras, the original World of Warcraft and then Overwatch Art Director has passed away.

What an incredible life and career pic.twitter.com/ZdpqbdGKEl

— Chris Kaleiki (@ckaleiki) April 4, 2025

​​”The original art direction was the thing that got me hooked on Overwatch nine years ago. What a fuckin’ legend,” wrote one fan. “It’s safe to say that Overwatch’s art direction, its aesthetics, and the characters are nothing short of iconic and the same would not be what it is or has been without him,” reads another tribute.

No cause of death has been confirmed but his family will be planning a celebration of life service in the near future.

The post ‘World Of Warcraft’ and ‘Overwatch’ art director Bill Petras has died appeared first on NME.