The folks over at Ars Technica had the wonderful opportunity to tour the headquarters of massive video game and entertainment company Blizzard recently, makers of such fabulous games as World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo.

The photo-heavy walkthrough is fantastic for people like me who both love office tours and photos and a window into the workspaces that help create some of my favorite products and favorite services, but also because I’m a huge World of Warcraft fan and love to see some of the creative inspirations littered around Blizzard’s offices.

Among some of the great things are a massive poster-sized map of Azeroth, standing sculptures of Kerrigan from Starcraft and the Ghost from the now-cancelled title, Starcraft: Ghost. One of the things that really shook me though is the fact that Blizzard employees who have served at the company for 5 years get a sword, and after ten they get a shield, and each year the company switches up the logos and designs. It’s a really unique and interesting way for the company to show appreciation to their employees, and I really dig it.

Check out the whole tour at the link below!

[ Ars Technica :: Earning Your Sword: The Magical Inner Sanctum of Blizzard ]