Blizzard gets into book publishing with novels, manga, and a coloring book

Blizzard Entertainment has announced plans to move into the book-publishing business with the launch of Blizzard Publishing, which will be "dedicated to developing and releasing new Blizzard publications and reissuing out-of-print titles in the company's Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo settings."

The new label will "help maintain the lore and legacy of the company's earliest novels and manga," and also give fans new ways to dig into the studio's hugely popular worlds and characters. First out of the gate will be previously published novels and manga:

Warcraft: The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb
Warcraft: Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden
World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden

Blizzard Manga

Warcraft Legends: Volume One, with stories by Richard A. Knaak, Dan Jolley, and Jae-Hwan Kim
Warcraft Legends: Volume Two, with stories by Richard A. Knaak, Dan Jolley, and Aaron Sparrow

Both the Legends and the Manga series will eventually be expanded to include other Blizzard franchises. There will also be a series of "full-color coffee table art books," beginning with Art of Hearthstone and Cinematic Art of StarCraft, and yes, no kidding, the WoW Adult Coloring Book. Blizzard describes that as "an epic volume of more than 80 pieces of concept art, sketches, and more, featuring characters and scenes from beloved locales across Azeroth."

"Great stories and inspiring artwork have always been at the heart of everything we do," Blizzard's SVP of story and franchise development Lydia Bottegoni said. "The creation of Blizzard Publishing gives us new opportunities to celebrate the art and stories of our games with Blizzard gamers as well as fantasy and sci-fi fans around the world."

All of Blizzard's books (except the World of Warcraft Official Cookbook, which is also really a thing, but currently sold out) are available for purchase at gear.blizzard.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.