Petras began his career in the gaming industry with GameTech in the early 1990s, contributing to niche titles like “Ripper,” “Star Crusader,” and “BloodNet.” His first project at Blizzard Entertainment was the original “StarCraft,” where he played a crucial role in storyboarding, 3D design, and cinematic art.
Following his time at Blizzard, Bill Petras made a significant move in 2005 to co-found Red 5 Studios.
He later returned to Blizzard in 2010, taking on the crucial role of overseeing the artistic direction for what would become the highly successful and globally recognized game, Overwatch.
At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in 2017, Petras delivered a notable talk sharing insights into Overwatch‘s art design journey.
During his presentation, he revealed that after pivoting from the original Titan MMORPG concept to focus on Overwatch‘s development, the character Torbjörn emerged as one of the team’s earliest and most pivotal design foundations.
In a personal tribute shared on LinkedIn, his colleague Jeff Huggins wrote: “Billy (a nickname for Bill) and I joined Blizzard during the same week, forging a close friendship that spanned over 28 years.”
Huggins expressed his deep sense of loss, adding: “I’ll deeply miss our long and casual daily conversations about life, game development, games, art, comic books, toys, monster movies, and Conan the Barbarian.”
He concluded his heartfelt message with a line from Thomas Campbell’s poem “Hallowed Ground” and an iconic quote associated with the character Conan himself: “I am Conan. I do not fear death.“
Indeed, everyone who knew Bill Petras will miss him profoundly.
Klaudia 
Orange Man