Game developer Johnny Cash–not to be confused with the late music icon–recently announced he was leaving Activision Blizzard. In a recent tweet, Cash announced he had just started his new career at Epic Games as the Lead Quest Designer for Fortnite.After starting as an intern in 2010, Cash’s stellar performance and positive attitude eventually saw him climb the ranks to Lead Quest Designer of World of Warcraft. With a heavy heart, Cash brought his journey at Activision Blizzard to a close to outpourings of well-wishes.Cash followed through on his promise to keep his friends and fans updated to his progress in his recent tweet. Showing off his small new home office, he announced he was still a Lead Quest Designer, but for Fortnite at Epic Games. Though he obviously couldn’t share any of the things he was working on yet, he did promise they would be as epic as the company he now works for.
Cash’s work with World of Warcraft resulted in some of the most significant features over the last several years. He was responsible for WoW's Pet Battle mini-game system, as well as many features of the Class Order Halls and Artifact Weapons from the Legion expansion. He had a hand in the design for many memorable zones across many expansions in the last decade, from Warlords of Draenor’s Talador, Legion’s Argus, and Battle for Azeroth’s Stormsong Valley.
It is no surprise Cash’s friends and colleagues inundated his announcement with support and cheer. After all, as a beacon of positivity and an advocate for inclusivity and equality, Cash is a hard man to dislike. Dozens of comments appeared overnight, full of excitement, puns, and some good-natured teasing at his tiny, single-monitor home office with terrible cable control.
Considering Cash’s narrative focus as Senior Quest Designer, many fans were surprised by the announcement he would be working on the battle royal giant. Fortnite is known more for its numerous pop culture references, skins, and quirky gameplay rather than quests, after all. That said, behind the absurdist nature of the third-person builder-shooter is some surprisingly deep lore. With Cash on Epic’s side, fans of his World of Warcraft work have already started to consider giving Fortnite a try, even if they never would have before. There is no telling what game changers Cash might create for Epic Games, but if they are even half as influential as those he made for World of Warcraft, Fortnite fans could be in for a treat.
Fortnite is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S