Michio Okamura
Michio Okamura is a computer game developer and artist. He was the lead artist for the popular computer game Diablo, and senior artist on Diablo II. He designed many of the game's characters, including the title character. He is currently the art director for Rumble Entertainment.
Michio Okamura
- Name
- Michio Okamura
- Occupation
- Video game artist
- Known for
- Artwork for Diablo
- Nationality
- Japan
- Fields
- video game
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Michio Okamura • Occupation — Video game artist • Employer — Blizzard Entertainment • Known for — Artwork for Diablo
Biography
Biography
Okamura began his artistic career as a comic book artist on Reggie Byers' Shuriken, as well as Comico's adaptations of Robotech. Afterwards he joined Condor Inc. as an artist working on the Sega Genesis title Justice League Task Force. At the time, Okamura did not have experience using the computer, so he drew most of the art on Justice League Task Force by hand. He worked at Blizzard North on the Diablo franchise for over a decade. He was the Lead Artist for the first version of Diablo and created the concept design for the majority of the characters and monsters in the game, including Diablo himself. On Diablo II, Okamura was a Senior Artist, and created character and monster concept designs, including the second incarnation of Diablo. After Diablo II, Okamura worked as an Art Director establishing the pipeline and creative direction for several internal projects, and then joined Castaway Entertainment in 2004. In 2005, he founded and was president of Hyboreal Games with former Blizzard North employees Eric Sexton and Steven Woo. Hyboreal changed its name to U.I. Pacific, Okamura was the Creative Director. Okamura is currently working as an art director for Rumble Entertainment.
Works
Works
• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001), Blizzard Entertainment Inc. • Diablo II (2000), Blizzard Entertainment Inc. • Diablo (1997), Blizzard Entertainment Inc. • Justice League Task Force (1995), Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Michio Okamura, revision 1347222096 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Craddock, David L. The perfect storm: How Blizzard North channeled chaos to design the original Diablo. VentureBeat. 2013-09-16.
- 2.Bailey, Kat. In Their Own Words: An Oral History of Diablo II With David Brevik, Max Schaefer, and Erich Schaefer. USgamer. 2015-12-24.
- 3.Carless, Simon. Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games. www.gamasutra.com. 2005-11-28.
- 4.Loughrey, Paul. Blizzard North veterans form another independent studio. GamesIndustry.biz. 2005-11-29.
- 5.The Rumble Team. www.rumblegames.com.
- 6.Michio Okamura. LinkedIn.
References
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References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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