Blizzard's veteran employees receive a Lich King-inspired crown for their service

Blizzard has awarded veteran employees of 20 years with a crown based on art concepts used throughout a number of the company's games, drawing inspiration from the Lich King's helmet from World of Warcraft, Imperius' armor of Diablo 3 and the crown of World of Warcraft's King Terenas, with a hint of curves from Starcraft's Protoss race.

The 3D sculpture was created by the Weta Workshop and detailed by Blizzard's vice president of art and cinematic development Nick Carpenter. According to Carpenter, employees of five years are awarded with a sword while employees of 10 years are given a shield. To thank employees of 20 years for their service to the company, Carpenter writes: "a badass crown felt like the right thing [to] do."

According to Carpenter, the creation of the crown was not easy.

"We wanted this thing to be heavy-each one handmade out of real metal, leather, and glass and lovingly polished-in order to represent to every employee who receives it the weight of 20 years' worth of accomplishments at Blizzard and the company's gratitude for their dedication and service," he writes.

The crown was first designed by the developers at Blizzard, then later passed to Weta — the organization that created a bronze orc statue for Blizzard's campus courtyard years earlier.