Former Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan Reveals Why He Left Blizzard
"That was the biggest 'f*ck you' moment I had in my career."
Blizzard, Lex Fridman
If you played Overwatch back when there was no mention of the sequel, you definitely remember Jeff Kaplan, the players' beloved director who brought them news. When he left the company in 2021, it was devastating, and his name has been immortalized in the "Jeff, come back" phrase every OW fan says when Blizzard announces a new disastrous update.
Many think his departure left Overwatch 2 in the sorry state it launched, but we'll never know, although the information he revealed about his decision to quit might support this rumor.
During Lex Fridman's podcast, Kaplan shared the unsurprising reason: corporate pressure. Back then, the Overwatch League (OWL) was the leadership's focus and, in his opinion, "a major derail." Blizzard, Kaplan included, thought it was the future of esports, and wanted to develop it, include perks like player protection, make esports "more first-class citizen."
However, the excitement that grew around the OWL due to its promotion, which promised that it would be more popular than the NFL, made people investing in the teams more demanding. Then, Overwatch got a deal with Twitch, and it was not going that well, so the team was under a lot of pressure. In the end, the situation turned into what any creative field becomes under corporate control:
"There was too much focus on 'let's make lots of money really fast.'"
Investors started expressing their opinions and demanding money, and one day, Kaplan was called to the CFO's office and told him that Overwatch had to make a certain, undisclosed, amount of money and have a recurring revenue after that.
Then came the daunting part: the CFO said that if this plan didn't work, Blizzard would lay off 1,000 people, "and that's going to be on you."
"And that was the biggest 'f*ck you' moment I had in my career. It felt surreal to be in that condition."
Unfortunately, we don't know what Overwatch 2 would be with Kaplan. He believed in Overwatch 2, and although its announcement led to fewer updates for the live game and player complaints that he cared only about PvE, Kaplan says it was not true: he had a plan and a team working on world updates.
Despite the fact that his departure "broke" him, he still has a lot of great memories about Blizzard and thinks it's a great place for game development and realizing artistic ideas.
"I wish developers would understand their own value more and stop handing the golden goose to people who don't deserve it."
Now, Kaplan is working on the action-survival shooter, The Legend of California, at his new studio, Kintsugiyama. The open-world game is set on the mythical Island of California during the gold rush era.
Watch the full podcast, where he talks about World of Warcraft, Blizzard culture, Diablo 4, and more.
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