Former Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan reveals why he left Blizzard

Jeff Kaplan, former Overwatch co-creator, revealed that the pressure of reaching a recurring revenue for Overwatch has convinced him to quit Activision Blizzard after 19 years.

In a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, Kaplan explained that a Blizzard CFO had told him that if Overwatch didn’t reach recurring revenue in 2021, the company would be laying off thousands of people, which would be Kaplan’s fault.

“And that was the biggest f you moment in my career, it felt surreal to be in that condition… I never thought the day would come. And that was it, I was like, ‘we’re done here’. Luckily for Blizzard, that CFO is no longer there,” Kaplan explained.

Kaplan is a known game designer for World of Warcraft and the lead director of Overwatch. He also held the vice president position of Blizzard Entertainment until he left in 2021. 

Over-marketing of Overwatch League

Kaplan also explained in the podcast that the over-marketing of Overwatch League, which ran from 2018-2024, had affected the quality of the production of Overwatch 2. 

“I don’t know how to phrase this in a way that’s not damning, but there was too much focus on ‘let’s make lots of money really fast’, and a lot of people got dragged into it,” he said.

He also added that the introduction of investors backing each Overwatch League team meant more pressure to deliver revenue, which had a negative effect on Overwatch 2. 

This included the development of Twitch integration, spectator camera control, as well as skins in the form of team uniforms in the esports league. 

Development of Overwatch 2

While Kaplan said that he believed in Overwatch League, he added that the global esports league for the game had drained resources and affected the development of Overwatch 2. 

“So everybody defaulted back to: ‘Hey, didn’t Overwatch make like $500 million just in the live game last year? What can we sell, what can you give us?’ That pressure comes onto the team, and then the pressure to ship Overwatch 2, and all care and love that we had for the live game and the live service… Let’s just make events, and new heroes, and new maps… We’re losing all these resources,” Kaplan explained.

Kaplan also mentioned that Overwatch 2 was different from its original plan. 

“I have a lot of hindsight of how I would have designed that game differently with what I know now versus what ultimately we didn’t ship. Overwatch 2 is out now, but it’s not the Overwatch 2 we planned and announced,” he said.

After the 2023 release of Overwatch 2, the game was later renamed as ‘Overwatch’ last February 2026. (By Regine Andres, INQUIRER.net Intern)