Ex-Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan Reveals Why He Left Blizzard

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: