Overwatch manager Jeff Kaplan leaving Blizzard Entertainment

Jeff Kaplan, Director of Overwatch, announced that he will be leaving Blizzard Entertainment after nearly 20 years.

In a personal message, Kaplan announced his departure from Blizzard Entertainment. Kaplan spent nineteen years with the company and The message is complete It can be read below.

Regards, Watch Society,

I’m leaving Blizzard Entertainment after 19 years.

It has been my greatest honor to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for an excited audience. I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone at Blizzard who have supported our games, teams and players. I’d especially like to thank the great game developers who took the creative journey with me.

Don’t accept the world as it seems. Challenge yourself to see what the world could be like. Hope you can do this too.

JG, Geoffrey Kaplan

Overwatch 2 will continue to be developed under the watchful eye of co-developer Aaron Keller. He takes on the role of director in the second Overwatch game. Keeler previously worked with Kaplan at World of Warcraft.

“Jeff was a great leader, mentor, and friend, and he knows how much we’re going to miss him,” Keeler wrote to the community. “I was fortunate to have been able to work with him and the rest of the Overwatch team for years to build something that continues to inspire people all over the world. I am honored to take charge.”

Kaplan joined Blizzard in 2002 and started as a designer for World of Warcraft and was responsible for missions in the MMORPG. Ultimately, he was seen as the game’s manager. In 2009 he began work on Titan, the first person to shoot from Blizzard.

This game never saw the light of day and was canceled in 2014. Some of the ideas Kaplan and his team created for Titan were eventually carried over to Overwatch.

Overwatch was a hit with 50 million players playing the game and winning multiple Game of the Year Awards. Overwatch revamped the hero shooting genre and launched the Overwatch League as cities immersed themselves in esports.

So Blizzard continues to work on Overwatch 2. It’s a game that should offer a single-player segment that gives more depth to the beloved Overwatch heroes. Additionally, new maps and heroes are still being made for Overwatch 1.

Keeler has already said something about the development of Overwatch 2. You can read this message below:

Hi, Overwatch community,

Jeff is a great leader, mentor, and friend who knows how much we will miss him. I was fortunate to be able to work with him and the rest of the Overwatch team for years to build something that continues to inspire people all over the world. I am honored to take office.

I love Overwatch. From our very first technical concept to the very first maps we built, the first time I was able to run as a Tracer (which fired lasers from her eyes at first), the game made sense to me. I love the inspiring, hopeful, beautiful world we strive for. Love the characters – colorful, mighty and universal heroes. Most of all I love fast and smooth gameplay that requires teamwork, the intensity you need, and quick decisions made.

I realize that at Blizzard making games is always a team and it never comes from one person. Along with the rest of the team, I feel proud that we were able to develop with the creative leaders, veterans of Blizzard and some incredibly talented new additions. Combined with support from the company, we’re seeing the live game and Overwatch 2 thriving.

The development of Overwatch 2 goes very well. We have a great vision to build on and BlizzConline’s response has made us even more excited. We have some great discoveries in preparation which will be accumulating for their release. We will share more game updates with you soon.

I don’t want to occupy Jeff’s shoes, but I’m excited about the next steps I can take as part of this team. A team that uses their heart, soul and talent for the upcoming Overwatch game. I am honored to serve this great community.

– Aaron