Imagine successfully leading one of the biggest multiplayer games in the world, only for your boss to threaten you with layoffs.
While appearing on Lex Fridman’s podcast, the former Overwatch director explained why he left Blizzard, and the story is exactly what many players would expect from the company.
Jeff Kaplan Explains Why He Ultimately Quit Blizzard
To this day, Jeff Kaplan is a name that many people still connect to the golden age of Overwatch. The game developer led the team behind the hero shooter until he left Blizzard in 2021. On Lex Fridman’s podcast, he used an interesting metaphor when talking about the Overwatch League and Overwatch 2:
“You know, my parents always said: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
He then explained that he came under immense pressure from Blizzard:
“What ultimately broke me and my Blizzard career was I got called into the CFO’s office and he sits me down and he gives me a date, which at the time was 2020 and was going to slip to 2021, but at the time it was 2020, and he said: ‘Overwatch has to make [redacted] in 2020, and then every year after that it needs a recurring revenue of [redacted].”
He then added, seemingly frustrated:
“And then he says to me, ‘If it doesn’t do [redacted] we’re going to lay off 1,000 people, and that’s going to be on you.’ That was the biggest 'f*** you' moment I’ve had in my career. It felt surreal to be in that situation.”
With that, Jeff Kaplan is probably only confirming what many fans have already suspected. Blizzard has faced increasing criticism in recent years, especially since Diablo Immortal, with players accusing the company of focusing more on monetization than on gameplay and what players actually want.
xQc Says Game Health Matters More Than Monetization
Streamer xQc also reacted to Jeff Kaplan’s interview. He agreed with Kaplan on most points and praised him for his time at Blizzard:
“Jeff Kaplan cooked [...] hard!”
However, when reading comments under the video saying it is completely normal for a company to want revenue, he replied:
“The game's health is why it's selling skins, though.”
He is making a crucial point here: a game needs to be fun in order to remain profitable. If developers focus too heavily on monetization instead of improving the game and keeping it fresh, players may eventually lose interest.
Jeff Kaplan ultimately left Blizzard, but he is now working on a new game called The Legend of California. If his track record with Overwatch is anything to go by, many fans will be watching closely to see what he does next.
