Jeff Kaplan, one of the original creators of Overwatch, has explained why he left Blizzard in 2021. He says he was asked to take responsibility for possible layoffs affecting around 1,000 employees, which led to his departure.
In an interview on the Lex Fridman podcast, Kaplan discussed how focusing heavily on the Overwatch League – launched in 2018 and ending in 2023 – created financial pressure on the game itself. The need to fund the esports league forced the game to generate a lot of revenue.
This resulted in a meeting with the CFO, who informed him the game needed to reach a specific revenue target.
The turning point in my time at Blizzard came when I was called into the CFO’s office. He told me that Overwatch needed to generate a specific amount of revenue in 2020, and then maintain a consistent revenue stream each year after that. This target date eventually shifted to 2021, but the initial expectation was for 2020.
He told me that if a certain project failed, 1,000 people would lose their jobs, and I would be held responsible. He said it was the most demoralizing moment of his career and that the situation felt unreal.
The figures have been redacted to respect a confidentiality agreement signed by Kaplan.
Overwatch co-creator says Overwatch League led to his exit
In the interview, Kaplan discussed how the Overwatch League ultimately created problems for the game. He believes it was heavily promoted to investors with promises that proved unrealistic.
We got carried away with the hype surrounding the Overwatch League. Blizzard really oversold it, suggesting it would become even more popular than the NFL.
This began to create problems for Overwatch’s development, because resources needed to enhance the game were instead being used to build features for the Overwatch League.
A significant portion of the work involved connecting the game with Twitch and managing camera features. The rest focused on creating unique skins and uniforms for each team, which wasn’t simply adding the artwork – it also presented considerable technical hurdles, as Kaplan explained.
At that moment, everything you were working on had to be put aside. Development on new content and Overwatch 2 stopped, and it was just about maintaining the game as it was.
Everything led to a meeting with the CFO, after which Kaplan left Blizzard in 2021, about a year before the release of Overwatch 2.
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2026-03-12 13:51