Jeff Kaplan, the former director of Overwatch and a Blizzard vice president, recently spoke out against the practice of criticizing games online without actually playing them. He believes this habit of immediately tearing down new releases is becoming a damaging trend for the gaming community.
Jeff Kaplan, a key creator of Overwatch who left Blizzard in 2021, shared his thoughts while playing his new game, The Legend of California, on Twitch on March 14th. He streamed for 10 hours during the gameplay session.
Jeff Kaplan calls out players criticizing games they never played
During a live question-and-answer session, Kaplan spoke openly about how frustrating it is when people criticize games they haven’t actually played, while still acknowledging that helpful criticism is valuable.
It’s okay to be disappointed and share your thoughts, but if you’re not interested in a game and haven’t even tried it, there’s no need to complain. Nobody needs to hear negativity from someone who hasn’t engaged with the product.
He also pointed out that online gaming conversations seem to now favor criticism and negativity.
It’s easy to criticize something. Kaplan pointed out that it takes real bravery to admit you genuinely enjoy it.
Jeff responded to negativity within gaming communities by saying that if you haven’t played a game and don’t enjoy it, it’s best to simply stay quiet. He pointed out that it’s easy to criticize something, but takes real courage to express genuine enjoyment.
— Majid Manzarpour (@majidmanzarpour) March 15, 2026
For almost twenty years, Kaplan worked at Blizzard, becoming a well-known figure in gaming, especially while leading the Overwatch team. He frequently connected with players through developer videos, speaking to them directly about the game.
These remarks follow discussions about how well games like Bungie’s Marathon are doing, a topic another former Blizzard employee recently addressed. Dylan Snyder, a senior designer on Overwatch, jokingly called the intense focus on the number of players on Steam a sign of insecurity.
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2026-03-16 18:22