Almost five years after Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan left Activision Blizzard, the developer explained what led to his exit from the company and the hit multiplayer game he led. According to Kaplan, his time at Blizzard soured after being given an egregious ultimatum.
Speaking to podcaster Lex Fridman, Kaplan claimed that Activision Blizzard's financial arm told him in a meeting that Overwatch had to produce a certain amount of revenue in 2020 and a recurring amount of revenue in subsequent years. Kaplan claimed he was told that if Overwatch failed to hit those targets, Blizzard would "'lay off 1,000 people, and that's going to be on you,'" attributing the demand to an unspecified CFO.
Kaplan called this meeting "the biggest f--k you moment I've had in my career--it felt surreal to be in that condition." While Kaplan verbalized Blizzard's revenue figures in the podcast, they were bleeped out due to his confidentiality agreement with the company.
The financial pressure from Blizzard stemmed from the company's expectations of the eSports Overwatch League, according to Kaplan. The league was founded in 2017 and folded after the 2023 season.
Excitement for competitive Overwatch led to "billionaire investors" interfering with work on the game, Kaplan claimed, leading to additions to the original Overwatch, such as Twitch integration, Overwatch League team skins, and a spectator camera. The stress put on the development team to incorporate these types of features and to ship Overwatch 2 led to fewer resources for new events, maps, and heroes, Kaplan claimed.
"I don't know how to phrase this in a way that's not damning, but there was too much focus on 'let's make lots of money really fast,' and a lot of people got drawn into it," Kaplan said.
Kaplan worked at Blizzard Entertainment for 19 years, leaving his mark on multiple titles, particularly World of Warcraft as a designer. As the co-creator and co-director of Overwatch, Kaplan was the public face for the game, appearing in (often parodied) developer update videos.
Since leaving Blizzard, Kaplan's new studio Kintsugiyama has been working on a Western game called The Legend of California, which combines elements of open-world titles and crafting games. It'll be published by Dreamhaven, which was founded by former Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.
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Speaking to podcaster Lex Fridman, Kaplan claimed that Activision Blizzard's financial arm told him in a meeting that Overwatch had to produce a certain amount of revenue in 2020 and a recurring amount of revenue in subsequent years. Kaplan claimed he was told that if Overwatch failed to hit those targets, Blizzard would "'lay off 1,000 people, and that's going to be on you,'" attributing the demand to an unspecified CFO.
Kaplan called this meeting "the biggest f--k you moment I've had in my career--it felt surreal to be in that condition." While Kaplan verbalized Blizzard's revenue figures in the podcast, they were bleeped out due to his confidentiality agreement with the company.
The financial pressure from Blizzard stemmed from the company's expectations of the eSports Overwatch League, according to Kaplan. The league was founded in 2017 and folded after the 2023 season.
Excitement for competitive Overwatch led to "billionaire investors" interfering with work on the game, Kaplan claimed, leading to additions to the original Overwatch, such as Twitch integration, Overwatch League team skins, and a spectator camera. The stress put on the development team to incorporate these types of features and to ship Overwatch 2 led to fewer resources for new events, maps, and heroes, Kaplan claimed.
"I don't know how to phrase this in a way that's not damning, but there was too much focus on 'let's make lots of money really fast,' and a lot of people got drawn into it," Kaplan said.
Kaplan worked at Blizzard Entertainment for 19 years, leaving his mark on multiple titles, particularly World of Warcraft as a designer. As the co-creator and co-director of Overwatch, Kaplan was the public face for the game, appearing in (often parodied) developer update videos.
Since leaving Blizzard, Kaplan's new studio Kintsugiyama has been working on a Western game called The Legend of California, which combines elements of open-world titles and crafting games. It'll be published by Dreamhaven, which was founded by former Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.
Source