Overwatch 2 players have started to reconsider their views on former game director Jeff Kaplan following a recent report that suggested he significantly mismanaged the game’s development.
For many years, Jeff Kaplan was the beloved face of Overwatch. As the game’s director, he endeared himself to players with his developer update videos and passionate commitment to the franchise.
Kaplan departed from Blizzard prior to the release of Overwatch 2, leaving fans heartbroken and puzzled about his exit while a sequel was still in development.
On September 29, journalist Jason Schreier hosted an AMA on Reddit to promote his new book, PLAY NICE: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, and shared insights into OW2’s development.
“After OW1’s release, Team 4 encountered a significant issue: they had too much work on their plate. They needed to: 1) continue developing new content for OW1, which inadvertently evolved into a live-service game; 2) work on OW2, which was a passion project for Jeff Kaplan and intended to attract more players through PvE content; and 3) support the increasingly popular Overwatch League,” Schrеier detailed.
Jeff Kaplan was a central figure for Overwatch for many years.
“[Bobby] Kotick’s solution to this issue was to recommend that Team 4 hire additional staff—hundreds, like his production line for Call of Duty. He suggested forming a second team to develop OW2 while the original team focused on OW1 (or the other way around). Kaplan and Chacko Sonny were opposed to this idea, as they strongly valued the culture they had established; they believed that increasing staff numbers could create more complications and lead to less efficient development, which caused ongoing issues over time.”
As Overwatch 2 was being developed, content for the original game slowed dramatically, resulting in no new characters or maps being added to the hero shooter.
Moreover, the sequel’s ambitious PvE focus was entirely scrapped, and the planned story campaign was reportedly abandoned after the first set of missions underperformed commercially.
Upon learning about these revelations regarding Kaplan’s impact on Overwatch’s development, players expressed their disappointment and began to hold him accountable for the game’s struggles.
I always had a hard time understanding people praising Jeff and calling his departure – the worst thing that could have happened to the game. Yet we had content draught and GOATS / Double Shield meta for years under his leadership… 😐
— Popcorp (@PopcorpGFX) September 29, 2024
“So OW1 could’ve had actual content if Jeff hired more people? Holy sh*t… it’s almost like it WAS Jeff Kaplan’s fault and he isn’t the savior that everyone thought he was. Who could’ve guessed?” another user added.
Massive Jeff Kaplan L. This dude was adored by the public for being funny on camera for devblogs while making sh*t decisions like this (and around balance philosophies) in private to the detriment of the game. He did not deserve the public praise he got and still gets from the… https://t.co/H6KwmTSdcJ
— Kevin Walker (@imAVRL) September 30, 2024
“Massive Jeff Kaplan L. This dude was adored by the public for being funny on camera for development blogs while making poor decisions privately that harmed the game,” remarked Overwatch esports commentator AVRL. “He did not deserve the praise he received from casual fans.”
This isn’t the only significant misstep highlighted by Jason Schreier; fans were also outraged upon discovering that Netflix canceled Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft series after Blizzard filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly poaching former CFO Spencer Neumann.
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