Jeff Kaplan Reveals He Hasn’t Played Overwatch Since Leaving Blizzard in April 2021

Jeff Kaplan, the former face of Overwatch at Blizzard, has been away from the hero shooter for over five years. He departed the company in 2021, describing it as the “biggest ‘fuck you’ moment” of his career after an Activision Blizzard executive threatened mass layoffs if Overwatch didn’t meet financial targets. Since then, Aaron Keller has taken over as director, and despite some challenges, he has managed to steer the game in a positive direction. As for Kaplan, he has intentionally distanced himself from the game since leaving, so he’s not fully aware of its current state.

In a detailed interview, Kaplan shared insights about his new independent studio, Kintsugiyama, and his work on the action game The Legend of California. When asked how his relationship with Overwatch evolved after stepping down, he expressed satisfaction in remembering the game as it was in 2021. He reflected on his previous experience leaving World of Warcraft, which made his departure from Overwatch easier, as it was tough to cut ties with WoW, a game that was integral to his identity.

“I was more prepared for that with Overwatch. World of Warcraft was more painful for me to leave than Overwatch was. With Overwatch, I had a very almost clinical separation, knowing how the WoW thing had gone. I’ve literally not played the game since April 2021,” he stated.

Kaplan’s last memory of Overwatch is the addition of Echo, the final hero he worked on. He consciously avoids engaging with the game’s community, stating, “I don’t read the subreddits. After I said my goodbye to competitive Overwatch and the Overwatch subreddit, I never go back and read. I don’t watch YouTube videos. I don’t search for my name in Overwatch. I don’t search for Overwatch. I sort of just disconnect.” He actively tells algorithms that he’s no longer interested in Overwatch, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy separation.

Despite this distance, he occasionally feels nostalgic, recalling the emotional moments from BlizzCon 2014 when Overwatch was announced. “It is, to this day, one of the most special days in my life,” he reminisced, highlighting the pride he feels for the entire team at Blizzard, not just Team 4, for their contributions to making Overwatch a standout game.

Kaplan expressed immense pride in having led the project and holds his former colleagues in high esteem. However, he likened himself to Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite, who nostalgically relives his past glory days. “I don’t want to be Uncle Rico! Overwatch happened. I was a part of it. There’s a group there now, and Overwatch is now about them. Both the players and the developers, that’s their Overwatch now. They’re making it, they own it, they play it. I’m onto this new thing, and that’s where I’m at in my life.”

Since Kaplan’s exit from Blizzard, Overwatch has undergone significant changes from the original vision he presented at BlizzCon 2019, where Overwatch 2 was intended to be a PvE-focused game with a campaign and replayable missions. Earlier this year, the game dropped the “2” from its title following a soft reboot that introduced a new storyline and a commitment to regular story updates through cinematics, comics, and audio dramas.