Blizzard mainstay and Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan is leaving the company after 19 years. That means no more updates with Jeff, unfortunately, and it’s not clear where Kaplan is going. But it’s apparently not going to negatively affect the development of Overwatch 2, which is still on course in development.
Blizzard published a note from Kaplan, saying, “it was truly the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for such a passionate audience. i want to express my deep appreciation to everyone at blizzard who supported our games, our game teams and our players. but i want to say a special thanks to the wonderful game developers that shared in the journey of creation with me.” He also quotes a line from the game: “never accept the world as it appears to be. always dare to see it for what it could be.”
Kaplan’s role will be taken over by Aaron Keller, a founding member of the Overwatch team. Keller said in his own note that he loves Overwatch as much as anyone could, and he’ll do his best to follow Jeff: “While I have no pretenses about filling Jeff’s shoes, I’m excited to step into the game director role and continue to be part of a team that’s putting all of its heart, talent, and focus into the next iteration of Overwatch, and I’m honored to continue serving this incredible community.”
Keller also adds that development on the upcoming sequel, Overwatch 2, is continuing apace. The Blizzard team plans to share more details about the game this year. We’re still not likely to get the game until next year. In the meantime, we don’t know what’s next for Jeff Kaplan, but the official Twitter account calls him “the Mercy to our Genji,” which is very sweet.
Source: Blizzard Entertainment
