Although his career in the video game industry officially began when he joined Blizzard Entertainment in 2002, Jeff Kaplan has been a personality in the gaming community since before. Shortly after the launch of the MMO Everquest (1999), Kaplan became a prominent member of the “Legacy of Steel” guild. This allowed him to meet Rob Pardo, leader of the guild and then chief designer of Warcraft III (2002).
Through Pardo’s recommendation, Kaplan joined the development team for World of Warcraft (2004). Eventually, his merits caused him to become director of the MMO. It was in 2009 that he left that position to work on the canceled Titan. Interestingly, the failure of this project was not in vain. Jeff Kaplan took elements from Titan to develop the next Blizzard Entertainment hit: Overwatch (2016).
For 5 years, Jeff Kaplan served as director of Overwatch and representative of the franchise. However, Jeff Kaplan has announced that he will be leaving Blizzard Entertainment.
“It was truly an honor to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for an audience. I want to express my great gratitude to everyone at Blizzard who supported our games, our teams, and our players. However, I want to thank the wonderful developers who shared this wonderful journey. ”
Jeff Kaplan, Former Director of Overwatch
Why did Jeff Kaplan leave Blizzard Entertainment?
At the moment it is unknown what is the reason why Jeff Kaplan left Blizzard Entertainment. It is also not known where he will work or if he will dedicate time to a personal project.
Who will assume the role of director of Overwatch with the absence of Jeff Kaplan?
With the departure of Jeff Kaplan, Aaron Keller will assume the role of creative director of the franchise Overwatch. He previously served as associate director on the first game and the sequel.
“Jeff has been a great leader, mentor and friend. He knows how much we will miss him. I have been very lucky to work with him and the rest of the team at Overwatch as we continue to build something that inspires gamers around the world. I am honored to carry the torch forward. ”
Aaron Keller, New Director of Overwatch
Overwatch is available for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Its sequel has no release date yet. To know more about the latter, we recommend following this link.
Fountain: official Overwatch page
