After 19 years as Vice President of Blizzard and Head of Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan is saying goodbye.
The news established itself as an ultimate Mei for all devotees of Californian society and, above all, to Overwatch. We were frozen to know that Jeff Kaplan, director and designer of the two installments of the hero shooter, Leaves Blizzard after almost 20 years at the helm of the franchise.
The announcement was made by Blizzard itself via its Official web. In it, Kaplan wanted to dedicate a few words of farewell to the entire gaming community. A letter with a very personal touch.
Greetings to the Overwatch community,
I am leaving Blizzard Entertainment after 19 incredible years.
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 gratitude to all of the people at Blizzard who have supported our games, our game teams and our players. But I want special thanks to the wonderful developers
who shared with me the path of creation.Never accept the world as it appears to be. Always dare to see him for what he could be. Hope you do the same.
GG, Jeffrey Kaplan.
But the question everyone has asked is “What will happen to the development of Overwatch 2?“. Too, Aaron Keller, also a company veteran, will take over as the new director of the sequel. It should be mentioned that Keller previously worked with Kaplan on World of warcraft, therefore the development of Overwatch 2 stay in good hands. Aaron also wrote to fans to talk a bit about the future of the hero shooter.
Greetings to the Overwatch community,
Jeff has been a great leader, mentor and friend, and he knows how much he will be missed. I have been fortunate enough to work alongside him and the rest of the Overwatch team for many years. by building something that continues to inspire people around the world, and I am honored to carry the torch forward.
I love Overwatch. From our first pieces of concept art, to the first maps we built, to the first time I was able to run as a Tracer (who at that first moment shot lasers through his eyes), this game has just clicked with me. I love your beautiful, inspiring and hopeful world worth fighting for
. I love his characters: larger than life, colorful, powerful and global. And most importantly, I love the fast-paced, smooth game that requires teamwork, situational awareness, and quick decision-making.I also recognize that making games at Blizzard has always been a group effort and is never about just one point of view. With the rest of the team, I feel lucky to have a large base of creative and development leaders, many veteran Blizzard artists and designers, as well as some extremely talented new blood, as well as great company-wide support for the current game and for Overwatch 2.
Speaking of Overwatch 2, development continues at a sustained pace. We have an exceptional vision that we execute. We’ve been thrilled with the reaction from many of you to the updates we’ve shared on BlizzConline, and we have some exciting reveals planned for this year and into the future
as we head to the launch. Very soon we will be sharing more frequent updates with all of you on the progress of Overwatch 2 and new features in the current game.Although I don’t pretend to take Jeff’s place, I’m excited to take on the role of Game Director and continue to be part of a team that puts all of their heart, talent and focus into the next version of Overwatch., and I am honored to continue to serve this wonderful community.
-Aaron.
With the departure of Jeff Kaplan, Blizzard Entertainment is losing more and more recognizable faces. Let us remember that in 2018, J. Allen Brack replaced Mike Morhaime as president of the company. One year later, I embroider he also ceased to be the visible face of Heart stone to create your own study: Second dinner.
As for Overwatch 2We still don’t know a specific departure date, and Kaplan’s departure will surely delay it even further. To brighten up the wait a bit, we can continue to enjoy the brawls of the first game and events such as Overwatch 2021 Archives, which started on April 6, to unlock new skins, player icons or graffiti.
