Jeff Kaplan calls Blizzard's Overwatch 2 ultimatum the biggest 'f*ck you' of his career

In a recent lengthy interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, former Blizzard developer Jeff Kaplan discussed his breaking point at the company, and how he was expected to make a specific amount of money with Overwatch or else 1,000 employees would be let go.

Kaplan was once one of the most recognizable faces of Blizzard Entertainment, originally hired as a World of Warcraft quest designer after sharing analytical posts about MMO design. Kaplan is now credited with shaping many of World of Warcraft's iconic original quests and its progression systems. Kaplan rose to become the game director for Blizzard's new MMO Titan, which was internally cancelled in 2013, and was instead tasked with creating a new title based on some of Titan's ideas. That game became Overwatch.

Overwatch launched in 2016 and won Game of the Year at the Game Awards in 2016. The title attracted tens of millions of players globally, and Kaplan was at the forefront, engaging with the community through developer updates and on social media. However, in 2021, Kaplan unexpectedly left Blizzard after nearly two decades at the company, and since Blizzard didn't provide an explanation for his departure, the reason remained a matter of speculation.

Kaplan was in the middle of developing Overwatch 2 at the time of his departure, and explained during the interview that he was told by Blizzard's CFO at the time, Dennis Durkin, that Overwatch 2 had to make a specific amount of money, the figure was bleeped out, or Blizzard would lay off 1,000 people, and that would be on Kaplan's head. Kaplan described this moment as the biggest "f*ck you" of his career.