Ex Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan Reveals Why He Left Blizzard

Former Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan has revealed new details about why he left Blizzard in 2021, pointing to internal pressure to increase revenue from the popular team shooter.

According to comments reported by Windows Central, Kaplan said the turning point came when Blizzard’s chief financial officer pushed the team to improve Overwatch’s financial performance. Kaplan claims the executive warned that if the game failed to meet certain targets, the company might have to lay off around 1,000 developers.

Kaplan also said he was told the responsibility for those layoffs would fall on him personally if the game underperformed.

Kaplan criticizes growing influence of financial leadership

Reflecting on his experience, Kaplan criticized what he sees as the increasing influence of profit-focused executives within creative industries such as game development.

He argued that financial priorities can sometimes undermine the creative process behind building successful games. According to Kaplan, development teams often surrender too much decision-making power to business leadership even though they are responsible for designing and delivering the final product.

Kaplan pointed to the early days of World of Warcraft as an example. At that time, Blizzard did not have a CFO, and the game was developed primarily by designers, engineers, artists, producers, and audio specialists working together.

In his view, successful games emerge from collaboration among creative teams rather than strict financial oversight.

Encouraging developers to protect creative control

Kaplan also encouraged developers across the industry to recognize the value of their work and maintain greater control over creative decisions.

He suggested that development teams should not automatically prioritize profit-driven directives if they conflict with the long-term vision for a game.

After leaving Blizzard, Kaplan founded a new studio called Kintsugiyama. The studio is currently working on its first project, a title known as The Legend of California.

Meanwhile, Blizzard continues to expand the Overwatch universe with new collaborations, including the recently announced partnership with NieR: Automata.

In other gaming news, Black Ops Royale has arrived in Call of Duty: Warzone, while Pearl Abyss recently revealed the performance specifications and system requirements for Crimson Desert.