Jeff Kaplan, the renowned game developer, faced a difficult decision at a pivotal point in his career.
After several years out of the public eye, Jeff Kaplan, the creator of the Overwatch series and a former Blizzard Entertainment veteran, has re-emerged. The developer unveiled his new project, a multiplayer survival game called The Legend of California, and also provided an interview detailing the reasons for his departure from Blizzard after 19 years with the company.
Kaplan joined Blizzard in the early 2000s, where he initially worked as a quality assurance tester for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. He later rose to become the game director for World of Warcraft and ultimately the lead developer for Overwatch.
According to Kaplan, leaving the studio was a profound personal blow.
He confessed that he still holds fond feelings for Blizzard. However, after his departure, the developer realized the full extent of the pain he experienced, comparing it to a grieving process. He admitted it took him a long time to come to terms with no longer working at the studio where he had envisioned spending his entire career.
A pivotal incident that spurred his decision to leave was a meeting with Activision Blizzard’s financial leadership. Kaplan stated that the chief financial officer set an aggressive annual revenue target for Overwatch, threatening mass layoffs if the game failed to meet the specified figures.
Kaplan recounted that he was given a precise date and revenue sum that the project was expected to generate. The executive allegedly warned that failure to meet this target could result in the termination of approximately a thousand employees, with the responsibility for these layoffs placed squarely on Kaplan as the project lead.
While Kaplan did not explicitly name the CFO, Dennis Durkin held that position at the time, departing the company in May 2021—just one month after Kaplan’s own exit.
Following his departure from Blizzard, Kaplan established his new studio, Kintsugiyama. The name draws inspiration from the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold lacquer. Kaplan explained that the concept symbolizes individuals in the industry who have endured challenging professional experiences but have emerged stronger as a result.