Jeff Kaplan Leaves Blizzard Entertainment

April 20, 2021 | 0 | 208| |

Jeff Kaplan is leaving Blizzard, the game company announced today. Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan will part ways with Blizzard after spending 19 years at the company. Replacing him is Aaron Keller.

Help us thank Jeff Kaplan for being the Mercy to our Genji. Thank you for always daring to see the world as it could be.

Also, help us welcome Aaron Keller as Overwatch's new Game Director. We can't wait to continue fighting for the future with you.

➡️ https://t.co/119g1mIh4M pic.twitter.com/w2Pmq3sBKn
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) April 20, 2021

Jeff Kaplan parts ways with Blizzard Entertainment

Jeff Kaplan leaves Overwatch after 19 years of service. Image Credit: Techradar.

Jeff Kaplan, Overwatch game director and Vice President of Blizzard Entertainment is no longer with the company. After spending 19 years with Blizzard, Jeff Kaplan and Blizzard have finally parted ways. Kaplan leaves behind a legacy of game development and innovation.

He was originally a part of the development team for Titan, a Blizzard FPS game. After Blizzard canceled Titan in 2014, he moved on to create Overwatch. The team borrowed many concepts from Titan to use in Overwatch. Overwatch was a massive success at launch and Blizzard quickly announced the Overwatch League in 2016.

The League is an ambitious first-of-its-kind project in Esports. City-based teams featuring a Home and Away system had to pay massive buy-ins for the Overwatch League. The League suffered a massive blow (as did many other esports leagues) in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The League had to postpone plans to enforce the Home-Away format, instead, moving online to cope with the travel restrictions.

Kaplan bids farewell to fans

As his final hurray, Jeff Kaplan had some words to say to his Overwatch fans. Unfortunately, it is not in the form of a long video, but a few words to express his feelings.

I am leaving Blizzard Entertainment after 19 amazing 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 appreciation to everyone at blizzard who supported our games, our game teams and our players. but I want to say a special thanks to the wonderful game developers that shared in the journey of creation with me.
Never accept the world as it appears to be. always dare to see it for what it could be. I hope you do the same.
Jeff Kaplan.

Who will replace Jeff Kaplan at Blizzard?

Aaron Keller will replace Jeff Kaplan as Overwatch’s Game Director. Image Credit: GamerBraves YouTube.

Aaron Keller, another veteran at Blizzard and the Overwatch team will take Jeff Kaplan’s place. Keller has worked in Blizzard for eighteen years and is a member of the Overwatch founding team. His experience working alongside Kaplan and the rest of the Overwatch team will be crucial in the next few months.

Blizzard is gearing up towards the launch of Overwatch 2 which takes place in a different time period compared to Overwatch. With improved graphics and better features, Overwatch 2 is sure to bring exciting changes and features to the game.

Speaking of Overwatch 2, development is continuing at a good pace. We have an exceptional vision we’re executing on, the reaction from many of you to the updates we shared at BlizzConline thrilled us, and we have exciting reveals planned for this year and beyond as we ramp to launch. We’ll be sharing more frequent updates about Overwatch 2 progress and new features in the live game with you all very soon.
While I have no pretenses about filling Jeff’s shoes, I’m excited to step into the game director role and continue to be part of a team that’s putting all of its heart, talent, and focus into the next iteration of Overwatch, and I’m honored to continue serving this incredible community.

Blizzard plans to release more updates about Overwatch 2 this year and beyond. Meanwhile, the Overwatch League is ongoing with twenty teams competing in online matches. There are two divisions in the Overwatch League 2021, with four tournaments dotting the season.

Stay tuned to Tnl-Media-Betting for the latest Overwatch news and updates.

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Rohan

The author

Esports journalist. An esports fan, former wannabe pro and occasional angry young man. You can find him trying to climb the Dota 2 MMR or just chilling in Rocket League. Or maybe building an entire city in Cities: Skylines. The current mood is always a surprise.