Jeff Kaplan – Overwatch director, Blizzard Entertainment vice president, and one of the studio’s most recognisable faces – has announced his departure from the company after 19 years.
Kaplan began his tenure at Blizzard in 2002, quickly joining the World of Warcraft team as a designer, and eventually becoming game director on the MMO. He left World of Warcraft in 2009 to work on Blizzard’s ill-fated Titan MMO, which was cancelled after a lengthy development, but went on to serve as lead director on wildly successful hero shooter Overwatch – and has very much been the public face of the game since its launch in 2016.
Announcing his departure on Twitter, Kaplan wrote, “I am leaving Blizzard Entertainment after 19 amazing years. It was truly the honour of a lifetime to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for such a passionate audience.”
