Jeff Kaplan, Overwatch Director, Leaves Blizzard

After 19 years at Blizzard, the Director of Overwatch and Overwatch 2, Jeff Kaplan, has stated that he is leaving Blizzard Entertainment. This comes as a shock to many in the Overwatch community as Jeff has been the face of Overwatch since the games release nearly five years ago. He was last seen at Blizzconline 2021 discussing Overwatch 2 and made it seem as though updates from him and his team would be coming soon. Aaron Keller, the assistant game developer, will be taking over the development of Overwatch 2.

Here is a look at the letter from Jeff Kaplan.

While brief, he does express his gratitude for the fans and many people he met along the way. He also ends with “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.”

Nothing has been released as to the reason behind his leaving. It seems like a pretty major surprise to many as it looked like the development of Overwatch 2 was well underway and he was excited about it. Now questions and speculation will likely pop-up about why he is leaving and if it is possible he was asked to leave?

What’s Next?

Likely the biggest question on fan’s minds will be, what’s next? What about the development of Overwatch and Overwatch 2? Aaron Keller made it clear in his letter that they are going to be revealing a lot more soon stating:

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.

Every since Blizzconline, Jeff Kaplan was teasing as well that fans should expect some great reveals. The one big change that was seemingly hinted at was for the live game, meaning the original Overwatch. Is there a chance with Jeff Kaplan leaving that new heroes and modes could be pushed out to the live game instead of holding everything back for Overwatch 2? Like everything, this is clearly speculation but if it were true, Overwatch fans would surely rejoice.

As this story develops more, keep it here at The Game Haus to stay update.

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