Overwatch Co-Creator Says His Departure Came From “Biggest F*** You Moment” After Meeting CFO

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It’s been nearly five years since Jeff Kaplan, the former director and co-creator of Overwatch, left Blizzard. He recently shared some insights on the Lex Fridman podcast – as reported by PCGamer – about his almost 20 years with the company and the reasons behind his departure.

He decided to leave for several reasons, but a big one was the immense pressure on the now-closed Overwatch League. The league was heavily promoted to potential team owners, with some even predicting it would surpass the NFL in popularity, which created unrealistic expectations.

This resulted in numerous pledges that drew in wealthy investors, which disrupted the ongoing development of Overwatch. Kaplan explained that this meant plans for new Overwatch content were abandoned. The team stopped working on new in-game events and shifted focus away from Overwatch 2, simply maintaining the game as it was. He stated that the Overwatch League ultimately became focused on quickly generating revenue.

The initial plan for the Overwatch League was to host live events with significant revenue from ticket sales and merchandise. However, it quickly became clear that coordinating in-game events with teams located in different time zones – like London and Shanghai – would be incredibly difficult. While merchandise sales were decent, they weren’t going to generate the massive profits some people had predicted.

Investors immediately started asking about revenue, pointing to how Overwatch earned $500 million from its live service last year. They wanted to know what we could sell and what returns they could expect. This put a lot of pressure on the development team, especially with the need to launch Overwatch 2. As a result, we had fewer resources available to focus on maintaining and improving the original game with things like events, new characters, and new maps.

Jeff Kaplan and Ray Gresko, the game’s director, felt they had more creative control over Overwatch in its early days. Kaplan later said the Overwatch League ultimately became a burden. Eventually, a meeting with Activision Blizzard’s CFO led Kaplan to resign. During that meeting, he was given strict revenue goals for Overwatch, including ongoing income targets. He was told that if these targets weren’t met, 1,000 employees would be laid off.

The turning point in my time at Blizzard came when I was called into the CFO’s office. He told me that Overwatch needed to generate a specific amount of revenue in 2020, and then maintain a recurring revenue target each year after that. He explicitly stated that if those revenue goals weren’t met, 1,000 people would be laid off, and I would be held responsible. It was a shockingly stressful moment – a real low point in my career, and it didn’t feel real.

Having worked on many games, I often encountered meetings where people suggested we could replicate Fortnite’s success simply by hiring a large team – 1400 people, to be exact – and making the game free-to-play. I was incredibly loyal to Blizzard; it felt like home, and I envisioned myself retiring there. I never imagined I’d have to leave, but ultimately, that’s what happened. Thankfully, the Chief Financial Officer who pushed that strategy is no longer with the company.

Jeff Kaplan left Blizzard in 2021, and Overwatch 2 was eventually released as a free-to-play game, first in Early Access in 2022 and then officially in 2023. The game—a competitive hero shooter—is available on PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. Recently, Blizzard simplified the name to just Overwatch.

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2026-03-12 18:11