Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan leaves Blizzard after nearly 20 years
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.
gg,
jeffrey kaplan
Over the past year, many veteran Blizzard employees have been leaving the company. Last September, Blizzard co-founder and longtime CEO Mike Morhaime left to found Dreamhaven Studios, which itself employs many more Blizzard alums, including Dustin Browder (Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft II), Jason Chayes (Hearthstone), and Chris Sigaty (Warcraft III, StarCraft II). Reportedly, all but one of its 27 employees are former Blizzard workers. Earlier this month, Omar Gonzalez, one of the pioneers behind WoW Classic, also left Blizzard for Dreamhaven. Last October, Dave Kosak left the company. Kosak was the public face of Hearthstone, replacing Ben Brode, who also left to form his own studio in 2018. Also in October, many StarCraft II developers left Blizzard to form Frost Giant Studios, reportedly due to Blizzard's lack of interest in developing real-time strategy games. In November, Chris Kaleiki, a longtime World of Warcraft developer left the company, citing disappointment in the direction WoW was headed.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.
gg,
jeffrey kaplan
While it's not yet known what Jeff Kaplan's next job will be, he's got plenty of options to choose from if he wants to work with his former Blizzard colleagues.
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