Jeff Kaplan, director of Overwatch has left Blizzard Entertainment after 19 years with the company. Kaplan will be replaced by Aaron Keller, another Blizzard veteran and founding member of the Overwatch team.
In a message to the fans, Kaplan calls his tenure an “honor of a lifetime.” He doesn’t mention the reason for his departure, nor if he plans to continue working for the industry.
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
Overwatch’s new Director is Aaron Keller, according to Blizzard, he has been a critical part of the Overwatch team and a key driver in creating the vision for the game.
Keller is an original member of the team and he’s also an 18-year veteran at the company, he worked side-by-side with Kaplan and he seems to be the perfect replacement for the departing director. Keller did also shared a touching letter to the community:
Greetings, Overwatch Community,
Jeff’s been a great leader, mentor, and friend, and he knows how much we’re going to miss him. I’ve been lucky to work alongside him and the rest of the Overwatch team for many years in building something that continues to inspire people all around the world, and I’m honored to carry the torch forward.
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.
Keller also gave an update about Overwatch 2‘s development claiming that the team is 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.
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