"We're going to lay off 1,000 people and that's going to be on you": Ex-Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan says redundancy ultimatum led to his Blizzard exit

Mark Warren — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:24:27 +0000

Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan has said his 2021 departure from Blizzard followed an ultimatum about redundancies which "ultimately broke" his resolve and led him towards the exit door. The developer frames that moment as the culmination of a number of tough years working on the hero shooter, which included a 2018 push into esports with the Overwatch League serving as a drain on resources for a team who were also trying to get Overwatch 2 off the ground.

What are we all playing this weekend?

Mark Warren — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:00:00 +0000

Surprise, Friday WAP attack! No, I've (hopefully) not mucked up the time the WAPs are posted, as I did last time this particular RPSponsibility was trusted to me. It's a long weekend here in the UK thanks to the bank holidays around Easter. More time for playing games, in theory. Assuming you don't get trapped in a giant chocolate egg or something equally terrifying.

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"We're going to lay off 1,000 people and that's going to be on you": Ex-Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan says redundancy ultimatum led to his Blizzard exit

What are we all playing this weekend?