Kaplan's tenure ends after 19 years.
Overwatch‘s Jeff Kaplan has announced he’s leaving Blizzard after 19 years of service and will relinquish the title of the franchise’s Game Director to Aaron Keller.
The announcement was made in an official statement by Blizzard earlier today.
“I am leaving Blizzard Entertainment after 19 amazing years,” Kaplan said in his statement.
“It was truly the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for such a passionate audience,” he continued. “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.”
Overall control of the Overwatch franchise now rests with Aaron Keller, a founding member of the Overwatch team.
“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,” Keller said.
“I love Overwatch,” he continued. “From our first pieces of concept art, to the first maps we built, to the first time I was able to run around as Tracer (who at that early point shot laser beams out of her eyes), this game has just clicked with me. I love its inspiring, hopeful, beautiful world worth fighting for. I love its characters—larger than life, colorful, powerful, and global. And most of all, I love the fast, fluid gameplay requiring teamwork, situational awareness, and quick decision making.”
Keller also used the opportunity to confirm that work on Overwatch 2 “is continuing at a good pace” and that more updates will come soon.
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