Jeff Kaplan Details New Survival Game, Reflects on Blizzard Exit
Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan is developing 'The Legend of California,' a multiplayer survival game inspired by World of Warcraft and Rust. Kaplan cited corporate mismanagement and revenue pressure as reasons for his departure from Blizzard Entertainment. He also shared his views on AI in game development, calling the human spirit irreplaceable.
Coverage across 7 outlets
'I would love that but we're cheap and poor': Jeff Kaplan speeds through everything players should know about his upcoming cowboy survival game, The Legend of California
Jeff Kaplan provided details about Kintsugiyama's upcoming open-world survival game, The Legend of California, set in gold-rush-era California. The game will feature a sandbox world with activities like trading, fishing, and ranch building, supporting up to 100 players on public servers with monthly resets. Kaplan also discussed potential future features like holiday events and pets, while acknowledging the game's current financial limitations.
Ex-Overwatch Director Says Tracer's Butt Was Never "Nerfed"
Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan stated that Tracer's butt was never 'nerfed' in the game, despite a controversy over a victory pose shortly after the original Overwatch's debut. Kaplan also discussed his departure from Activision Blizzard and shared his views on players criticizing games they haven't played.
'It stayed exactly the same': Jeff Kaplan takes us back to 2016 by confirming that Blizzard did not change the…
Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan has addressed the long-standing community discussion about Tracer's character model, confirming that Blizzard Entertainment never altered the size of her posterior. Kaplan stated that only one of Tracer's poses was changed shortly after the original Overwatch's release due to player feedback, and the model itself remained consistent. He also briefly mentioned his new multiplayer action-survival FPS game, The Legend of California.
Former Overwatch lead Jeff Kaplan has "over 5,000 hours" in Rust and calls it "the pinnacle of PvP games," but his own survival game takes cues from World of Warcraft
Former Overwatch lead Jeff Kaplan expressed his deep admiration for Rust, calling it the "pinnacle of PvP games" after accumulating over 5,000 hours of playtime. While his new survival game, The Legend of California, draws inspiration from the genre, it will focus more on base-building and open-world multiplayer elements reminiscent of World of Warcraft, rather than Rust's intense PvP.
Our idea of Azeroth could have looked very different, because Jeff Kaplan said he 'really wanted WoW to be first-person' in its early days: 'I argued a lot for that'
Former Blizzard vice president Jeff Kaplan revealed that he strongly advocated for World of Warcraft to be a first-person game during its early development. He believed a first-person perspective would have fostered a greater appreciation for character art and player interaction, drawing parallels to his experience with EverQuest.
World of Warcraft would've been a first-person MMO in the EverQuest-inspired world of Overwatch's Jeff Kaplan:…
Former Blizzard director Jeff Kaplan revealed that he advocated for World of Warcraft to be a first-person MMORPG during its development. He views his upcoming game, The Legend of California, as an indirect realization of that original vision, drawing inspiration from his experience with EverQuest.
Out of the Blue
Jeff Kaplan appeared on Lex Fridman Podcast #493 to discuss his new venture, The Legend of California. This marks Kaplan's first public appearance and discussion since leaving Blizzard Entertainment.
Overwatch Vet Jeff Kaplan On AI: "The Human Spirit Is Irreplaceable"
Game industry veteran Jeff Kaplan, formerly of Blizzard Entertainment and now leading the development of The Legend of California, shared his views on artificial intelligence in game development with Lex Fridman. Kaplan described current AI as "mostly a hot mess" but acknowledged its potential for handling tedious tasks, citing an example where ChatGPT resized 2,000 images for his studio Kintsugiyama. He emphasized that while AI can assist with mundane work, the "human spirit is irreplaceable" in creative endeavors.
Former Blizzard VP Jeff Kaplan likens AI scraping to "stealing," says "the human spirit is irreplaceable"
Former Blizzard vice president Jeff Kaplan shared his views on artificial intelligence in a podcast with Lex Fridman, likening AI data scraping to theft and emphasizing the irreplaceable nature of the human spirit in game development.
Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan on what led him to leave Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan stated that his departure from Blizzard Entertainment was due to the Overwatch League and corporate mismanagement. He believes these factors contributed to the game's decline.
Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan on what led him to leave Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan stated that his departure from Blizzard Entertainment was due to the Overwatch League and corporate mismanagement. He believes these factors contributed to the game's decline.
Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan's favorite hero is Reinhardt, and reveals his charge was inspired by Left 4 Dead 2: 'It's what separates a great Rein from a sh*tty one'
Former Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan revealed that Reinhardt was his main hero and that his shield ability was inspired by Left 4 Dead 2. Kaplan stated that Reinhardt's shield design was crucial for team-based gameplay and has since been widely adopted by other hero shooters.
A terrible quest in vanilla WoW 'holds a really special place in my heart', says Jeff Kaplan, but was also 'the hubris of a junior game designer who thinks he's clever but is actually a dipsh*t'
Former Blizzard designer Jeff Kaplan reflected on the notoriously disliked "The Green Hills of Stranglethorn" quest in the original World of Warcraft. He described it as a personal project that taught him valuable lessons about game design, particularly regarding player experience and avoiding "ant farm" design principles.
One of Jeff Kaplan's 'regrets about Overwatch' was making it so team-orientated: 'I would downplay the team factor and try to put more focus on individual contribution'
Former Overwatch boss Jeff Kaplan expressed regret over the game's heavy emphasis on team coordination, stating that if he were to create a hero shooter today, he would prioritize individual contribution. He believes this shift is necessary because players are inherently selfish and that the current team-dependent design makes it difficult to carry matches or compensate for weaker teammates.
Jeff Kaplan returns with a new Wild West multiplayer survival title – and a revealing interview about why he left Blizzard
Jeff Kaplan, formerly of Blizzard Entertainment, has revealed his new project: The Legend of California, a multiplayer action survival FPS from developer Kintsugiyama and publisher Dreamhaven. In an interview with Lex Fridman, Kaplan discussed his departure from Blizzard, citing a shift in focus towards monetization and pressure regarding revenue targets. The Legend of California is slated for early access in 2026 on PC via Steam.
Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan on his exit from Activision-Blizzard: 'It was the biggest f**k you moment…
Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan detailed his departure from Activision Blizzard in 2021, citing immense pressure from the Overwatch League's overmarketing and unrealistic revenue expectations for the base game and Overwatch 2. Kaplan described being threatened with layoffs of 1,000 employees if financial targets were not met, calling it a significant 'fuck you moment' in his career.
