Jeff Kaplan is undeniably one of Activision Blizzard's most public figures, regularly engaging with fans and players of Overwatch, usually even being the one to announce new updates for the title. As lead designer and director of Overwatch, it seemed safe to assume that he'd continue his tenure throughout Overwatch 2 as well. But, to the surprise of many, he is instead leaving the company before Overwatch 2 even has a release date.
Blizzard itself announced the news via the official Overwatch website, sharing Kaplan's own farewell letter. Kaplan simply writes that it has been an honor to work for the company for the past 19 years and he appreciates all the support he has received from Blizzard and the developers he's worked alongside.
Kaplan has spent his entire games industry career at Blizzard, starting out in 2002 by working on strategy game Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos before moving on to the World of Warcraft MMO. He also served as a designer on the canceled Titan MMO, with 2016's Overwatch being the first game he directed.
Kaplan doesn't provide an exact reason for why he has decided to leave nor does he explain what he intends to do next, whether it be to work for another studio, establish his own, or step away from the games industry entirely. Whatever he's doing, it's certainly not going to be Overwatch related.
Considering it was assumed he would be continuing his director role on Overwatch 2, his sudden departure is bound to worry fans. The game has notably lacked any real updates since its original announcement in 2019, although it was mentioned during this year's BlizzCon.
Fortunately, Blizzard already has someone ready to take over Kaplan's role, namely Aaron Keller. This may put fans' minds at ease as Keller is not only a veteran within Blizzard, having worked for the company for 18 years, but he's one of the founding members of Overwatch and acted as the game's assistant director. He's also worked on World of Warcraft and, before joining Blizzard, was a designer for the Legacy of Kain games.
Aside from bidding a fond farewell to Kaplan and expressing his excitement for his new role on Overwatch 2, Keller assures that development is progressing at a good pace. He also promises more frequent updates very soon, and that the team has exciting reveals planned for the rest of the year and beyond.
He gives no indication of when Overwatch 2 will come out, but some suspect that it won't release by the end of the year, meaning it might not arrive until 2022 at the earliest. It has been rumored that development is going slowly and has already been delayed, no doubt partially due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Activision Blizzard