"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
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.