Overview
- In a new Lex Fridman interview, Kaplan says a CFO told him Overwatch must hit undisclosed revenue targets or 1,000 layoffs would follow and be blamed on him, with the figures redacted under his NDA.
- He ties the pressure to the Overwatch League being oversold to investors, requiring Twitch integration, spectator tools, and team cosmetics that diverted staff from live updates and the planned PvE push for Overwatch 2.
- Kaplan calls the meeting the moment that "broke" him before his departure, which Blizzard announced on April 20, 2021; he did not name the executive, and Dennis Durkin was CFO at the time and left the company shortly thereafter.
- Coverage notes the league later shut down after failing to meet lofty expectations, a period Kaplan says left the team "treading water" instead of building new events, heroes, and maps.
- Kaplan is now developing The Legend of California with independent studio Kintsugiyama, with Dreamhaven set as publisher.