Jeff Kaplan on WoW, Overwatch, and Making Games
From gamer to game designer
Jeff Kaplan looks back on discovering games through arcade machines, early consoles and PC titles such as Zork and Ultima. He describes how online play—from Doom and Quake to EverQuest—made virtual worlds and their communities central to his life.
Writing, failure, and finding a new direction
Kaplan recounts studying creative writing, receiving repeated rejections, becoming isolated and depressed, and eventually abandoning his writing work. He advises young people to focus on what they want to do, rather than feeling pressured to decide what they want to be. After leaving writing, he immersed himself in EverQuest, where guild leadership and online friendships became formative experiences.
“focus on what you want to do, not what you want to be.” — Jeff Kaplan
Joining Blizzard
Kaplan explains how his EverQuest guild and player feedback led to friendships with Blizzard developers, then to a job as an associate quest designer on World of Warcraft. He discusses his struggles with depression and alcohol, therapy and sobriety, and how finding a community and meaningful work helped him.
Making games at Blizzard
Kaplan describes early Blizzard as a small, informal team environment and outlines how programmers, artists, designers, producers and audio specialists collaborate. He argues that small teams encourage communication and that leaders should listen to ideas, assume colleagues have something to teach them, and help develop ideas rather than dismissing them.
World of Warcraft
Kaplan explains WoW as a world for players to inhabit, and recalls debate over its Horde–Alliance factions. He describes the team’s early uncertainty, the demands of development and crunch, and how the game’s quest system evolved: quests became the most direct route through the world, combining progression with exploration and story. He also discusses designing zones, the notorious Green Hills of Stranglethorn quest, and Blizzard’s approach to quality assurance, fixing bugs and supporting a live game.
Player stories, game design, and Overwatch
The conversation compares single-player, co-op, multiplayer and massively multiplayer games, and considers how different forms of play create fun. Kaplan discusses Overwatch’s heroes, shooter mechanics, team roles and matchmaking, as well as the trade-offs of emphasizing team results over individual contribution. He also explains how players’ own stories can be as compelling as scripted narratives.
Titan, Overwatch 2, and leaving Blizzard
Kaplan recounts Titan’s ambitious future-Earth MMO concept, why the project failed to converge on a shippable game, and how a smaller, more focused team developed Overwatch from ideas explored during the project’s cancellation. He describes Overwatch 2’s planned co-op PvE component, pressures from ongoing events and the Overwatch League, and his account of why business expectations and leadership conflict contributed to his departure from Blizzard. He reflects on Blizzard’s creative culture and the importance of protecting game development from being driven solely by financial targets.
A new studio and The Legend of California
After leaving Blizzard, Kaplan teamed up with programmer Tim Ford to form a studio and make The Legend of California. He describes it as an online multiplayer game set on a fictional island version of California during the Gold Rush era, with a handcrafted landmass, changing world seeds and a more solitary, dangerous tone. He discusses the game’s visual inspiration, its planned public alpha and early access, and the meaning of the studio name, Kintsugiyama.
Games, AI, and creative work
Kaplan names The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as his top game and discusses Red Dead Redemption 2, EverQuest, Rust and Zork. He sees AI as a possible aid for tedious tasks, but criticizes its current reliability and use of creative work without permission. He argues that small studios can produce important new ideas and urges developers to retain ownership of their craft.