Jeff Kaplan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jeff Kaplan
Kaplan at the 2019 OWL Grand Finals
Born	(1972-11-04) November 4, 1972 (age 52) New Jersey, U.S.
Education	University of Southern California (BA) New York University (MA)
Occupation	Video game designer
Employer	Blizzard Entertainment (2002–2021)
Title	Vice President of Blizzard Entertainment (formerly)

Jeffrey Kaplan is an American video game designer. He used to be a vice president at Blizzard Entertainment, a company that makes video games. He left Blizzard in 2021. Jeff helped design parts of the popular game World of Warcraft and was the main director for Overwatch.

Early Life and Gaming Passions

Jeff Kaplan was born in New Jersey on November 4, 1972. He grew up in La Cañada Flintridge, California. When he was a student, Jeff loved playing video games, especially adventure games made by a company called Infocom.

Even though he loved games, Jeff didn't think he could work in the video game industry. This was because he didn't know how to program computers. He first studied film in college, but later earned a degree in creative writing from the University of Southern California.

After college, he worked as an intern for Universal Pictures. He then went on to get a master's degree in creative writing from New York University. For several years, he tried to get his stories published, but he received many rejection letters. By the year 2000, he decided to stop trying to publish stories. Instead, he spent his time playing video games and experimenting with tools that let you create levels for games like Duke Nukem 3D and Half-Life.

Jeff Kaplan's Career in Gaming

Joining Blizzard Entertainment

Jeff Kaplan became very involved in an online game called EverQuest. He was known by his online name "Tigole Bitties." He joined a gaming group called "Legacy of Steel." He became a well-known player because of his achievements and his comments about the game on the group's website.

Jeff also talked about his attempts at making game maps. This caught the attention of the group's leader, Rob Pardo. Rob was a lead designer at Blizzard Entertainment, working on Warcraft III. Jeff knew some of his group members worked at Blizzard, but he didn't realize how important the company was at the time.

Around 2001, Rob Pardo invited Jeff to visit Blizzard's offices in Los Angeles. There, Jeff met other Blizzard employees who were also in his gaming group. They showed him a new online game they were working on, which was not yet announced. This game was World of Warcraft (WoW).

After World of Warcraft was announced, Rob suggested that Jeff apply for a job as a quest designer for WoW. Jeff realized the job description was perfect for his skills. He also understood that his earlier visits to Blizzard had been like an informal job interview. Jeff applied and was hired by Blizzard in May 2002.

Working on World of Warcraft

When Jeff first started at Blizzard, he helped check the quality of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos before it was released. After Warcraft III came out, he joined the WoW team. He was one of the first two quest designers, working alongside Pat Nagle. He also worked closely with the game's creative director, Chris Metzen.

Jeff's job focused on the parts of WoW where players fight against the game's environment. This included designing quests and making the dungeons and raids look good. He saw his role as a link between Chris Metzen's creative ideas and the programmers and artists who built the game levels. Eventually, Jeff Kaplan became one of the game directors for WoW, along with Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack.

Moving to the Titan Project

In February 2009, Jeff Kaplan announced he was no longer the game director for WoW. He moved to a new, secret online game project at Blizzard, which was later called Titan. Jeff wanted to help create another successful game like WoW. He also wondered how long WoW's popularity would last.

Titan was a very ambitious project. It was planned as a team-based first-person shooter game. However, its development was long and difficult. Jeff described the gameplay as "very cluttered and confused." Titan's cancellation was officially announced in September 2014.

Creating Overwatch

Before Titan was officially canceled, its development had already stopped in early 2013. Most of the Titan team members were moved to other projects. However, about 40 people, including Jeff Kaplan and Chris Metzen, were asked by Blizzard's leaders to come up with a brand new game idea within a few weeks. If they couldn't, they would also be reassigned.

Jeff and Chris led this small team. They took some of the gameplay and creative ideas from Titan and used them to create a team-based shooter game. This game became Overwatch. Blizzard approved the project, and Jeff Kaplan became the game's lead director, with Chris Metzen as the creative director.

Overwatch became a huge success for Blizzard. It earned over $1 billion in its first year and attracted more than 35 million players worldwide. Following the example of Ben Brode, who was the lead director for Hearthstone, Jeff Kaplan became the public face for Blizzard in promoting Overwatch and talking with fans. He often posted on the Overwatch online forums and made videos explaining the game's development and future updates.

In 2017, Jeff Kaplan received the Vanguard Award at the Fun & Serious Game Festival in Bilbao, Spain.

Leaving Blizzard

On April 20, 2021, Blizzard announced that Jeff Kaplan was leaving the company after 19 years. Aaron Keller took over Jeff's role as the lead for Overwatch. A tribute to Jeff was planned for Overwatch 2, a storefront called "Jephs Corner Pizza" in the New York City map. However, this reference was later removed because Blizzard started a new rule against including real-world people in their games.

Games Jeff Kaplan Worked On