The man who has become the face of Overwatch is no more, as Jeff Kaplan has left Blizzard Entertainment. Jeff Kaplan leaves behind not only his post as Game Director of Overwatch, but also a legacy that will be missed by fans of the game.

The announcement was made today on an Overwatch blog post, which reads as follows:

i am leaving Blizzard Entertainment after 19 amazing years. 

it was truly the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for such a passionate audience. i want to express my deep appreciation to everyone at blizzard who supported our games, our game teams and our players. but i want to say a special thanks to the wonderful game developers that shared in the journey of creation with me.  

never accept the world as it appears to be. always dare to see it for what it could be. i hope you do the same. 

gg,

jeffrey kaplan 

Taking his place is Aaron Keller, who is an 18-year veteran at Blizzard and was one of the key members of the original Overwatch team and a valuable contributor for World of Warcraft. Keller had a few touching words for Kaplan, whom he called “a great leader, mentor, and friend”, as he carries on the work left behind.

Speaking about Overwatch 2, Keller said that “development is continuing at a good pace. We have an exceptional vision we’re executing on, the reaction from many of you to the updates we shared at BlizzConline thrilled us, and we have exciting reveals planned for this year and beyond as we ramp to launch. We’ll be sharing more frequent updates about Overwatch 2 progress and new features in the live game with you all very soon.“

Overwatch 2 is projected to launch next year at the very least.