Jeff Kaplan just did his FIRST EVER Twitch stream! 10 hours of raw, unfiltered gameplay of his new game:
The Legend of California by @kintsugiyama
He installed OBS the night before. No polish. No PR team. Just a guy who used to fill arenas at BlizzCon now streaming from his house.
"We'd show a cinematic that was the most amazing cinematic ever, and we just don't have the budget for that here. So this is the ultimate keeping-it-real version of how games are actually made."
Here are 10 moments from the stream that stood out 🧵
Jeff is a legend. When I first started at Blizzard I emailed him about the internal Overwatch playtest and shared some initial feedback. It was bold since at the time I was entry level and he was a Game Director. I asked if he had ~15 mins to chat and he ended up inviting me to lunch. Took me in his mustang to a burger spot and stopped by a Lenscrafters. I'll never forget his kindness and how down to earth he was. Truly one of the greats.
'Overwatch' director Jeff Kaplan on what broke him and made him leave Blizzard:
• Blizzard began focusing too much on 'let's make lots of money really fast' and set hefty revenue goals
• He says he was told if the game didn’t hit the benchmarks, 'we're gonna lay off 1,000 people and that's gonna be on you'
"It was the biggest 'fuck you' moment I've had in my career ... I believed I would never work anywhere besides Blizzard ... and I was like 'we're done here'"
"I wish developers would understand their own value more and stop handing the golden goose to people who don't deserve it"
(via @lexfridman)