Adam

engineering @ blizzard entertainment

[Adam @hoodrychx]

#lettersfromthecommissioner @natenanzer @overwatchleague

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@MitchJonez mitchy

bc1qjc299wpm6cuplx9x7lvqlyfmedax0cvnyxggdz

[Adam @hoodrychx]

whoever pitched korn x diablo deserves a raise. insane collab @Diablo

[Korn @Korn]

Korn x @Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred “Reward the Scars” music video premieres Monday, April 27 at 10AM PT. 🔺
https://t.co/iN9O2LuEoQ

[Adam @hoodrychx]

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.

[Lex Fridman @lexfridman]

Here's my conversation with Jeff Kaplan, a legendary Blizzard game designer of World of Warcraft and Overwatch, which are two of the biggest, most influential games ever made. Jeff is one of the most genuine & awesome human beings I've ever met: kind, thoughtful, hilarious, and still & forever a gamer through and through.

This was a truly fun & inspiring conversation. We talk about it all: the lows, the highs, the memes, the details of the game design process, and the new game he's been secretely working on: The Legend of California. I got a chance to play the game with Jeff, and it's incredibly beautiful (and fun). You can wishlist it on Steam now. I can't wait to play it with all of you!

Conversation is here on X in full and is up everywhere else (see comment).

Timestamps:
0:00 - Episode highlight
1:27 - Introduction
4:07 - Early games: Pac-Man, Zork, Doom, Quake
18:33 - Writing career - 170 rejection letters
34:06 - EverQuest obsession
47:04 - Getting hired at Blizzard
1:02:32 - Lowest point in Jeff's life
1:08:37 - One of Us
1:12:54 - Early Blizzard culture
1:32:36 - Building World of Warcraft
1:50:20 - How WoW changed video games
2:07:42 - Single-player vs Multi-player
2:28:35 - How Blizzard made great video games
2:54:25 - Online toxicity
3:01:59 - Why Titan failed
3:19:09 - Overwatch in six weeks
3:46:07 - Best Overwatch heroes
3:54:37 - The challenge of matchmaking
3:58:01 - Rust
4:08:22 - Why Jeff left Blizzard
4:30:35 - Diablo IV
4:32:03 - Getting back to making video games
4:40:59 - The Legend of California
4:54:44 - Greatest video game of all time
5:02:51 - AI and future of video games

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@JoeyKaotyk @Byron @Sodapoppintv We are WoW players

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@SamwiseDidier Legend

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@Ghostcrawler I like this Greg

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@Warcraft Hoodrych
Tichondrius
US
#WarcraftStory
@Warcraft

[Adam @hoodrychx]

wrath of the rych king

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@Hydramist @Coralinx congratulations mate~

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@WoWEsports

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@Xaryu this fire

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@lilgingerb laughed then i cried

[Adam @hoodrychx]

so devastated over the news and for all of us close to Byron. we grew up playing wow against each other. we just met up last blizzcon. hugged and said we loved each other, that we were proud of one another. felt like we became closer in the last few years. goodbye my friend

[Garrett @Nadagast]

Byron was one of the warmest and funniest people. He was sensitive and caring and thoughtful — a unique and special mix. I’m devastated and am gonna miss him dearly.

Send extra love to the people in your life.

[Adam @hoodrychx]

these are fire

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@RiotAzael @joanneofarclol Great pic Isaac! Congrats

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@ByronBernstein coincidentally this time slot is also the only time i'd see this tweet and be able to tune in. people fwu, let them

[Adam @hoodrychx]

that diablo 4 cinematic was incredible

[Adam @hoodrychx]

lots of ups and downs

[Adam @hoodrychx]

@StarshipWoW @Nadagast 😍