Morpheus

From Lex Fridman Podcast

#493 – Jeff Kaplan: World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Blizzard, and Future of Gaming

Published
March 11, 2026
Starts at
4:04:40

Audio is streamed from the publisher.

Chapters

Read from the show notes

  1. 0:00 Introduction
  2. 2:24 Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections
  3. 10:47 Early games: Pac-Man, Zork, Doom, Quake
  4. 25:12 Writing career – 170 rejection letters
  5. 40:45 EverQuest obsession
  6. 53:43 Getting hired at Blizzard
  7. 1:09:11 Lowest point in Jeff’s life
  8. 1:15:16 One of Us
  9. 1:19:33 Early Blizzard culture
  10. 1:39:15 Building World of Warcraft
  11. 1:56:59 How WoW changed video games
  12. 2:14:21 Single-player vs Multi-player
  13. 2:35:15 How Blizzard made great video games
  14. 3:01:04 Online toxicity
  15. 3:08:38 Why Titan failed
  16. 3:25:48 Overwatch in six weeks
  17. 3:52:46 Best Overwatch heroes
  18. 4:01:16 The challenge of matchmaking
  19. 4:04:40 Rust
  20. 4:15:01 Why Jeff left Blizzard
  21. 4:37:14 Diablo IV
  22. 4:38:42 Getting back to making video games
  23. 4:47:38 The Legend of California
  24. 5:01:23 Greatest video game of all time
  25. 5:09:30 AI and future of video games

Not from the publisher — times may be approximate.

Jeff Kaplan is a legendary Blizzard game designer of World of Warcraft and Overwatch, now preparing to launch a new game, The Legend of California, from his new studio Kintsugiyama – available to wishlist on Steam today, with alpha later in March. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: [https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc]( https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc">https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. **CONTACT LEX:** **Feedback** – give feedback to Lex: [https://lexfridman.com/survey]( https://lexfridman.com/survey">https://lexfridman.com/survey **AMA** – submit questions, videos or call-in: [https://lexfridman.com/ama]( https://lexfridman.com/ama">https://lexfridman.com/ama **Hiring** – join our team: [https://lexfridman.com/hiring]( https://lexfridman.com/hiring">https://lexfridman.com/hiring **Other** – other ways to get in touch: [https://lexfridman.com/contact]( https://lexfridman.com/contact">https://lexfridman.com/contact **EPISODE LINKS:** The Legend of California (Steam Page): [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The\_Legend\_of\_California]( https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The\_Legend\_of\_California">https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The\_Legend\_of\_California Jeff’s Game Studio: [https://www.kintsugiyama.com/]( https://www.kintsugiyama.com/">https://www.kintsugiyama.com/ **SPONSORS:** To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: **Fin:** AI agent for customer service. Go to [https://fin.ai/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep493-sc">https://fin.ai/lex **Blitzy:** AI agent for large enterprise codebases. Go to [https://blitzy.com/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep493-sc">https://blitzy.com/lex **BetterHelp:** Online therapy and counseling. Go to [https://betterhelp.com/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep493-sc">https://betterhelp.com/lex **Shopify:** Sell stuff online. Go to [https://shopify.com/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep493-sc">https://shopify.com/lex **CodeRabbit:** AI-powered code reviews. Go to [https://coderabbit.ai/lex]( https://lexfridman.com/s/coderabbit-ep493-sc">https://coderabbit.ai/lex **Perplexity:** AI-powered answer engine. Go to [https://perplexity.ai/]( https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep493-sc">https://perplexity.ai/ **OUTLINE:** (00:00) – Introduction (02:24) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections (10:47) – Early games: Pac-Man, Zork, Doom, Quake (25:12) – Writing career – 170 rejection letters (40:45) – EverQuest obsession (53:43) – Getting hired at Blizzard (1:09:11) – Lowest point in Jeff’s life (1:15:16) – One of Us (1:19:33) – Early Blizzard culture (1:39:15) – Building World of Warcraft (1:56:59) – How WoW changed video games (2:14:21) – Single-player vs Multi-player (2:35:15) – How Blizzard made great video games (3:01:04) – Online toxicity (3:08:38) – Why Titan failed (3:25:48) – Overwatch in six weeks (3:52:46) – Best Overwatch heroes (4:01:16) – The challenge of matchmaking (4:04:40) – Rust (4:15:01) – Why Jeff left Blizzard (4:37:14) – Diablo IV (4:38:42) – Getting back to making video games (4:47:38) – The Legend of California (5:01:23) – Greatest video game of all time (5:09:30) – AI and future of video games **PODCAST LINKS:** – Podcast Website: [https://lexfridman.com/podcast]( https://lexfridman.com/podcast">https://lexfridman.com/podcast – Apple Podcasts: [https://apple.co/2lwqZIr]( https://apple.co/2lwqZIr">https://apple.co/2lwqZIr – Spotify: [https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8]( https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8">https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 – RSS: [https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/]( https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/">https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ – Podcast Playlist: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP\_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4]( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP\_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP\_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 – Clips Channel: [https://www.youtube.com/lexclips]( https://www.youtube.com/lexclips">https://www.youtube.com/lexclips