Jeff Kaplan: World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Blizzard, and Future of Gaming | Lex Fridman Podcast #493
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Jeff Kaplan is a legendary Blizzard lead 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-sb
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
*Transcript:*
https://lexfridman.com/jeff-kaplan-transcript
*CONTACT LEX:*
*Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
*AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
*Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
*Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact
*EPISODE LINKS:*
The Legend of California (Steam Page): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California
Jeff's Game Studio: https://www.kintsugiyama.com/
*SPONSORS:*
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
*Fin:* AI agent for customer service.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep493-sb
*Blitzy:* AI agent for large enterprise codebases.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep493-sb
*BetterHelp:* Online therapy and counseling.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep493-sb
*Shopify:* Sell stuff online.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep493-sb
*CodeRabbit:* AI-powered code reviews.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/coderabbit-ep493-sb
*Perplexity:* AI-powered answer engine.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep493-sb
*OUTLINE:*
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
*PODCAST LINKS:*
- Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
- Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
- RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
- Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4
- Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips
*SOCIAL LINKS:*
- X: https://x.com/lexfridman
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lexfridman
- TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@lexfridman
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
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- Patreon: https://patreon.com/lexfridman
- Telegram: https://t.me/lexfridman
- Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sb
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
*Transcript:*
https://lexfridman.com/jeff-kaplan-transcript
*CONTACT LEX:*
*Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
*AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
*Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
*Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact
*EPISODE LINKS:*
The Legend of California (Steam Page): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California
Jeff's Game Studio: https://www.kintsugiyama.com/
*SPONSORS:*
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
*Fin:* AI agent for customer service.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep493-sb
*Blitzy:* AI agent for large enterprise codebases.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep493-sb
*BetterHelp:* Online therapy and counseling.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep493-sb
*Shopify:* Sell stuff online.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep493-sb
*CodeRabbit:* AI-powered code reviews.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/coderabbit-ep493-sb
*Perplexity:* AI-powered answer engine.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep493-sb
*OUTLINE:*
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
*PODCAST LINKS:*
- Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
- Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
- RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
- Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4
- Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips
*SOCIAL LINKS:*
- X: https://x.com/lexfridman
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lexfridman
- TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@lexfridman
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/lexfridman
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/lexfridman
- Telegram: https://t.me/lexfridman
- Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman