<description>&lt;p&gt;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 &amp;#8211; available to wishlist on Steam today, with alpha later in March.&lt;br /&gt; Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc"&gt;https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;CONTACT LEX:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Feedback&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8211; give feedback to Lex: &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/survey"&gt;https://lexfridman.com/survey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;AMA&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8211; submit questions, videos or call-in: &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/ama"&gt;https://lexfridman.com/ama&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Hiring&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8211; join our team: &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/hiring"&gt;https://lexfridman.com/hiring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Other&lt;/b&gt; &amp;#8211; other ways to get in touch: &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/contact"&gt;https://lexfridman.com/contact&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;EPISODE LINKS:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The Legend of California (Steam Page): &lt;a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California"&gt;https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Jeff&amp;#8217;s Game Studio: &lt;a href="https://www.kintsugiyama.com/"&gt;https://www.kintsugiyama.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;SPONSORS:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; To support this podcast, check out our sponsors &amp;#038; get discounts:&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Fin:&lt;/b&gt; AI agent for customer service.&lt;br /&gt; Go to &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep493-sc"&gt;https://fin.ai/lex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Blitzy:&lt;/b&gt; AI agent for large enterprise codebases.&lt;br /&gt; Go to &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep493-sc"&gt;https://blitzy.com/lex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;BetterHelp:&lt;/b&gt; Online therapy and counseling.&lt;br /&gt; Go to &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep493-sc"&gt;https://betterhelp.com/lex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Shopify:&lt;/b&gt; Sell stuff online.&lt;br /&gt; Go to &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep493-sc"&gt;https://shopify.com/lex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;CodeRabbit:&lt;/b&gt; AI-powered code reviews.&lt;br /&gt; Go to &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/coderabbit-ep493-sc"&gt;https://coderabbit.ai/lex&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;Perplexity:&lt;/b&gt; AI-powered answer engine.&lt;br /&gt; Go to &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep493-sc"&gt;https://perplexity.ai/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;OUTLINE:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; (00:00) &amp;#8211; Introduction&lt;br /&gt; (02:24) &amp;#8211; Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections&lt;br /&gt; (10:47) &amp;#8211; Early games: Pac-Man, Zork, Doom, Quake&lt;br /&gt; (25:12) &amp;#8211; Writing career &amp;#8211; 170 rejection letters&lt;br /&gt; (40:45) &amp;#8211; EverQuest obsession&lt;br /&gt; (53:43) &amp;#8211; Getting hired at Blizzard&lt;br /&gt; (1:09:11) &amp;#8211; Lowest point in Jeff&amp;#8217;s life&lt;br /&gt; (1:15:16) &amp;#8211; One of Us&lt;br /&gt; (1:19:33) &amp;#8211; Early Blizzard culture&lt;br /&gt; (1:39:15) &amp;#8211; Building World of Warcraft&lt;br /&gt; (1:56:59) &amp;#8211; How WoW changed video games&lt;br /&gt; (2:14:21) &amp;#8211; Single-player vs Multi-player&lt;br /&gt; (2:35:15) &amp;#8211; How Blizzard made great video games&lt;br /&gt; (3:01:04) &amp;#8211; Online toxicity&lt;br /&gt; (3:08:38) &amp;#8211; Why Titan failed&lt;br /&gt; (3:25:48) &amp;#8211; Overwatch in six weeks&lt;br /&gt; (3:52:46) &amp;#8211; Best Overwatch heroes&lt;br /&gt; (4:01:16) &amp;#8211; The challenge of matchmaking&lt;br /&gt; (4:04:40) &amp;#8211; Rust&lt;br /&gt; (4:15:01) &amp;#8211; Why Jeff left Blizzard&lt;br /&gt; (4:37:14) &amp;#8211; Diablo IV&lt;br /&gt; (4:38:42) &amp;#8211; Getting back to making video games&lt;br /&gt; (4:47:38) &amp;#8211; The Legend of California&lt;br /&gt; (5:01:23) &amp;#8211; Greatest video game of all time&lt;br /&gt; (5:09:30) &amp;#8211; AI and future of video games&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;PODCAST LINKS:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &amp;#8211; Podcast Website: &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/podcast"&gt;https://lexfridman.com/podcast&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &amp;#8211; Apple Podcasts: &lt;a href="https://apple.co/2lwqZIr"&gt;https://apple.co/2lwqZIr&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &amp;#8211; Spotify: &lt;a href="https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8"&gt;https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &amp;#8211; RSS: &lt;a href="https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/"&gt;https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &amp;#8211; Podcast Playlist: &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4"&gt;https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &amp;#8211; Clips Channel: &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/lexclips"&gt;https://www.youtube.com/lexclips&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Lex Fridman Podcast

Lex Fridman

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

MAR 11, 2026-1 MIN
Lex Fridman Podcast

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

MAR 11, 2026-1 MIN

Description

<p>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 &#8211; available to wishlist on Steam today, with alpha later in March.<br /> Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc">https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc</a><br /> See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.</p> <p><b>CONTACT LEX:</b><br /> <b>Feedback</b> &#8211; give feedback to Lex: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/survey">https://lexfridman.com/survey</a><br /> <b>AMA</b> &#8211; submit questions, videos or call-in: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/ama">https://lexfridman.com/ama</a><br /> <b>Hiring</b> &#8211; join our team: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/hiring">https://lexfridman.com/hiring</a><br /> <b>Other</b> &#8211; other ways to get in touch: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/contact">https://lexfridman.com/contact</a></p> <p><b>EPISODE LINKS:</b><br /> The Legend of California (Steam Page): <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California">https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California</a><br /> Jeff&#8217;s Game Studio: <a href="https://www.kintsugiyama.com/">https://www.kintsugiyama.com/</a></p> <p><b>SPONSORS:</b><br /> To support this podcast, check out our sponsors &#038; get discounts:<br /> <b>Fin:</b> AI agent for customer service.<br /> Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep493-sc">https://fin.ai/lex</a><br /> <b>Blitzy:</b> AI agent for large enterprise codebases.<br /> Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/blitzy-ep493-sc">https://blitzy.com/lex</a><br /> <b>BetterHelp:</b> Online therapy and counseling.<br /> Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep493-sc">https://betterhelp.com/lex</a><br /> <b>Shopify:</b> Sell stuff online.<br /> Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep493-sc">https://shopify.com/lex</a><br /> <b>CodeRabbit:</b> AI-powered code reviews.<br /> Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/coderabbit-ep493-sc">https://coderabbit.ai/lex</a><br /> <b>Perplexity:</b> AI-powered answer engine.<br /> Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep493-sc">https://perplexity.ai/</a></p> <p><b>OUTLINE:</b><br /> (00:00) &#8211; Introduction<br /> (02:24) &#8211; Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections<br /> (10:47) &#8211; Early games: Pac-Man, Zork, Doom, Quake<br /> (25:12) &#8211; Writing career &#8211; 170 rejection letters<br /> (40:45) &#8211; EverQuest obsession<br /> (53:43) &#8211; Getting hired at Blizzard<br /> (1:09:11) &#8211; Lowest point in Jeff&#8217;s life<br /> (1:15:16) &#8211; One of Us<br /> (1:19:33) &#8211; Early Blizzard culture<br /> (1:39:15) &#8211; Building World of Warcraft<br /> (1:56:59) &#8211; How WoW changed video games<br /> (2:14:21) &#8211; Single-player vs Multi-player<br /> (2:35:15) &#8211; How Blizzard made great video games<br /> (3:01:04) &#8211; Online toxicity<br /> (3:08:38) &#8211; Why Titan failed<br /> (3:25:48) &#8211; Overwatch in six weeks<br /> (3:52:46) &#8211; Best Overwatch heroes<br /> (4:01:16) &#8211; The challenge of matchmaking<br /> (4:04:40) &#8211; Rust<br /> (4:15:01) &#8211; Why Jeff left Blizzard<br /> (4:37:14) &#8211; Diablo IV<br /> (4:38:42) &#8211; Getting back to making video games<br /> (4:47:38) &#8211; The Legend of California<br /> (5:01:23) &#8211; Greatest video game of all time<br /> (5:09:30) &#8211; AI and future of video games</p> <p><b>PODCAST LINKS:</b><br /> &#8211; Podcast Website: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/podcast">https://lexfridman.com/podcast</a><br /> &#8211; Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://apple.co/2lwqZIr">https://apple.co/2lwqZIr</a><br /> &#8211; Spotify: <a href="https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8">https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8</a><br /> &#8211; RSS: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/">https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/</a><br /> &#8211; Podcast Playlist: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4</a><br /> &#8211; Clips Channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/lexclips">https://www.youtube.com/lexclips</a></p>