Jeff Kaplan, the ex-director of Overwatch who left Blizzard in 2021, said in an interview with Lex Fridman that he stepped down from his position due to pressure to deliver increasing revenue numbers every year lest the company lay off workers. Kaplan described a meeting he had with the company’s then-CFO, who he claims told him that if he failed to hit those revenue numbers, the resulting layoffs would be “on [him],” as the “biggest fuck you moment” of his career. One upshot of Kaplan’s frank discussion of those conditions is that it illustrates the depraved, brainrotted “growth no matter what” mindset of corpos who can’t merely be content with a good, profitable thing. Hearing this has put some things into perspective for Overwatch fans who have spent years annoyed by the team’s perceived cosmetic favoritism for characters like Kiriko and Mercy.
Overwatch went through a years-long rough patch after Kaplan departed, with Blizzard having to right the ship of Overwatch 2, a sequel that never truly materialized in the ways that were promised as its campaign was canceled and its new modes stripped for parts. Now, the game is in probably the best state it’s been in years, has dropped the 2 from the name and reintegrated the story, albeit without the campaign. But for a while, the main draw was skins, and characters like Kiriko and Mercy were given what fans considered preferential treatment, receiving rare, elaborate, and expensive skins while many other characters have been neglected in comparison. It has bred resentment toward the favored characters, their players, and the Overwatch development team over the years, though if people are shelling out way more cash for skins for specific heroes than they are for others, it’s not a surprise that Blizzard keeps pumping them out.
Now that Kaplan has made it clear the kind of pressure Overwatch has been under, it’s helping some fans understand that Kiriko and Mercy players’ willingness to buy all those skins has helped keep the game afloat to the point where Blizzard could turn the game around in the way it has.
finding out kiri isnt necessarily a favorite but she is in fact the HOPE of everyone keeping their jobs at overwatch along with the other cash cows
— ًٍ (@PPYCH0W) March 13, 2026
In light of this, no one is allowed to hate the Mercy and Kiri mains anymore https://t.co/QsPWX1bXpw
— ari ୨ৎ (@irlpachi) March 12, 2026
So now that we know blizzard execs are telling their employees that if Overwatch doesn’t make x amount of money, they’re firing people and it’s their fault, can we stop calling women in ow cash cows? Those mercy/kiriko/juno skins literally keeps people fed https://t.co/I2smPts3Mp
— 💀ᔕTᖇᗩᗯᗷEᖇᖇY ᔕOᑌᖇ ᗪIEᔕEᒪ🪽 (@PachiT0t) March 12, 2026
Go kiss your local Kiri/Mercy main for keeping the game alive
— Dara 🦊 (@mewtwonited) March 12, 2026
I don’t play Kiriko or Mercy, so Overwatch hasn’t been that big of a money investment for me since the game went free-to-play. Thankfully for me, Blizzard keeps making Soldier: 76 and Lifeweaver skins pretty regularly, too, though not at such a frequency that people get mad at them about it. I’m buying those skins, so I guess I’m doing my part?
