Jeffrey Kaplan Leaves WoW

One piece of news I missed last week was that of Jeffrey Kaplan leaving WoW. For those who are only hearing about this now, Mr. Kaplan is leaving the WoW team to work on another Blizzard project, an unannounced MMO. Jeff Kaplan or Tigole as the forum people know him left in what I feel was quite a subtle manner, just posting a note on the general forums. there was no big announcement on the front of the WoW website or anything. Personally I feel like I favored Kaplan over his former co-lead designer Tom Chilton (Kalgan) so hearing about his departure from the WoW team is a bit sad for me. But knowing that Kaplan is working on another MMO of Blizzard makes me feel a bit excited since I know that this new game is in good hands. Below is his farewell note to the WoW Community:

I wanted to take a moment to let the community know that I’ve switched roles here at Blizzard to work on our upcoming, unannounced MMO. World of Warcraft has been such a central part of my life these past six and a half years, and it’s success would not have been possible without the tremendous community around it, so I wanted to say thank you to all our players who’ve shared this amazing experience with us so far. Also, while I have served as the spokesperson and Game Director for World of Warcraft on Wrath of the Lich King, by no means would WoW be where it is today without the dedicated team that we have in place. The WoW development team is comprised of some of the most talented and experienced game developers in the world, and it was an absolute honor to serve amongst them, and they will continue to make WoW better than ever. I still plan to be very involved with the future course of World of Warcraft, but will leave the day to day operations of World of Warcraft to my partners in crime, Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack.

When all is said and done, WoW is still my favorite game. I play it every day. None of that passion is gone. If anything, it fuels the challenge of making our next MMO even better. We know we have some big shoes to fill. So thank you to everyone who has been so supportive over the years, and likewise, thanks to those who have given us pointed feedback on all areas of the game. Without all of the feedback and participation, WoW would not be the game that it has grown to be. Azeroth truly belongs to you and we’re lucky to have shared in your journey. And as always, I’ll still be lurking on the forums and in the game.
Mostly, I just wanted to say thanks. It has been an absolute honor.

Jeffrey Kaplan

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