Jeff Kaplan had six weeks to pitch Overwatch after Titan was cancelled

Before Overwatch there was the cancelled MMO Titan. Jeff Kaplan, who had been working on Titan, led the effort to redirect the team and was given just six weeks to come up with and pitch a new game. He says the period was demoralising; he feared he might be fired and described the situation as "very serious" and "dire." Blizzard set two hard criteria for the pitches: the game had to ship in two years and have the potential for World of Warcraft–like revenue.

Kaplan dismissed the revenue goal as "monopoly money," choosing instead to focus on a realistic schedule. The small creative group produced three pitches—Overwatch, a StarCraft MMO, and Crossworlds—working with "temp-loans" from other teams rather than the full Titan staff.

The team spent roughly two weeks on each pitch and operated under a rule to be "all-in" for that fortnight before moving on. Brainstorming drew on old Titan concept art: a Jumper class that could teleport and rewind time, armed with dual pistols, helped inspire Tracer.

jeff kaplan, overwatch, titan, blizzard, tracer, mmo, starcraft, crossworlds, revenue goal, concept art