Jeff Kaplan, a former designer at Blizzard known for his pivotal role in developing Overwatch, has recently shared insights into one of the company’s most significant missteps: the cancellation of the massively multiplayer online game, Titan.

In a discussion on the Lex Fridman podcast, Kaplan characterized the project as chaotic and mismanaged, funded with unjustified expectations of success. He referred to it as a “disaster,” attributing much of the failure to “the hubris of Blizzard.” He explained that the development of Titan commenced shortly after the unprecedented success of World of Warcraft, fueled by the apprehension that the MMORPG’s popularity wouldn’t last indefinitely. Blizzard leaders believed that success would wane within five years, creating urgency for a new game to secure the studio’s future.

Talk of Titan began in late 2005 or early 2006, with a team led by Rob Pardo brainstorming concepts for the game. While Kaplan was occupied with the launch of World of Warcraft’s first expansion, The Burning Crusade, he was nevertheless drawn into planning sessions.

Kaplan explained that Titan was envisioned as a game set in a future version of Earth, where players assumed the roles of secret agents. The gameplay would alternate between mundane daytime jobs and exciting agent missions at night, featuring over-the-top abilities reminiscent of those in Overwatch. The team sought inspiration from games like Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and The Sims, even recruiting a former Sims creative director, Matt Brown, to contribute to Titan.

Players would also have the opportunity to build homes in neighborhoods, a concept that seems to have influenced World of Warcraft’s recent housing features. The ambitious vision included creating a massive world where players could interact on a single server, contrasting with the separate server “shards” used in World of Warcraft.

Kaplan detailed the expansive world design, which featured fictional cities like Bay City, a take on San Francisco, and other international locations such as Cairo and London. Elements of Titan can be observed in Overwatch, which emerged from the remains of the failed project.

He also mentioned that Titan was intended to incorporate extensive driving mechanics reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto; however, the project’s scale and complexity quickly became overwhelming. It involved building an entirely new engine and developing an original intellectual property, which led to confusion and indecision among the team, particularly with ongoing debates about incorporating alien elements.

Reflecting on the project’s conclusion, Kaplan revealed that by 2013, he was aware that Titan wouldn’t be completed in its current form. He recalled moments in 2010 when he felt compelled to urge Blizzard’s leadership to halt the project to prevent further financial losses. He stated, “We’ve got to shut this down; we’re just burning money.”

Kaplan acknowledged that the failure of Titan stemmed from various leadership issues, including his own. He emphasized that the project needed a smaller, more agile team to validate its concept quickly and economically, rather than the expansive workforce that was hired in anticipation of success.

In 2014, Titan was officially cancelled, reportedly costing Blizzard around $83 million. Despite this setback, Kaplan went on to form a small team that eventually developed Overwatch using leftover ideas from Titan.

This isn’t the first revelation about Titan; Kaplan had previously referred to it as a “complete failure” in 2016. Jason Schreier’s book on Blizzard also delves into the turmoil surrounding Titan, describing the competing visions between Rob Pardo and Chris Metzen for the game’s direction. Both were prominent figures at Blizzard, and their conflicting ideas contributed to the project’s confusion.

The struggle to unify the game’s dual themes of daytime simulations and nighttime action ultimately led to its demise. Pardo announced the game’s cancellation to the team one spring morning in 2013 after experiencing intense pressure as a divisive leader within the company.

Kaplan departed from Blizzard in 2021 amidst the challenges of revitalizing Overwatch after the costly Overwatch League misadventure. He had a three-game vision for Overwatch, but the project evolved into a more streamlined approach focused on a single evolving PvP game with annual expansions.

Currently, Kaplan is back in the spotlight with the launch of his new studio, Kintsugiyama, and their upcoming game titled The Legend of California, an open-world action-survival shooter set during the California Gold Rush era. This project invites players to explore a vast, untamed landscape and forge their narratives alone or with friends. The game is being published by Mike Morhaime’s company, Dreamhaven.