Overwatch 2 has lost another important developer. The Lead Hero Designer has left Blizzard.
This is one of those messages that Blizzard fans can only bear with great difficulty. Another well-known developer has left the company. Geoff Goodman is no longer part of Blizzard and thus no longer a member of the Overwatch team – and that just before the release of Overwatch 2.
What was Goodman’s role in the team? Goodman was involved from the very beginning of Overwatch, even before the game was created from the remnants of “Project Titan.” As the “Lead Hero Designer,” Goodman was responsible for the design of the heroes, including their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Large parts of the balancing fell to him, including the reworks of the two heroes Orisa and Doomfist, as well as the development of new heroes like Sojourn or Junker Queen.
Moreover, Geoff Goodman was considered one of the faces of Overwatch, after Jeff Kaplan already left Blizzard in 2021.
That the Lead Hero Designer leaves the team so shortly before the game’s release is, of course, a somewhat strange signal. However, the decision was likely made “earlier in the year,” as Blizzard revealed to the magazine PCGamer. Goodman was last seen for Blizzard in a group interview about Overwatch in June 2022.
Where Goodman will end up now is not yet known. Many former Blizzard developers now work for other studios or have even founded their own studios.
The newest hero in Overwatch 2, Kiriko, sparked a lot of discussions:
This is what the community says: In the Overwatch subreddit, the departure of such an important person from the Overwatch team is being hotly debated. While many criticize that Blizzard is suffering from a “brain drain,” meaning that the creative minds are gradually disappearing, there are also some voices that welcome fresh ideas and new faces. After all, Blizzard has been shaken by several scandals in recent years, especially the major sexism scandal has caused many old fans to look more positively at new faces.
A few voices from the Overwatch subreddit:
- “The gut punches just keep coming, don’t they? I don’t know why I even try to look forward to Overwatch 2. The negative signs are all there and I just continue to hope that they’ll somehow surprise us… I guess I just miss the good days of Overwatch.”
- “I really want to be excited. I feel like I would celebrate any positive news, no matter what. But it’s just been so long since there’s been any good news…”
- “This seems so strange to me; so many people are saying that the departure of Jeff and Geoff is a terrible thing for the game, but not even a year ago, everyone was saying they just had no good ideas anymore? What is it now? Are they holding the company back and making bad decisions or is it so bad for the game that they leave?”
What do you think about it? Sad that such a long-time developer has disappeared from Blizzard? Or is it good that this might bring fresh air to the company?
