{"podcast":{"title":"Lex Fridman Podcast","slug":"lex-fridman-podcast","podcast_index_feed_id":745287,"rss_url":"https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/","website_url":"https://lexfridman.com/","image_url":"https://lexfridman.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/artwork_3000-230.png","author":"Lex Fridman","episode_count":497,"summary":"Conversations that explore technology, history, philosophy, physics, mathematics, biology, chemistry, engineering, AI, robotics, programming, music, film, art, sports, psychology, neuroscience, geopolitics, business, economics, religion, astronomy, and the human condition with people from all walks of life.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lex-fridman-podcast"},"episode":{"title":"#493 – Jeff Kaplan: World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Blizzard, and Future of Gaming","slug":"493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard-and-future-of-gaming","published_at":"2026-03-11T20:37:33+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lex-fridman-podcast/493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard-and-future-of-gaming","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lex-fridman-podcast","url":"https://lexfridman.com/jeff-kaplan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jeff-kaplan","audio_url":"https://media.blubrry.com/takeituneasy/ins.blubrry.com/takeituneasy/lex_ai_jeff_kaplan.mp3","summary":"Jeff Kaplan is a legendary Blizzard game designer of World of Warcraft and Overwatch, now preparing to launch a new game, The Legend of California, from his new studio Kintsugiyama – available to wishlist on Steam today, with alpha later in March. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep493-sc See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: The Legend of California (Steam Page): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550530/The_Legend_of_California Jeff’s Game Studio: https://www.kintsugiyama.com/ SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: Fin: AI agent for customer service. Go to https://fin.ai/lex Blitzy: AI agent for large enterprise codebases. Go to https://blitzy.com/lex BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling. Go to https://betterhelp.com/lex Shopify: Sell stuff online. Go to https://shopify.com/lex CodeRabbit: AI-powered code reviews. Go to https://coderabbit.ai/lex Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine. Go to https://perplexity.ai/ OUTLINE: (00:00) – Introduction (02:24) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections (10:47) – Early games: Pac-Man, Zork, Doom, Quake (25:12) – Writing career – 170 rejection letters (40:45) – EverQuest obsession (53:43) – Getting hired at Blizzard (1:09:11) – Lowest point in Jeff’s life (1:15:16) – One of Us (1:19:33) – Early Blizzard culture (1:39:…","meta_description":"Jeff Kaplan is a legendary Blizzard game designer of World of Warcraft and Overwatch, now preparing to launch a new game, The Legend of California, from h…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":null,"processing_state":"processed","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lex-fridman-podcast/episodes/493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard-and-future-of-gaming/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lex-fridman-podcast/493-jeff-kaplan-world-of-warcraft-overwatch-blizzard-and-future-of-gaming.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}