Blizzard has removed Jeff Kaplan’s tributes on Overwatch 2’s New York map after he left the company a few months ago.

In April, Jeff Kaplan, the then game director of Overwatch and Overwatch 2, left Blizzard. He had worked for 19 years at Blizzard.

He said that it was an honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for such a passionate audience.

Overwatch 2 associate game director Aaron Keller is now the game director. Members of the Overwatch community – including players, content creators, and even Overwatch League teams had honored Jeff Kaplan.

After Kaplan quit, the developers decided to add some tributes to Kaplan throughout the New York map in Overwatch 2. They added a restaurant called ‘Jephs Corner Pizza’, and a coffee cup with the name ‘Jeph’ on the side.

Blizzard Removes Jeff Kaplan’s Tributes On Overwatch 2’s Map

Recently, Blizzard had officially unveiled a trailer showing Bastion’s rework. In the trailer, several viewers noticed the removal of the tributes to Jeff Kaplan. Fans observed that the “Jeph’s Corner Pizza” was now just called “Corner Pizza.”

Although the entire map isn’t yet available so the other changes are still unknown. Perhaps, the changing of “Jeph’s” coffee cup could also happen.

A Redditor said that Blizzard took out the Easter egg reference to Jeff Kaplan on the New York map. The removal of Jeff Kaplan’s, tributes displeased fans.

Last month,  the changing of Jesse McCree’s name was announced by Blizzard. This is because a developer shared the same name. Along with this, Blizzard had also confirmed that heroes, characters, locations, or anything else in Overwatch will not be named after employees.

Unfortunately, the rule of not having any IRL references applies to Jeff Kaplan as well.

According to Dexerto, Overwatch 2 is about to release before the summer of 2022.