“This moment also marked the end of my time at Blizzard Entertainment, as I made the difficult decision to step away from my role as the EP of Overwatch 2.”
Overwatch 2 executive producer Jared Neuss has left Blizzard Entertainment and rejoined Riot Games. According to his LinkedIn post, he'll be working with the VALORANT team.
Jared Neuss leaves Overwatch 2
News of Neuss stepping down as Overwatch 2's executive producer broke on the evening of March 3. In a LinkedIn post, he reflected on last month's Overwatch 2 Spotlight event, which showcased major changes to the hero shooter.
These changes included the new Perks system and the upcoming Stadium game mode. According to Neuss, these features were the result of hard work and lessons learned from the first two years of supporting Overwatch 2 as a live game.
"They represented our desire to bring back the best of original Overwatch while also evolving the core game in new, interesting ways," he stated.
Neuss revealed that the event also marked his departure from Blizzard. He then thanked Team 4 for welcoming his ideas from the get-go, adding that he's proud of the work the Overwatch 2 team did together.
For context, Team 4 is the Blizzard development team behind Overwatch and Overwatch 2. There are a few references to this in Overwatch 2 itself. For example, if you jump into a match and happen to get Busan's Downtown map, you can spot a building with "T4" there.
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Jared Neuss rejoins Riot Games for VALORANT
According to Neuss' updated LinkedIn profile, he's now a senior director of game production at Riot Games. Prior to working at Blizzard on Overwatch 2, he worked at Riot Games on a full-time basis as a director of production.
"This week, I’ve embarked on a new adventure… with some old friends at Riot Games! I'm thrilled to re-join the studio that helped make me the game developer that I am today," he stated. "And I can’t wait to continue to learn and grow from the brilliant folks I’ll be working with in VALORANT Studio."
Community reactions
After Neuss announced his departure on LinkedIn, the Overwatch 2 community quickly spread the news. Accounts like OWCavalry and OverwatchNaeri posted about it on X, resulting in various reactions. Responses ranged from humor to criticism and sadness.
"Probably got tired of me tagging him in tweets lol," one user wrote. Meanwhile, another user commended Neuss for his perspective and demeanor, noting the former Overwatch 2 executive producer's communicative approach.
What does this mean for Overwatch 2 and VALORANT? Only time will tell. Until then, stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates.
