So far Blizzard’s franchises are all story based and have pretty rich lore and characters in them. Overwatch on the other hand is probably Blizzard’s first game in recent years where the focus is all about competitive multiplayer. This would almost seem to indicate that the game might not have a story, or at least a very shallow one.
For fans of Blizzard’s storytelling capabilities, you guys can rest easy because Blizzard will be giving the game a fair bit of backstory. However this will be accomplished through a series of animated shorts and comics which will be used to help fill in the story gaps. Given that the game will be filled with competitive multiplayer gameplay, these shorts and comics will serve as companions to the game.
If this sounds familiar, it is because this pretty much the same approach that Valve took with Team Fortress 2. According to Blizzard, “In addition to the animated shorts, we’ll be releasing a series of free digital comics leading up to the launch of the game. Created in collaboration with a variety of writers and artists, our first six-issue series of “comic shorts” will focus on different heroes, such as the deranged criminal duo of Roadhog and Junkrat, as well as Overwatch’s knight from a bygone era, Reinhardt.”
Last but not least, there will also be a graphic novel based on Overwatch which will be released later this year, so if you’re the type that loves the story just as much as the game, then keep an eye out for this. In the meantime Overwatch has been set for a release on the 24th of May and you can check out the animated shorts teaser in the video above.