There are big story-heavy cinematics, but they’re also peppered with smaller pieces meant to set up the moment. Valorant, in particular, establishes a comfortable “present” that fans can safely theorize about and imagine characters in. Valorant is set to release six new heroes a year, but more importantly, Riot has demonstrated it can sustain a fandom. While Overwatch stumbled, games like Valorant and Apex Legends jumped in the gap. I had waited months to find this out, and all it really left me to do was wait for more answers. Instead of resolving anything with the current cast, there’s a random new character with many more mysteries involved. He agreed to join the cause, then took off his hood to reveal. This lore event culminated with a robot guy meeting with Doomfist, the leader of the terrorist organization Talon.
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My personal breaking point was the Storm Rising Archives event in 2019. We don’t see Overwatch actually go on a mission until the 2019 cinematic “Zero Hour,” which sets up campaign content that currently has no release date.
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In the 2016 cinematic “Recall,” Winston presses the big red button to restart Overwatch. Overwatch set up big, dramatic dominos - and then proceeded to just gesture at them and say “Pretty cool, huh?” There were big mysteries set up from day one, like a climactic showdown at Overwatch’s Swiss HQ. Overwatch would lose out to these other titles in the coming years, not because of its roster or its lore, but because of the lack of consistency around it. Other developers now create and promote characters like Valorant’s Neon, a Filipina speedster Rainbow Six Siege’s trans operator Osa, and nonbinary Apex Legends character Bloodhound. Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, and Valorant are all great examples of games where a character’s aesthetics, personalities, and background matter as much as their gameplay.
#OVERWATCH ONLINE NOW SERIES#
Character rosters feel more important than ever just having a series of gun guys with mysterious backstories doesn’t cut it anymore. The influence of Overwatch is apparent in many of its competitors. These players were the heart of Overwatch fandom, playing the game and letting it fuel their imaginations. People cosplayed Overwatch characters and their skins, created fan art, wrote long fanfiction epics, collaborated on 3D animations of their own original heroes, and more. The gorgeous cinematics, vibrant character design, and hints at a larger narrative inspired a massive fandom. Overwatch was, during its heyday, a legitimate cultural phenomenon. Communities of women and queer gamers gathered around the game some of them were there mostly for the gameplay, while others were there for the lore and characters above all else. Valve’s Team Fortress 2 and its “Meet the Team” cinematics still hold up nearly 15 years later, and they’re far less complex and elaborate than Overwatch’s trailers.īut Overwatch’s utopian near-future and diverse cast attracted a fan base that had been historically underserved by the first-person shooter genre.
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Overwatch did not invent the idea of building a hero shooter around strong characters shown off through cinematics. Instead, it’s on shakier ground than ever, and other developers have snatched the momentum from Blizzard and ran with it instead. Now, on the cusp of Overwatch 2’s PvP entering beta and a new Overwatch League season, the game should be poised for a triumphant return. The lore slowed to a trickle after 2018 and eventually came to a complete stop, along with major additions - we haven’t seen a new hero since 2020. Overwatch was so widespread and iconic it even revolutionized the Rule 34 scene the game was everywhere. The game’s launch and follow-up cinematics only solidified this fan base people loved to ship characters, imagine their missions, and daydream about future lore. Players loved the bright designs, strong characterization, and optimism inherent to the setting. Overwatch’s announcement trailer, released back in 2014, was bombastic and beautiful, and it kicked off a fervent fandom.