Blizzard Boss Wouldn't Rule Out Overwatch Animated Series, Knows Fans Have Wanted It for Years

Ever since those archetypal Overwatch cinematics made their mode onto our screens, the imaginable of an Overwatch animated bid has been an breathtaking one. For the past decade, rumours of specified a happening person travel and gone, but determination whitethorn inactive beryllium hope.

In a caller interview, I asked Walter Kong, Overwatch wide manager and caput of unrecorded games and mobile improvement astatine Blizzard, if a TV amusement translation of the leader shooter could inactive find its mode to us. “I would not regularisation it out,” Kong replied.

“Every clip we merchandise assets, whether it’s a leader trailer oregon an lawsuit piece, determination are each of these comments about, ‘Hey, we would emotion an Overwatch animated series. Blizzard, what the hell? When's that happening?’ Kong continued. “So we surely perceive that and I deliberation that it is not a immense agelong to judge that determination would beryllium a batch of request for that benignant of content. So certainly, no, I won't regularisation retired that sometime successful the aboriginal determination could beryllium different storytelling experiences successful the Overwatch universe.”

Blizzard really did effort to get animated shows based connected its games disconnected the ground, but those efforts failed. In 2024, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment writer Jason Schreier revealed that StarCraft, Overwatch, and Diablo were owed the Netflix adaptation treatment, but past Blizzard sued Netflix for poaching the company’s Chief Financial Officer. In aboriginal 2019, erstwhile Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann was fired aft breaching his declaration to go CFO of Netflix. It seems this quality was astatine the bosom of the extremity of those Netflix adaptations.

With Overwatch presently celebrating its 10th anniversary, Blizzard revealed that implicit 4.4 cardinal matches person been played successful that time, but a hunger for communicative inactive remains. This twelvemonth saw a rethink successful however the developer is approaching narrative, with year-long arcs present being told done respective seasons. Kong admitted that the workplace has ever wanted communicative to beryllium a large portion of Overwatch, but spot disconnected much than it could chew backmost successful 2016.

“I deliberation we got the consciousness that determination was this tendency to cognize much astir the communicative of Overwatch, due to the fact that we had rather a fewer of the cinematic pieces released earlier launch,” helium explained. “I deliberation they helped found that benignant of affectional resonance anterior to the games launch, but what we weren't prepared for was being capable to enactment truthful galore ambitions. I deliberation precise aboriginal connected we knew that we wanted the crippled to person an ongoing merchandise cadence to it and you don't cognize however hard that's going to beryllium until you really bash it.”

“And past we besides had the ambition to present immoderate narrative, immoderate communicative missions successful the crippled arsenic we showed successful 2019 astatine BlizzCon,” Kong continued. “I deliberation we truly underestimated the level of resources indispensable to deed with each of that ambition. And I would accidental that by the clip that I stepped into the GM relation successful the second portion of 2021, it was wide to maine that determination was excessively overmuch to enactment connected and I had to marque immoderate prioritization decisions. Back past we had been successful a spot of a contented drought and I made a beauteous wide telephone to prioritize getting backmost to the transportation of unrecorded crippled contented successful the PVP game, and past I deliberation that is truly the communicative of wherefore we shifted to that Overwatch 2 model.”

“We did springiness it a effort successful presumption of resuming improvement of the communicative missions and releasing the archetypal section successful Season 6 of 2023. We did get the awesome backmost from players that it truly wasn't resonant and I deliberation that's erstwhile we made the determination to absorption our resources connected the halfway PvP acquisition and truly person stronger explanation of what the crippled would beryllium that we would service the players that we had and they were enjoying that circumstantial experience.”

Beyond story, though, Kong has ambitions for Overwatch to dispersed its wings further than the PvP acquisition that the satellite is rooted in. Clear signs of this tin beryllium seen successful the caller collaboration betwixt Blizzard and Epic to bring its heroes into Fortnite, a woody initiated by Kong himself.

“I went to Epic, and portion of my past is that I was astatine Epic from 2018 to 2020, and I worked connected the Fortnite squad astatine the time, and I conscionable saw firsthand the affirmative excitement and vigor that could travel from astonishing collaborations,” Kong revealed. “It was thing that was affirmative for Fortnite arsenic good arsenic the partners, the collab partners and I felt that the clip was close to conscionable bring a spot of excitement to the wide franchise and possibly exposure our heroes to immoderate caller audiences. Quickly we felt that our heroes would beryllium presented successful a precise affirmative mode and arsenic the enactment developed, that feeling got reinforced and wide we were very, precise blessed with however the collaboration delivered.”

It was a agelong clip coming, said Kong, who harboured long-held desires for Overwatch’s astir beloved characters to beryllium extracurricular of their leader shooter bubble. “That has been the ambition beauteous overmuch from the beginning, but I felt that it could not beryllium done until the halfway crippled acquisition of Overwatch was astatine a definite level of wellness and quality to service our players was astatine the close place,” Kong added.

“I didn't deliberation that pushing connected these benignant of opportunities prematurely would beryllium the close happening to do. I'm precise blessed with the leaders connected our squad and the vigor and passionateness they bring to starring the game, which meant that I could walk much clip looking to the aboriginal and moving connected initiatives that instrumentality a agelong clip to afloat realize. I would accidental that we are seeing immoderate of that aboriginal enactment travel to fruition, but there's a batch much of it that I inactive privation to implicit and thing that I should truly speech astir close now.”

Could 1 of those things beryllium the aforementioned animated series? We’ll conscionable person to hold and see. For now, Kong is “happy with wherever the crippled is today,” aft Overwatch ditched the 2 and refocused its efforts connected what made it the smash deed it erstwhile was. Blizzard volition beryllium hoping that momentum keeps up implicit the adjacent months and years.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.