Blizzard has ‘large ambitions’ for Overwatch, hints at possible spinoff

By Aaron Mamiit May 5, 2019

Overwatch is already three years old, but Blizzard apparently still has big plans for the massively popular hero-based multiplayer shooter.

“Last quarter I talked about how we have very large ambitions for the Overwatch universe and how it can develop over time,” said Blizzard President J. Allen Brack in an earnings call with investors. He described the game as “a huge tentpole franchise” for the developer, and that it will keep dedicating resources and attention to the multiplayer shooter to keep the community and franchise growing over time.

Blizzard will be adding new heroes, new maps, and new experiences to Overwatch over its 2019-2020 fiscal year, with the development team looking into “the balance of working on the existing game as well as … focusing on the other work that they have.”

It is not surprising that there will be more heroes, maps, and experiences coming soon to the game, as the development team has kept releasing new content to keep it fresh. However, Brack’s statement on “other work,” though vague, is intriguing.

Is Brack referring to a new Overwatch project, possibly a spinoff? The Overwatch universe can still be expanded in multiple directions, such as through entries in other genres. Whatever the development team is working on, it appears to be big enough to draw them away from focusing on the existing game.

This “other work” may also be referring to the ongoing growth of the Overwatch League. The esports league, currently in its second season, will take another page out of the traditional sports league playbook in its third season with the addition of home and away games. The league’s 20 teams will start hosting matches in their home markets across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China, France, and South Korea.

Gamers looking forward to learning more about Blizzard’s plans for Overwatch, however, will not do so at Gamescom 2019. The developer recently announced that it will not have a booth at the annual video game event, but that it will be sharing more details about its current projects “when the time is right.” Maybe Blizzard will reveal what this “other work” is all about at E3 2019?

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