There were a few years there where I thought Blizzard had lost their way, I’ll be honest- that their merger with Activision had led to the dilution of the company’s former values, that had made it so beloved among gamers worldwide in the first place, and that they were trying to just generate as much revenue as possible. And certainly, some of their movies- splitting Starcraft 2 into three games, for example, or their disastrous handling of Diablo III around that game’s launch- didn’t help their case.
But now, Blizzard is back, and in style. The World of Warcraft expansion packs look to be great, Diablo III is now the game it always should have been, Hearthstone was absolutely amazing, and now, for the first time in ten years, Blizzard is going to be creating a brand new IP (Hearthstone is technically a Warcraft spin-off). Meet Overwatch, Blizzard’s brand new IP that is a team based shooter.
“Overwatch is our take on a vibrant, near-future universe with amped-up characters and action-packed team-based gameplay,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “With every new Blizzard game, we look at our favorite aspects of a genre and put our own spin on things. Our goal with Overwatch is to create an awesome FPS experience that’s more accessible to a much wider audience while delivering the action and depth that shooter fans love.”
And if you don’t believe him, just watch the trailer above. The game looks incredible.
Splatoon just lost the title for the most fun and unique looking upcoming shooter, sadly.
Beta testing for Overstrike begins in 2015. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.