Just as Overwatch has celebrated its third year, Blizzard could be well on the way to evolving the franchise into a sequel and beyond its initial foundations, despite continued support and content for the shooter.
A new report out of Kotaku points to Blizzard potentially unveiling Overwatch 2 — or whatever it will be called — alongside Diablo 4 at Blizzcon later this year.
Reportedly, Blizzard has shifted focus away from a now-cancelled StarCraft FPS that had been in development for two years, with the report claiming the company advised employees they would be turning their attention to Overwatch and Diablo.
“We always make decisions about these things, regardless of the ultimate outcome or how things might be interpreted, based on our values, what we believe makes sense for Blizzard, and what we hope our players will enjoy the most,” the company said in a statement.
The StarCraft game was said to be like “Battlefield in the StarCraft universe”, built using the Overwatch engine. Reportedly, development had been slow on the game, but some staff were still shocked to hear it had been shelved.
What is perhaps most interesting about this news is that Overwatch 2 is said to have an increased PvE focus, with someone within Blizzard said to have compared it to Left 4 Dead.
That should come as no surprise to the Overwatch faithful given the game’s continued success of PvE events, such as the most recent Storm Rising event based in Havana.
Blizzon 2019 takes place in early November so we still have some time to go before hearing more solid information. Nonetheless, it’s stands to be an exciting period for Overwatch players.
What are your thoughts on this news? Are you keen for more and new Overwatch and Diablo? Sound off in the comments below!