Overwatch: Where Do We Go From Here?

Howdy Animated World!

We’re already in our 5th month of 2017! Happy May (Mei) Everyone! (Hehe :))

With the arrival of May will come the One Year Anniversary of Overwatch’s release. I seriously can’t believe it has been a full year of playing Overwatch. I think my longest break from this game in one period has been two weeks during my wisdom teeth surgery. Yes, this game has become my favorite game over the last year. What’s great is, my love for Overwatch has only grown as the game has become older. New events, new seasons, new maps, and new heroes have all continued to ignite and even enhance my fascination with this game.

However, as we approach year two of Overwatch, one must wonder. Where do we go from here? I believe Overwatch is definitely here to stay with the enormous community it has created. A few things seem to have set a foreseeable future for Overwatch. With the upcoming official Overwatch League and countless rumors of new heroes and events, it seems we can guarantee at least another few months from THIS GAME. However, other factors could come into play. With a console war waiting to brew after the success of the Switch, we could see a new Sony and Microsoft console somewhere in the future. Of course, PC doesn’t have that issue. But… money talks. If an opportunity to release a 2.0 because of new consoles arises, will Blizzard take it and how?

I’ve thought out three scenarios that could possibly happen. Of course, this is all based off of speculation. Here are three routes which I think Blizzard can take from here on Overwatch.

• If it ain’t broke don’t fix it (Most Likely Method)

So this scenario is the most likely Overwatch will take. At least for the foreseeable future. As they say, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Blizzard has hit a homerun with Overwatch. Why deviate from what’s been successful? Overwatch definitely has a lot of undiscovered lore that Blizzard can continue to expand on with new heroes, new events (as we saw in uprising), and new cinematics. *On a quick note, I hope Blizzard continues to dish out Overwatch cinematics, their sooooo good.* With new events and heroes come new items. Which means, loot boxes. If Blizzard continues to hit on Overwatch events like it has, their going to keep selling tons of loot boxes.

I think the ace up their sleeve here is that we don’t really know all their is to know about the lore in Overwatch. I’m still waiting for that speculated Mei or Lucio cinematic to be released. Heck I went crazy for the Heroes of the Storm 2.0 trailer when Genji started fighting alongside with D.VA. I’d probably lose my mind if D.VA got a cinematic. The community has reached a point where we have special places in our hearts for our heroes. I know there is still a lot to be built on in Overwatch. The foreseeable future looks bright. But again, other factors later on could bring about change.

• Mario Kart It (Console War Method)

So let’s say a console war breaks out either this E3 (most likely won’t) or next E3 (Good Chance). This would leave Overwatch in a bit of a pickle. While PC users would be fine, a WHOLE bunch of the community is made up of console players. This would leave the game on previous generation consoles. So, how do console players not end up getting left out because of this? Blizzard “Mario-karts” Overwatch. Yes, I just used Mario Kart as a verb. Hear me out. This situation sounds similar to what happen to Mario Kart. With the release of the Switch, it left the game stuck on the WiiU. However, mainly because many people missed out on the WiiU version, Mario Kart got a reboot onto the Switch as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition. Giving users all the previous DLC from Mario Kart 8 for free, while adding in a few little additions such as the Inking Kids from Splatoon as playable characters. Blizzard, get your notepads out!

This could easily be a solution for Blizzard if a console war brought about new “next generation” consoles. (Not these ‘pro’ systems.) Blizzard could make an Overwatch deluxe edition  of some sort on these new consoles to continue moving the franchise forward. Give players in the deluxe edition the previous unlockable items for the heroes. I doubt they’d give them all but maybe the event unlocks since people actually could have paid money for those. Maybe if any way possible linking your battle.net account would transfer your profile over to the new version and your unlocks and RANK from the first installment would be available. I’m not sure exactly how they’d go about this, but it is an idea. While letting us keep the old, Blizzard can also give us some new. They wouldn’t even have to go too crazy. Just give maybe 2 new skins for each hero TO BE UNLOCKED. Maybe a legendary and an epic/common skin that cannot be unlocked playing the first installment. Trust me, a new legendary D.VA skin would be enough to sell me on this. Heck maybe even an epic. 🙂

Now their is one factor both methods do not address. This is why their is a third method. What if the formula Blizzard uses begins to stale a bit? No longer can they get by with just events for the community. I don’t see this happening, but just incase, Blizzard get your notepads out again! 🙂

• The Successors of Overwatch (New Generation Method)

So the third scenario is mainly incase Overwatch needed to go in a new direction. I don’t see this happening, but it’s fun to play the “what-if” game. It could happen also if Overwatch just wanted to expand to more lore. Instead of releasing a deluxe version of the old game, Blizzard could release a brand new game. The second version of the game could be a mix of previous heroes and new generation heroes. For example, D.Va in the second game could be older, we could get an older Pharah with her daughter or son in the game (like Ana is with Pharah right now), and Orisa could be an updated OR-17. You could also have new generation heroes such as a successor to Soldier 76 (Soldier 66??? XD), Efi (scientist who created Orisa) could now be in the game since she’d be old enough, and we could have a new Doomfist (regarding we get the first one). The good thing about Overwatch right now is because the lore is so open, really Blizzard has a lot of option at their disposal. Again, I think this one is the least likely to happen, but it’s fun to speculate!

Anyway, I believe Overwatch is in a really good spot right now. Blizzard definitely has some options about how they’d like to proceed with the future of Overwatch. Until then, I’ll keep on enjoying more of Season 4 and the new Officer D.Va skin! 🙂

I’m also super excited to see what the 1-Year Anniversary is going to be like! May 24th we’ll find out!

That’s all for this sketch! Have a good weekend Animated World! 🙂