Adaptations

*Overwatch* was developed to lack a traditional story or campaign mode and instead Blizzard conveyed narrative elements through a transmedia storytelling method. While voice lines and map elements in *Overwatch* reveal some of its universe's lore, the bulk of the story surrounding its characters is told through animated short films and literary media. Character biographies and fake news reports containing story pieces have also been published on Blizzard's website. Chu remarked that Blizzard's method of storytelling with *Overwatch* demonstrated a "gameplay first" philosophy. There was also many adaptations made for the game that ties in with that.

## Adaptations

### Animation

As part of the original game's announcement, Blizzard released an animated "cinematic trailer" for *Overwatch* on November 7, 2014. They would repeat this to announce *Overwatch 2*, releasing the *Zero Hour* cinematic trailer in 2019.

Blizzard also released animated short films to help flesh out "the real meat" of Overwatch's lore. These shorts employed 3D computer-generated animation, and received praise from video game journalists, with some likening their quality to those of works from Disney and Pixar. that *Recall*, the first of these shorts, was released on March 21, 2016. It was centered around Reaper's attack on Winston at Gibraltar and Winston's following recall of former Overwatch agents. Blizzard released nine more shorts through 2018; *Reunion* was the last of these shorts until *The Wastelander* was released in 2022.

Aside from short films, Blizzard also released "origin story" videos for Soldier: 76 and each character added to *Overwatch*'s playable roster post-launch. An origin story for King's Row Uprising, a tie-in for an in-game event was also released. These origin story videos are designed to provide players with the background of new characters. Origin stories are animated in the style of motion comics and are shorter than Blizzard's 3D-animated short films.

### Comics

From 2016 to 2018, Blizzard published *Overwatch*, a 16-issue comic series, beginning with "Trainhopper". Some issues, such as "Uprising", served as tie-ins to in-game events. Motion comic versions of the series were also released, produced by Madefire Studios. These motion comics included sound effects and official music featured in-game. Originally a digital comic series, Blizzard partnered with Dark Horse Comics to publish a hardcover anthology in 2017, which collected the series' 12 issues released to that point. An expanded edition of the anthology was released in December 2021. From 2020 to 2021, Blizzard and Dark Horse published *Tracer - London Calling* a five-issue limited series. Written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Babs Tarr, print versions of each issue were also released. Rachael Cohen and Deron Bennett served as the series' colorist and letterer, respectively. A graphic novel collecting the five issues and featuring cover art by artist Bengal was physically released on September 28, 2021.

Another five-issue limited series, *New Blood* was released from November 2021 to March 2022. Similar in style to *London Calling*, the series followed Cassidy post-*Zero Hour* on his journey to recruit members to the newly revived Overwatch. Both *London Calling* and *New Blood* also served as tie-ins for in-game seasonal events.

### Television

*Main article: Overwatch: The Animated Series*
On 29 November 2022, It was announced that an Canadian-Māori adaptation meant for television was being produced by Taylorfilms and Granada Television (in association with YTV and the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation). Blizzard Entertainment took an consultant role for the series.

The series' entire cast was revealed two weeks later.

### Merch

The popularity of *Overwatch* led various companies to launch merchandise lines featuring its characters. Funko produced several figurines as part of their "Pop!" line. Tracer is featured prominently in Good Smile Company's merchandise, with the company distributing both Nendoroid and Figma figurines of the character. Good Smile has also featured other *Overwatch* characters in their lines. LEGO has also produced an *Overwatch* set of figurines. As part of their Rivals line, Nerf has designed *Overwatch*-stylized toy guns. Nerf's parent company, Hasbro, later launched a set of action figures featuring *Overwatch* characters.

## References

1. ↑ Overwatches pleasure Transmedia narratives
2. ↑ Frank, Allegra (April 30, 2017). "How Overwatch still stuffs story into a campaign-less game". *Polygon*. Retrieved October 6, 2022
3. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (June 16, 2022). "Overwatch 2's new animated short reveals Junker Queen's origin". *Polygon*. Retrieved October 6, 2022
4. ↑ McWheat, Joss (November 29, 2022). "Overwatch gets television adaptation for YTV and New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation". *Polygon*. Retrieved September 14, 2023
5. ↑ McWheat, Joss (November 29, 2022). "Overwatch reveals entire voice cast for its television adaptation