Overwatch devs fuel TV show rumors and have “years of lore planned”

Michael Gwilliam
Tracer, Mei, Lucio and Reinhardt animated

It’s looking more and more likely that an Overwatch TV show is in the works thanks to comments made by Game Director Jeff Kaplan in a Reddit AMA on July 30.

There have been rumors of an Overwatch TV series for some time. The rumors intensified in February when Nick van Dyk, co-president of Activision Blizzard Studios, updated his LinkedIn to state he “developed and sold an animated series based on Blizzard’s Overwatch franchise.” Additionally, he said that Diablo would be getting an anime-style adaptation on Netflix.

Since then, we haven’t heard any additional info about the potential project, but now, remarks by Blizzard’s developers hint that the series and even more could be a go.

When asked about OW’s lore and how much the team wants to show the world, Kaplan had some encouraging words that should make any fan’s eyes sparkle with excitement.

Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan at OWL media day
Jeff Kaplan says Overwatch has “many years of lore planned.”

“We have many years of lore planned for the Overwatch universe,” he revealed. “There are so many aspects that we’re excited about – far reaching plot lines and individual character arcs. There are also a lot of heroes, places and world groups we want to tell more stories about. We’re also excited about telling stories in new ways and using new mediums.”

The line about “new mediums” is especially interesting as it implies that the Overwatch story is going to evolve in brand new ways separate from what has been used already with comics, cinematics, novels and short stories.

In another comment, the devs were asked about expanding into the world of film. Once more, Kaplan explained that they will be exploring the universe in a number of mediums, but had “nothing to announce at this time.”

Overwatch's McCree and Echo on Route 66
Overwatch’s animated shorts are extremely popular.

Furthermore, the Game Director discussed the lore’s development, saying the team was in a “really great place to move forward right now.”

“Over the past year, we were lucky enough to get Jeff Chamberlain to become our new Creative Director. Jeff was the director of our original announcement piece for Overwatch back in 2014,” he explained.

“We’ve also added some really amazing narrative designers and are partnering with our story and franchise development group (they make the animated shorts, origins movies, comics, statues etc) at an insanely intense level,” he added.

Doomfist and the rest of Talon
There are many groups the Overwatch devs want to tell stories about.

In closing, he said there are cool lore developments coming, but didn’t elaborate on what they were.

As we know, Overwatch 2 will finally get the franchise’s lore moving with a campaign and story mode. However, the talk of “new mediums” several times during the AMA is possibly a sign that some big news is coming.

We may still be awaiting confirmation that an OW TV show or movie are definitely happening, but it’s looking more likely than ever with the recent leaks and these comments by Kaplan himself.

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About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam