Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Graphic Novel
By Riley Little 23 November 2016
With the popularity of Overwatch refusing to wane, fans were anticipating the arrival of a graphic novel highlighting the game’s existing narrative. Alas, Blizzard has scrapped it.
There’s little question that Blizzard’s Overwatch has managed to find major success through its unique approach to team-based shooters. Setting aside the quality of the gameplay surrounding the multiplayer product, one of the reasons the IP has managed to do so well is because of the exploratory nature of the game’s lore. Providing fans with bite-sized bits of the overarching narrative, Blizzard has kickstarted a community movement to figure out every key detail surrounding the playable characters in Overwatch. As a result, gamers are understandably anxious to learn more about the mythos of the game.
One major way that Blizzard was planning to flesh out the lore of the property was through a graphic novel known as Overwatch: First Strike. At least, this was the case before the literature’s lead writer, Michael Chu, confirmed that the initiative had been cancelled as the result of a creative changeup. According to Chu, Blizzard “ultimately decided to take the story in a different direction,” much to the chagrin of those that had been anticipating the novel’s release.
“The original idea for the graphic novel dates back to the early days of the game’s development and came from our desire to tell the story of the founding of Overwatch during the Omnic Crisis. In the years since First Strike’s conception, we have done a lot of development on the universe and its stories. While the core of this story remains, we have changed and expanded upon how we see the events that took place during the first days of Overwatch.
So for now the early adventures of Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, Ana Amari, Reinhardt Wilhelm, Torbjörn Lindholm (and more!) wait for another day. But we know that this is a story that you are excited about, and it’s one we still plan to tell.”
Given the ever-changing dynamics in place, thanks entirely to the platform-esque nature of Overwatch, it makes sense that the developer isn’t quite ready to lockdown a pre-existing narrative – especially since more characters with relevant ties to the current roster are still likely to emerge. Another possible reason for the decision to scrap First Strike could emanate from recent claims that the Blizzard isn’t against doing an Overwatch television series.
Given the recent debut of Activision Blizzard’s Skylanders animated series on Netflix, many have been hoping to see something similar for Overwatch. Whether or not such an initiative will come to fruition remains to be seen, but at least Chu has confirmed that the story will be told in due time.
Overwatch is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One.
Source: Overwatch Forums
