Blizzard's Russian social media channels may have accidentally unveiled the next short the company plans to release in support of Overwatch, which seemingly focuses on Bastion.

In just a few short months, Overwatch has managed to become one of the top multiplayer shooters in circulation. However, if the game is to maintain its current level of popularity, there's an impetus for the team at Blizzard to continue creating new content.

Last week, the first seasonal event was added to Overwatch — a riff on the Rio Olympics known as the Summer Games. We're sure to see more content of this kind going forward, but Blizzard has another method of satiating the community's thirst for new stuff related to the game.

On Tuesday night, an image purportedly taken from Blizzard's Russian social media channels was posted to Reddit. The picture contained confirmation that a new short film starring defense hero Bastion would be shown at Gamescom 2016, which will be held from August 18 to 21 in Cologne, Germany.

While the image is yet to be verified, it certainly seems to be legitimate. The thought is that Blizzard simply published the social media post earlier than intended, so we may well see the company confirm these plans over the next few days, now that the cat is somewhat out of the bag.

Blizzard released several shorts of this nature ahead of the game's launch, in an effort to familiarize players with the various characters that make up the Overwatch roster. However, there's another reason why fans will be watching the Bastion short with great interest.

While the clip — apparently titled 'The Last Bastion' — will focus on the character it's named for, there will certainly be plenty of opportunity for easter eggs and hidden references. Given Blizzard's recent output, it seems more than likely that the short will tease a new character.

Sombra is a name that was familiar to Overwatch fans even before the game was released, but the character still isn't in the game, and is still shrouded in mystery. There's a good possibility that the short intended for Gamescom could shed new light on the ongoing ARG that's emerged through the game's marketing materials.

Blizzard's World of Warcraft has been bleeding subscribers for years, and there have been questions asked about whether the studio has already peaked. It's too soon to say whether Overwatch can match the MMORPG's success — but it certainly seems to be amassing an audience that's displaying a similar sense of long-term engagement with all aspects of the experience.

Overwatch is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Source: Reddit