Fans of Overwatch were treated to an unexpected crossover today when the official Twitter account teased an upcoming tie-in product line with Nerf. The foam-based toy weapon brand will be producing weapons from the Overwatch universe, combining Blizzard's popular multiplayer IP with its Nerf Rival line of weapons.

With over 40 million players, Overwatch has established itself as a powerhouse title which continues to draw in gamers some two years after its release. For its part, Nerf had held prime real estate on retail shelves for decades, so this partnership could help flaunt the Overwatch brand to countless children around the globe.

The teaser video shown off by Blizzard didn't contain too many details beyond the partnership itself, though it did confirm that the branded weaponry won't release until sometime next year under the Nerf Rivals brand, which is the company's "high performance" line which utilized foam ball ammunition as opposed to the typical foam darts.

Interested gamers can take a look at the Nerf collaboration teaser trailer below:

Neither Blizzard or Nerf have stated which character's weapons will be released next year, so fans hoping to shoot their pals with Junkrat's grenade launcher may still get an opportunity to do so. With the foam-based Overwatch weapons at least 6 months away, the companies have plenty of time to tease the upcoming product line before actually revealing concrete details. The Nerf Rivals line has weapons ranging from between $20-100, making these toys fairly affordable for gamers looking to take their fandom into the physical realm.

The community reaction has mostly been puns on the word nerf, a term used to describe when developers make something less powerful in a game. Blizzard has probably never had such a positive fan reaction to a nerf-related announcement before, though only time will tell if its partnership with Nerf  proves to be a worthwhile endeavor. It's easy to see how the likes of weapons like Reaper's hellfire shotgun could lend themselves well to the Nerf franchise, though it remains to be seen if Nerf produces unique weapons for this crossover or just slaps on some branding like it did with the likes of Deadpool, a tie-in which was essentially a unique paint job on an existing weapon.

The Overwatch-themed Nerf weapons are expected to release in 2019.

Source: Twitter