After a lengthy silence, Blizzard finally gave Overwatch fans another glimpse at Overwatch 2 in February. While Overwatch 2 skipped the keynote address at BlizzCon 2021, the game did get its own video presentation afterwards, detailing Hero Missions, the New York and Rome maps, and some potential changes that are on the way for Tank heroes like Reinhardt. While many fans were understandably excited to finally get an update on Overwatch 2, many were disappointed that nothing was really announced for the existing Overwatch game, especially since the sequel is not releasing this year.
The Overwatch 2 release date may have been planned for 2021 at one point, but it's been confirmed that the game is not coming until 2022 at the earliest. Officially, Overwatch 2 will be launching "when it's done," which is the typical Blizzard line when the company is asked about release dates for in-development games. Fans may have a long time to wait for the official launch of Overwatch 2, but there are ways that Blizzard could keep fans engaged with the franchise while they wait for the sequel.
Here are some ways that Blizzard could keep Overwatch fans invested in the franchise while they wait to play Overwatch 2.
Animated Shorts
Leading up to the launch of the original Overwatch game, Blizzard released a number of animated shorts designed to provide more context to the game world, the maps, and the various characters on the roster. The Overwatch animated shorts slowed down a bit after launch, though Blizzard still released some periodically, providing some fresh insight into the game's unique universe. Many of the Overwatch animated shorts were well-received by fans thanks to their high quality animation, intense action sequences, and engaging storytelling. Unfortunately, Blizzard has stopped doing them entirely.
The last time Blizzard released a cinematic of any kind for Overwatch was at BlizzCon 2019 when the company officially announced Overwatch 2. Like the official animated shorts that preceded it, the Overwatch 2 announcement cinematic was widely praised and left many fans hyped for the sequel. The lack of new animated shorts since then can likely be chalked up to Blizzard reserving its resources to focus on Overwatch 2's development, but it would still be nice to have one or two to fill the gap between now and then. There are still many Overwatch heroes who have not had their own animated shorts yet.
New Hero Updates
In particular, Blizzard could release animated shorts focused on introducing fans of the franchise to some of the new heroes that will be making their debut in Overwatch 2. While Blizzard has said that it will not be releasing any new heroes in the original Overwatch game until the sequel is out, the company could still reveal the potential new heroes in the months between now and OW2's release date to build hype, if nothing else. And what better way to build hype for these new heroes than giving them their own animated shorts.
As it stands, Blizzard has only confirmed one new hero for Overwatch 2, Sojourn. Sojourn was revealed at BlizzCon 2019 and is expected to make her Overwatch debut when Overwatch 2 launches, though little else is known about her or what she will bring to the table. An animated short could give Sojourn the spotlight she needs to make an impressive first impression on the Overwatch community, and reveal how she ended up rejoining the Overwatch team.
Comics and Books
With Overwatch itself not really having any cutscenes, Blizzard has built its lore through other media. The animated shorts have gone a long way in building Overwatch's lore, but Blizzard has also filled in many of the gaps using other avenues as well. One of the main ways Blizzard has built Overwatch's lore is through digital comics and even novels, like the Overwatch: The Hero of Numbani book, though like with the animated shorts, it has slowed the release of those as of late as well.
The Overwatch comics have been collected for physical release, with the next being Overwatch: London Calling, which will collect the Tracer comics into a single graphic novel. The Overwatch comics have been known to make some rather surprising revelations about various characters on the roster, and they would be a relatively low-cost way to keep releasing new lore for fans of the franchise to dive into.
New Maps
Blizzard has said that there will be no more new heroes released for the first Overwatch until Overwatch 2 launches, but it hasn't said the same for new maps. In fact, Blizzard just released the Kanezaka Deathmatch map in Overwatch this past January, so it seems within the realm of possibility that the company could release more new maps for the original game between now and OW2's release date.
It should be noted that there was a significant gap between the time Kanezaka was added to Overwatch and the map that was added right before it. Prior to Kanezaka, the last map Blizzard added to Overwatch was the Havana Escort map, which made its debut in the game on May 7, 2019. Escort, Hybrid, Control, and Assault maps are more significant additions to Overwatch when compared to Deathmatch as they have more utility (being featured in Quick Play and Competitive Play), so it would be great for the game to get a new one of those to help kill time while fans wait for the sequel.
Maybe the original Overwatch could get a new Assault map for fans to play before OW2's launch. Blizzard has made it clear that Overwatch 2 is removing Assault maps from Competitive Play, so if there were any in-development, perhaps they could be released before the sequel comes out so they can get at least some time to shine in Competitive.
Seasonal Events
Pretty much the only guaranteed content that Overwatch fans can expect while they wait for Overwatch 2 is the return of the game's ongoing seasonal events. Blizzard has kept to a pretty predictable pattern when it comes to Overwatch seasonal events, so fans should be able to expect the return of the Overwatch Archives event soon. This event has generally been focused on story-based PvE content, though it's unclear if fans will get a new PvE mission this year or just some new skins to earn while completing the previously-released missions for the game.
Following the Archives event, Overwatch fans can expect the Anniversary event to take place in May, followed by Summer Games in the summer, Halloween Terror in October, and then Winter Wonderland around the holidays. These seasonal events have sometimes added brand new modes for fans to check out, though sometimes they only add new event-themed skins to unlock. Overwatch fans can look forward to learning more about 2021's seasonal events sooner rather than later.
Developer Updates
Blizzard has said that Overwatch updates will be more frequent now that BlizzCon 2021 is over, though it's unclear exactly what that means. There once was a time when Overwatch Developer Updates, hosted by game director Jeff Kaplan, were a regular occurrence. Like everything else involving the original Overwatch as Overwatch 2 development has ramped up, though, they have become less and less common. The Overwatch Developer Updates could come back in a big way, giving fans of the franchise more frequent updates on how the sequel is shaping up, while also offering some insight into what's in the works for the original game as well.
Overwatch is out now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.