Since the first Overwatch cinematics debuted, fans have dreamed of an animated series. Rumors have surfaced and faded over the past decade, but hope remains. In a recent interview, Blizzard's Walter Kong—Overwatch general manager and head of live games and mobile development—didn't dismiss the idea. "I would not rule it out," he said. "Every time we release assets, like a hero trailer or event piece, we see comments asking, 'Hey, we'd love an Overwatch animated series. Blizzard, what the hell? When's that happening?' So we hear that, and it's not a stretch to believe there's strong demand. I won't rule out other storytelling experiences in the Overwatch universe down the line."
Blizzard previously attempted to produce animated shows based on its games, but those efforts stalled. In 2024, Jason Schreier, author of Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, revealed that StarCraft, Overwatch, and Diablo were slated for Netflix adaptations until Blizzard sued Netflix for poaching its CFO. In early 2019, former Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann was fired for breaching his contract to join Netflix, a dispute that reportedly ended the Netflix deals.
As Overwatch celebrates its 10th anniversary with over 4.4 billion matches played, the hunger for story persists. This year, Blizzard shifted to year-long narrative arcs across multiple seasons. Kong admitted the studio always wanted story to be central but overextended in 2016. "We weren't prepared to support so many ambitions," he said. "We had the goal of ongoing content and story missions, but we underestimated the resources needed. By late 2021, I prioritized PvP content over story missions after a content drought, which led to the Overwatch 2 model. We tried resuming story missions in Season 6 of 2023, but player feedback showed it wasn't resonating, so we refocused on core PvP."
Beyond story, Kong aims to expand Overwatch's reach beyond PvP, evident in the recent Fortnite collaboration he initiated. "I went to Epic—I worked there from 2018 to 2020 on Fortnite—and saw the excitement from collaborations. I felt the time was right to expose our heroes to new audiences," he said. "We wanted Overwatch characters to exist outside the hero shooter bubble from the beginning, but we needed the core game to be healthy first. I'm happy with the team's work, so I can focus on future initiatives. Some early work is coming to fruition, but more is in the pipeline."
Could an animated series be among those future projects? Only time will tell. For now, Kong is "happy with where the game is today" after Overwatch dropped the "2" and refocused on what made it a hit. Blizzard hopes to maintain that momentum in the months and years ahead.
