As Blizzard prepares to launch the anniversary event to celebrate Overwatch's awesome first year, game director Jeff Kaplan sat down for an interview to discuss what is coming next for the massively popular multiplayer shooter.
The interview, which was held with turikk and BoozyPelican, the moderators of the official Overwatch sub-Reddit, along with ForceGaming's Dennis Duhamel, gave a glimpse of the mindset of Kaplan and the Overwatch development team as they head into the game's second year.
Kaplan Fires Shots At Other Games
The interview started with a question on expansion packs and sequels, as the Overwatch team already previously stated that they do not like the idea of releasing DLCs for the game.
According to Kaplan, while an expansion pack or sequel for Overwatch could be cool, the development team currently has no idea what that would look like.
Kaplan stated that he did not like the idea of splitting up the playerbase, with some players having access to a certain map or hero while other players do not. He added that matchmaking becomes much harder at that point, which will also make it harder for friends to play together as they would all need to have purchased the additional content.
"So many games just got roasted by Jeff," said Redditor juushii, and he is certainly right. While other first-person shooters continue to release DLCs that fragmentize their playerbases into who owns and who does not own the additional content, all the maps, heroes, and modes of Overwatch remains open to all.
'Overwatch' Animated Shorts Season 2
The animated shorts of Overwatch were well received by gamers. There have been six so far, entitled Recall, Alive, Dragons, Hero, The Last Bastion, and Infiltration.
However, since the last one, which starred hacker hero Sombra, was unveiled last November at BlizzCon 2016, the Overwatch team has not released any animated shorts. Fortunately, that is about to change.
According to Kaplan, animated shorts are probably the thing that the Overwatch team loves to do the most. A separate animation team works on the high-quality short films, and Kaplan said that there are some currently in the works.
Kaplan noted that the Overwatch team thinks of the animated shorts in seasons, with season one ending with The Last Bastion. This would mean that Infiltration is already part of season 2.
After several months, more animated shorts may finally be released to provide gamers a deeper look at Overwatch lore.
Is Doomfist Finally Coming?
In a series of quickfire questions, Kaplan was asked where Doomfist was. "Gotta ask Terry about that one!" he replied, sending the internet into uproar.
Doomfist is a character in Overwatch lore who is highly anticipated to arrive very soon. There have been various hints that the character will be added to the roster in the near future. Coupled with Kaplan's previous statement that the next Overwatch hero is very far along in development, gamers are hoping that Doomfist will finally arrive during the anniversary event.
Who is the Terry that Kaplan mentioned? It is none other than Hollywood actor Terry Crews, who has been repeatedly linked as the voice of the upcoming hero.
'Overwatch' In Good Hands
The rest of the interview is a good read for Overwatch players, as it touched upon topics such as incentives for competitive play, seasonal events, the Overwatch League, and many more.
Kaplan's answers and the portrayed mind-set of the development team revealed that Overwatch is in good hands as it goes into year two.
