Overwatch (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment.

Both games feature hero-based combat between two teams of players vying over various objectives, along with other traditional gameplay modes.

[11] Omnics are artificial intelligence (AI) robots that were created to assist humans in manufacturing and global economic equality efforts.

Meanwhile, Germany responded to the crisis through the Crusaders, an elite force of soldiers heavily suited in armor inspired by knights and wielding weapons such as hammers.

[13] Removed from the crisis, scientists on the moon-based Horizon Lunar Colony create genetically modified animals to test long-term habitation in space.

[12] Reyes served as Overwatch's Strike Commander, leading the task force that included Morrison, Wilhelm, Egyptian sniper Ana Amari, Swedish weapons engineer Torbjörn Lindholm, and Singaporean AI scientist Dr. Mina Liao.

[12] American bounty hunter Cole Cassidy,[note 2] Irish geneticist Moira O'Deorain, and Japanese cyborg ninja Genji Shimada joined as members of Blackwatch.

[13] Dismissing orders from the British Prime Minister, Morrison deploys Overwatch agents Wilhelm, Lindholm, Ziegler, and the newly-recruited Lena Oxton on an ultimately successful mission to stop Null Sector's forces.

[13] After the recall, Reaper and Talon sniper Amélie Lacroix (known as Widowmaker) attempt to steal a gauntlet for their leader Akande Ogundimu.

[26][27] The different gameplays of individual heroes were also tuned and patched in response to player feedback and statistics regarding the meta found within the game.

[34] The game was made free-to-play on PC and for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X platforms, and employed full cross-platform play.

By the time the game transitioned to a maintenance mode in July 2022,[39] a total of nine characters became playable in Heroes of the Storm,[note 4] while battlegrounds based on the Overwatch maps Hanamura and Volskaya Industries were also included.

"[44] To avoid sacrificing approachability as they did with Starcraft II, Blizzard opted to gauge how the Overwatch community would develop around esports over time as they did with Hearthstone.

[61] The first OWL regular season game was played between the Los Angeles Valiant and San Francisco Shock to a sold out crowd at Blizzard Arena in January 2018.

[62] To support viewership of its professional competitions, Blizzard released a companion Overwatch application in November 2018, which allowed viewers to watch matches through a spectator mode.

[66] Overwatch was developed to lack a traditional story or campaign mode and instead Blizzard conveyed narrative elements through a transmedia storytelling method.

[67][68] While voice lines and map elements in Overwatch reveal some of its universe's lore, the bulk of the story surrounding its characters is told through animated short films and literary media.

[76] These shorts employed 3D computer-generated animation,[77] and received praise from video game journalists, with some likening their quality to those of works from Disney and Pixar.

[83] Aside from short films, Blizzard also released "origin story" videos for Soldier: 76 and each character added to Overwatch's playable roster post-launch.

[95] A graphic novel collecting the five issues and featuring cover art by artist Bengal was physically released on September 28, 2021.

[96][97] Similar in style to London Calling, the series followed Cassidy post-Zero Hour on his journey to recruit members to the newly revived Overwatch.

[21][141][142] The game's colorful and vibrant world and characters, in addition to the playful and team-based nature of its gameplay were cited as driving forces behind the inclusivity and positivity of its player base.

[67][139][141] While this broad accessibility was a common account by reviewers upon release, outlets later noted that players grew more toxic, particularly on the game's competitive mode.

[145] Although never officially disclosing an exact number of sold copies, Blizzard counted a lifetime total of over 60 million players in 2021.

The game's launch and follow-up cinematics only solidified this fan base; people loved to ship characters, imagine their missions, and daydream about future lore.

Writing for Polygon in 2022, Cass Marshall wrote that "Overwatch's lore has been in stasis for so long, and its fandom has been so willing to make a meal out of the crumbs sprinkled out over the years, that I feel like the fans' version of the cast is more concrete than the actual canon.

"[74] Natalie Clayton, writing for PC Gamer similarly opined that "Overwatch has only felt more stagnant as the years go on," as a result of the series' narrative being "almost uniformly backstories, developments happening safely in the past.

"[82] Marshall cited this lack of significant progression in Overwatch lore, as well as Blizzard's inconsistent updates to it, particularly from 2018 to 2022, as a factor behind the game's declined in popularity.

[160] Overwatch 2 was met with positive reception from critics, albeit less so than its predecessor; the game's PC version holds an 79/100 metascore on review aggregator Metacritic.

[161] Players had a more lukewarm reception to the sequel upon its launch, with criticism aimed at its battle pass feature and its formerly-required "SMS Protect" system.