I briefly talked about this on the tg discord. I'm new to Kbin, very excited to be here :D
So I am an Overwatch diehard fan. As we know, the franchise is going through a big struggle keeping fans while angering everyone frequently alongside. Hell, the latest episode of Death of a Game discussed Overwatch 2 regardless of the fact it is not shutdown yet.
I went through a few weeks of grief about the franchise fearing the worst for it, as a diehard fan would.
Today, Blizzard announced Genesis, a 3-part animated mini-series on YouTube with about 18 minutes of total runtime. I am cautiously optimistic and believe, despite the length that this could be the first step towards OW's redemption arc, if ever.
the first part's premier page in question
As told on the title, OW2's current controversies is akin to what Marvel was going through in the 90s. Due to constant mismanagement, terrible sales and quality of the comics on top of a declining population of readers Marvel was on the line of filing for bankruptcy in 1996. in 1998, Marvel opened up a movie studio as we know today as "Marvel Studios". Obviously, Marvel went from bankruptcy to the highest grossing film franchise of all time by a long shot.
Overwatch 2's current state is very similar IMO. awful mismanagement of the game, declining playerbase and just like comics in the 90s, live service video games are going quite downhill, with many shutting down in 2023 alone.
What Overwatch needs to succeed and gain trust back is not to make the game better, it'll need more than that. Marvel saved itself with film, tv, animations, merchandise and games alongside the comics. Overwatch shines brightly from the animation, art, characters and narrative work and can carry itself with these talents alone.
A change in direction to a more narrative-focused, character-centric multimedia franchise, not just a team-based FPS could bring in new fans and most of all, make the angry mobs realise the worldbuilding of Overwatch is quality. League of Legends is huge now that they released Arcane and Riot Forge, with a MMORPG and Fighting game on the way. There just needs to be many more ways to appreciate the IP Blizzard has crafted than a heavily-monetised team-game.
Could Blizzard turn Overwatch around this way? is there any hope for the game itself by allowing the world to shine? is it doomed otherwise?
Blizzard's cinematics have always been top-notch (even at times where their games have been poor). But while I think they've always been good for cinematics, I think a mini-series needs more depth than what Blizzard tends to achieve in their cutscenes. Although perhaps I'm not the target audience anyway - I tend to find that sort of thing usually feels a little hollow due to its short runtime. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turns out to be great at what it's trying to be, even if it's not something that appeals to me personally.
As for Overwatch needing to go down the Marvel route... I don't think it necessarily needs to become a multimedia franchise, but I do agree that the IP has a lot of potential and I think it needs something. I get the impression that people feel a little "over" Overwatch as a game but, as you say, it's got a fantastic cast of characters, some wonderful, vibrant art, and the game hints at enough depth to the world that I'm sure some people would be interested in checking out a different Overwatch game/an animated series/whatever based on the strength of those things alone. There's a reason people were looking forward to a PvE Overwatch game in Overwatch 2, after all.
That said, I don't think Overwatch's cast of characters or its world are strong enough for it to cruise by without whatever else they feature in being high-quality. People will watch a bad Spider-Man film because Spider-Man is in it, but I don't think people will play a bad Overwatch game or watch a bad Overwatch anime just because Tracer (or whoever) is in it. It's an IP that has the potential for more, and if something's well-made then I'm sure people will be happy to check it out because they're familiar with Overwatch already, but I don't think it has the brand power to sell mediocre products.
the last paragraph is true, but tbf Mercy and D.va have enough popularity that people would love a mediocre Mercy movie lol. everyone hated all the skins in OW2 price-wise but Mercy swimsuit one made everyone gush. D.va is so popular she pioneered the e-girl aesthetic in the fashion scene.
I mean, you may immediately think about the "rule 34 scene" lol but Winston, Hammond, Reaper, Moira and Zenyatta are quite iconic. Nowhere near as iconic as spiderman lol but could it get there? maybe?
That's true, I somehow forgot about all of the D.va obsessions people have! Her popularity has definitely transcended the game itself in some ways.
I think a lot of it depends on how Blizzard decides to flesh out the characters and world going forwards. Marvel characters tend to have a decent amount of nuance and depth to them, and the film versions, especially, have been humanised really well. People connect with the characters on a human level - they empathise, they want know more about them, they care for them. Whereas Overwatch characters, for now at least, are pretty one-dimensional. They have great aesthetics and well-defined character traits but they don't have the depth to them that I think is necessary for long-term engagement and a multimedia IP.
If Blizzard can flesh them out in ways that keep people invested, there's definitely room for Overwatch to grow more!