Blizzard Reveals Early Overwatch Concept Art & Their Pivot From an MMO

Instead of an MMO With Focused Classes, We Got a Lore-Heavy Hero Shooter

Overwatch is witnessing its 2nd-year anniversary, hence the impending in-game event. But in a special PlayStation Blog post, Blizzard decided to discuss the days leading up to the announcement of their latest IP. A new sit-down discussion with members of the development team reveals how the game pivoted from a class-based MMO to a hero shooter. We also get an idea of what that game looked like in its early stages.

Originally, Creative Director Jeff Kaplan envisioned an MMO with a large variety of classes that were highly focused. However, the Blizzard team eventually realized such an MMO was implausible. Thereafter, a long process of brainstorming took over the studio, and the pervasive idea of a game with unique heroes gave rise to the concept of Overwatch.

“Overwatch came about through this series of meetings to brainstorm a new game after we stopped development on ‘Project Titan,’ Kaplan revealed on the PlayStation Blog, “which was the codename for the MMO we’d been working on. We had three pitches, one of which was a new class-based MMO-thing. One day we were in a class meeting deciding how many classes this new MMO should have. Geoff [Goodman] was the class designer on Titan originally, and in this meeting he said, ‘I would much rather make a game that had fifty classes that each did far fewer things and were much more focused—that’s what sounds really interesting to me right now.’ I really hung onto that. We tried to make that work for that MMO, but it just wasn’t working.”

Fans of Overwatch can probably distinguish which class spawn which hero. Judging by the jetpack, “Phoenix” transformed into Pharah, “Juggernaut” resulted in Zarya, “Longshot” eventually developed into Widomaker, and the rest are obvious. In pivoting from Project Titan to Overwatch, Kaplan came up with the idea to turn previously rendered classes into heroes. As a result, the focus shifted to give each class a unique identity and backstory, accompanied by unique move sets. “So instead of having a generic “Jumper” class, it’s Tracer, who’s played by Cara Theobold, and these are the four abilities she has,” said Kaplan.

To learn more about Overwatch development with Jeff Kaplan (Game Director) and Geoff Goodman (Lead Hero Designer), you can visit the lengthy interview here. Alongside discussion of the game’s early stages, the devs talk about their work leading up to the reveal. Further, they talk about their reactions with the crowd. Check back for more updates as we move deeper into the game’s second year.

SOURCE: PlayStation Blog