Blizzard announces stylized FPS Overwatch, could be F2P

During BlizzCon 2014, Blizzard announced Overwatch, another new IP for the studio, after HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm. Sure, both games dip in Blizzard's rich catalog but can be considered two original franchises in their own right. With Project Titan canceled, Overwatch is Blizzard's take on Team Fortress 2, if we may say so, and includes elements from the shelved MMO Titan, such as maps. Judging by some of the characters on the official website, we would say that there's also a hint of Starcraft Ghost in there. The highly stylized visuals – which seem to take the same graphical approach as the recently announced Battlecry – look extremely cool and will take players to places such as London and Egypt, among others.

Blizzard describes Overwatch as a “pick-up-and-play first-person shooter” and it is set in a completely new game universe. This team-based multiplayer shooter currently includes 12 playable characters and three maps, with more to be added until beta testing begins in 2015. Two game modes were already revealed: payload and point capture.

While the PC is the only platform announced so far, consoles haven't been completely excluded of a later launch.

As for the business model, Blizzard haven't confirmed anything yet, but seeing that Heroes of the Storm is free-to-play and most games are going that way, it's highly likely that Overwatch is free-to-play too. Blizzard's Chris Metzen said that “there are smarter men than us figuring that out now.”

You can watch the two Overwatch trailers below: a cinematic trailer and  a gameplay trailer.