Blizzard Confirms Cancellation of Overwatch: First Strike
Unfortunately, fans who were hoping for a new graphic novel story based on the Overwatch franchise are a little out of luck. Blizzard Entertainment confirmed recently in a post on the company’s official forums that the release of the planned Overwatch: First Strike graphic novel has been cancelled. According to lead writer Michael Chu, the team has decided “to take the story in a different direction.”
Apparently story changes and expanding upon ideas caused this major change. The graphic novel would’ve told the story of the early days of characters such as Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, Ana Amari, Reinhardt Wilhelm and more. You can read Michael Chu’s full statement on the news below:
I wanted to let you know that we have decided to cancel the release of the Overwatch: First Strike graphic novel. While we are grateful to the team for the fantastic work they put into it, we’ve ultimately decided to take the story in a different direction.
The original idea for the graphic novel dates back to the early days of the game’s development and came from our desire to tell the story of the founding of Overwatch during the Omnic Crisis. In the years since First Strike’s conception, we have done a lot of development on the universe and its stories. While the core of this story remains, we have changed and expanded upon how we see the events that took place during the first days of Overwatch.
So for now the early adventures of Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, Ana Amari, Reinhardt Wilhelm, Torbjörn Lindholm (and more!) wait for another day. But we know that this is a story that you are excited about, and it’s one we still plan to tell.
I’d like to thank everyone for the enthusiasm, passion, and support you’ve shown towards the Overwatch universe. We have a number of stories in development that will delve deeper into the world and its heroes, and we can’t wait to share them with you in the coming months.
Overall, the news is disappointing. Overwatch is a multiplayer shooter, and it doesn’t offer a ton in the way of story. A graphic novel really could’ve opened up the world and its mythology. Hopefully, some other graphic novels for the Overwatch universe can still happen.
Overwatch, the game, is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.