"Overwatch" players have always relied on Blizzard Entertainment's animated short films and online comics to flesh out the game's lore. While other users have reportedly created their own story and filled in the gaps with speculations about characters and their relations. The game's Lead Writer Michael Chu and VFX Supervisor Jeff Chamberlain share the developer's approach to storytelling with their team-based shooter.
Chamberlain explains that "we wanted to create a lot of stories as quickly as we could" and to "tell as much as we could" for each hero. He claims that they initially just wanted to make a single cinematic for the shooter, but it seems that they eventually thought "leaving it at that wasn't quite enough." The development team supposedly discussed their planned approach further and "ultimately landed on the idea of doing a series of shorts," reports IGN.
Meanwhile, Michael Chu notes that "we have a desire to continue to push the story forward" for "Overwatch". The Lead Writer also confirms that "as long as we have stories to tell" the development team at Blizzard Entertainment will "keep trying to find ways to tell them." Fans of the animated shorts should understand that it reportedly takes six to eight months to create these cinematic videos.
The VFX Supervisor also elaborates that the team assigned for the animated shorts usually have two or three projects being simultaneously developed. Chamberlain also claims that they usually work together with the game development team to develop several elements used in-game or for the cinematic shorts. It has been confirmed as well that not everyone will get an animated short. The developers have also used comics as another means to tell their stories.
However, it seems like Blizzard Entertainment is planning to release another animated short soon, according to Gamenguide. "Overwatch" Lead Writer Michael Chu reportedly confirmed that "we have a lot in the works". The team-based shooter's latest hero is Orisa, who was reportedly revealed with a minor flourish, left fans wanting more. However, it seems that the developer has something in store for its players soon, according to speculations.