During the opening ceremony of BlizzCon today, Blizzard announced a new game called Overwatch.
The “approachable” team-based shooter, pits teams of six players against each other across a variety of environments. Each player will play as an Overwatch hero, who each have their own distinctive abilities and attributes. A beta for the game will start in 2015, and interested players can sign up now on the game’s official website.
“Overwatch is our take on a vibrant, near-future universe with amped-up characters and action-packed team-based gameplay,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment in a statement. “With every new Blizzard game, we look at our favorite aspects of a genre and put our own spin on things. Our goal with Overwatch is to create an awesome FPS experience that’s more accessible to a much wider audience while delivering the action and depth that shooter fans love.”
“With an emphasis on accessibility and pure fun, Overwatch brings Blizzard’s signature easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay to the FPS genre,” Blizzard explained in a press release, in part. “Harnessing the power of their hero of choice, players will join forces in teams of six and battle each other across a range of futuristic global locations, from the hologram-lit streets of London to a bazaar in the shadows of a high-tech Egyptian pyramid. Every battlefield is iconic and built to highlight each character’s unique abilities, and fights can shift from streets to rooftops to open skies within the span of a breath.”
According to Kotaku, Overwatch is a reworked version of the PvP portion of Blizzard’s Titan, an MMO being developed by Blizzard which was cancelled earlier this year.