Blizzard announces first new franchise in 17 years, Overwatch

Is it an aquarium building sim? No, it is a shooter game

Over at Blizzcon today, Blizzard has announced Overwatch. This is named similarly to Insomniac’s original name for Fuse, which was Overstrike, and is also a cartoonish, team-based first-person shooter. 

There is a fighting gorilla in it. And it’s coming out sooner than you might expect, with a beta starting in 2015 and Blizzcon attendees able to play it this weekend.

You can sign up for the beta here. There are also little profiles for all of the announced heroes, including gameplay videos. so start calling dibs. I like Hanzo, Tracer, and Mercy for looking like an Evangelion. 

Here’s the fun cinematic.

Here’s some gameplay.

And the individual character trailers.