Blizzard Unveils First-Person Shooter Overwatch

For the first time in 17 years, Blizzard has announced an entirely new property, and it’s a first person shooter. Yes, you read that right. Blizzard, the fantasy MMO powerhouse behind World of Warcraft and Starcraft, is coming out with a shooter. And you know what? It looks really good.

The game is called Overwatch, and it’s a team-based shooter which follows a group of Earth’s-mightiest-heroes-turned-mercenaries as they blast and backstab their way through completing objectives. Think Team Fortress 2 if Pixar did the art and they took out all the bumper cars and silly hats.

12 playable characters have been announced so far to fill out Blizzard’s suggested roles on a team – Support, Tank, Offense and Defense. And you’ll need balance, because this isn’t a game that lets you skate by on pure firepower.

“We wanted to give players other things to do than put crosshairs on targets,” Jeff Kaplan, Blizzard’s vice president, said at a BlizzCon panel this weekend. “We know not everyone is great at that, and that’s what drives a lot of people out of other shooters.”