Overwatch‘s new franchise creative director is Justin Richmond, the guy who co-directed cinematic action blockbuster Uncharted 3 and co-created Netflix’s The Dragon Prince. And, as you can imagine, I’m once again huffing some hopium and crossing my fingers for an Overwatch TV show.
“My very first BlizzCon was when Overwatch was first announced, and I instantly fell in love with the world and the game,” Richmond shares in a recent LinkedIn post. “I looped through the line over and over to play the demo as many times as possible, constantly getting my ass kicked trying to learn Tracer.”
“Hopefully I can get some lessons, because today I’m excited to announce that I have joined the Overwatch Team as the new Franchise Creative Director,” he goes on. “I can’t wait to contribute to the next era of Overwatch! This is a huge year for both Blizzard and the game, and I’m thrilled to be on board for the ride. Hope I see you at BlizzCon this year!”
A job listing from five months ago stated that Overwatch’s franchise creative director would be in charge of roadmapping the game’s next decade in “cinematics, publishing, and transmedia” – that last part is the one the community’s stuck to in hopes of an animated show set within Blizzard Entertainment‘s superhero universe.
And it’s not hard to see why. Richmond co-created an animated fantasy show that ran for seven seasons on Netflix, a streamer notorious for kneecapping shows before they get much past the first season, and winning an Emmy Award off the back of it.
Adding fuel to the fire, Overwatch general manager Walter Kong recently told IGN he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an Overwatch series: “Every time we release assets, whether it’s a hero trailer or an event piece, there are all of these comments about, ‘Hey, we would love an Overwatch animated series. Blizzard, what the hell? When’s that happening?'”
Fans have been clamouring for an Overwatch show ever since the game originally debuted with stunning, short cinematics fleshing out the various heroes’ surprisingly gripping backstories. Requests only got louder when we learned adaptations of Diablo, Starcraft, and Overwatch were in development at Netflix before its relationship with Blizzard dissolved.
