Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch 2 is getting turned into an anime series.
Given Overwatch’s seemingly endless array of characters, locales and world events featured across both games, it always seemed like a missed opportunity that Blizzard never thought to give it the TV show treatment. Well, better late than never: Overwatch 2 is getting an animated miniseries spin-off, and it debuts this week.
The three-part animated series is titled Genesis, with the first episode slated to arrive at 12am, July 7 (Malaysia time) on YouTube. Much like every other cinematic short Blizzard has produced for Overwatch, the animated series will be a prequel centered around the Omnic Crisis. The three shorts will feature younger versions of Overwatch heroes like Ana, Reinhardt, Reaper and Torbjorn, as the Overwatch team deals with the rising global threat of an omnic war.
Don’t expect these episodes to be too long, however. All three episodes will be just under seven minutes or so in length each, with this week’s first episode titled ‘Dawn’ being the shortest at 5 minutes, 13 seconds. The second episode ‘Innocence’ premieres a week later on July 13, clocking in at 6 minutes, 34 seconds. The finale will air on July 20, running for 6 minutes and 58 seconds. You might as well wait until it’s all up and binge it in one go.
Here’s the premiere page for Genesis episode one:
While it’s nice that Overwatch 2 is finally finding ways to expand on its lore beyond short bursts of story missions that haven’t even come out yet, it’s disappointing that this is yet another prequel for a franchise that can’t seem to let the past go. We’ve heard about the Omnic Crisis and the dissolution of the Overwatch team so many times since the launch of the first game, that there really isn’t a whole lot of story there left to tell.
Overwatch 2 has promised to finally move the lore of this franchise forward but as of right now, that’s a promise it has yet to keep.
