Blizzard has made a surprise move. After confirming a new direction for Overwatch and removing the “2” from the name, the company has now doubled down on expanding its hero universe with a new mobile title: Overwatch Rush.

This free-to-play release, built exclusively for Android and iOS, will not be a mobile adaptation of the current multiplayer mode, according to the developers behind World of Warcraft. Instead, they describe it as a “completely new and unique experience” within the franchise.

In practice, this means another hero-shooter project designed to bring the Overwatch universe to smartphone players. The game is still in an early phase, but Blizzard has already confirmed it will use a top-down perspective, be built from the ground up for mobile, and include in-app purchases. In a press release sent to 3DJuegos, the studio says the goal is for “player skill to decide match outcomes”, and the team is already preparing playtests and feedback collection to tune both the gameplay experience and the monetization model.

So who is actually making Overwatch Rush? Blizzard says the mobile project is being developed by a team separate from Team 4 (the internal group responsible for content and updates for the main version of Overwatch). Team 4 brings considerable mobile development experience, and this work will not interfere with the roadmap for the existing hero shooter. Because the project remains at an early stage, neither Blizzard nor Team 4 has announced a release date yet.

Another mobile push from Blizzard

Blizzard, like many companies in the video game industry, is no newcomer to mobile. While a large share of its business is still centered on experiences for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms, the company has already expanded into smartphones with titles such as Hearthstone, Warcraft Rumble (which has already stopped receiving new content development), and Diablo Immortal. That last game is likely its most profitable and most controversial mobile venture, having drawn criticism for aggressive monetization and even resulting in a fine. Even so, it has continued to attract thousands of daily players and has generated millions of dollars for Blizzard.

Now the real question is how Overwatch Rush progresses from here. Blizzard‘s announcement states that developers will soon begin running playtests in multiple regions, allowing players to submit feedback and help improve the experience. So we will have to wait and see how the title evolves, and whether it ultimately becomes a genuinely worthwhile option for hero-shooter fans.

Source: 3djuegos