Blizzard revealed at BlizzCon 2016 that "Overwatch" and "Heroes Of The Storm" will have a tighter tie up. As it is, Blizzard is making a smart business move by bringing "Overwatch" and "Heroes Of The Storm" closer together.
Blizzard released "Heroes Of The Storm" in June 2015. On the other hand, Blizzard released "Overwatch" in May 2016. "Heroes Of The Storm" was Blizzard's attempt at officially breaking into MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) ground.
Introducing Sombra—a notorious hacker on the hunt for secrets, and all the power they bring...
Learn more @ https://t.co/JCSkZJGOzc pic.twitter.com/Ztceq2sXNG— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) November 4, 2016
As a genre MOBA kicked off as the mod "Defence Of The Ancients" (DOTA) for "WarCraft 3" (later acquired by Valve as DOTA2). Valve took the free to play model and applied it to "DOTA 2," while Blizzard pushed "Heroes Of The Storm."
Introducing the #OverwatchLeague—a world-class sports ecosystem that puts YOU at the center: https://t.co/pznCqN918f THIS IS YOUR LEAGUE pic.twitter.com/aq2h485mUk — Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) November 4, 2016
Blizzard sets "Heroes Of The Storm" uniquely by drawing on heroes from their various established franchise. These heroes tapped by "Heroes Of The Storm" are the hook for free players to unlock members in their roster.
"Overwatch" on the other hand, began life as "Project Titan." Blizzard planned the MMO for release once subscriptions of "World of Warcraft" began to dwindle. Although "Project Titan" never saw the light of day, it gave life to "Overwatch."
"Overwatch" is an attempt to merge the first person shooter (FPS) and MOBA genres. "Overwatch" was originally intended to be a free to play title.
Blizzard, however, quickly learnt that a major appeal of "Overwatch" was the quick changing of heroes when strategy objectives dictated. Thus standing in the way of "Overwatch" being a free to play title with unlocking of heroes as the free to play hook.
When "Overwatch" was released, the special Origins Edition came packaged with Tracer for "Heroes Of The Storm." This introduced "Overwatch" players to the world of "Heroes Of The Storm" and Blizzard's other franchises as "Diablo," "WarCraft" and "StarCraft."
Even "The Lost Vikings" - the Super Nintendo game developed by Blizzard in 1992 also played in the "Overwatch" introduction. Later, "Heroes Of The Storm" players got another "Overwatch" hero in the form of Russian weightlifter Zarya.
According to Blizzard at BlizzCon 2016, "Heroes Of The Storm" will be getting a new incoming event which will bring more sharing with "Overwatch." Playing the "Heroes Of The Storm" event with friends will yield many rewards including hero giveaways and, for "Overwatch" fans - an Oni skin for Genji.
"Heroes Of The Storm" is available on Mac OS X and Windows PC. "Overwatch" is currently available on Windows PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
