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Overwatch Is Coming To PS4 And Xbox One
Update #2: Blizzard announced three new heroes at Blizzcon: D. Va, Lucio, and Genji. The publisher also confirmed an Origins Edition, including five skins, Mercy wings for Diablo III, a Baby Winston pet for World of Warcraft, an Overwatch card back for Hearthstone, and portraits for Starcraft II.
Blizzard also confirmed the game is pay-to-play (and not free-to-play) across all three platforms. There will also be a collector's edition for consoles and PC that comes with all of the Origins Edition goodies and a bronze statue. PC players can dive in with a $40 base version (compared the $60 console and PC Origins Edition). That still comes with all 21 heroes.
Update #1: Blizzard has responded to our request for comment, suggesting we stay tuned tomorrow for the Blizzcon opening ceremony. "We are excited to share more information about Overwatch with everyone at BlizzCon this weekend - so be sure to tune in to the opening ceremonies for free at www.BlizzCon.com," a representative told us via email. We'll have more information tomorrow during the presentation, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Pacific / 2 p.m. Eastern.
Original Story:
GameStop (Disclosure: GameStop is Game Informer’s parent company) has received word that Blizzard’s Overwatch is console-bound. The retailer has been told it can start telling customers about the unannounced versions.
We spoke with a local store that indicates it received an email from the corporation indicating that the game will be full-priced on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. All versions are listed at $59.99, with a placeholder date of December 31, 2016.
This clears up one of the big mysteries about Overwatch. We weren’t sure if Blizzard would be releasing the game as a free-to-play title or a standard, premium game. We’re likely to find out more from Blizzcon this weekend.
We’ve reached out to Blizzard for comment. We’ll update should we receive a response.
Note: We've added the PC base version for $40 to the story.
Our Take
This is a huge move for Blizzard, but one that makes a lot of sense after the success of Diablo on consoles. It’s great to see Blizzard making a play for the controller-wielding audience. I didn’t love Overwatch on PC, but that was in part due to my lack of proficiency with mouse and keyboard. I’m definitely game to try it on console.
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