Blizzard announces newest game: Overwatch

Team-based multiplayer shooter that looks effin' awesome

At Blizzcon 2014, Blizzard Entertainment announced the future. Their next game is a team-based multiplayer shooter called Overwatch. And Blizzcon attendees can play it all weekend. And I’m jealous.

With an awesome trailer and then gameplay video, Overwatch features a ton of dynamic, over-the-top characters in objective-based matches. It looks a bit like TF2, but with a lot more going on. That said, with as much action that was shown during the video, game director Jeff Kaplan said that they want to keep Overwatch “very approachable, and allow for everyone to experience what can be fun about this game.”

They showed off a bunch of characters, each with very different styles of gameplay — from an assassin that snipes and zips around with ziplines, to a flying healer. From a master archer, to a gorilla that gets put in rage mode when you break his glasses. From a dual-wielding baddie that goes into third-person with his special, to a robot that becomes a turret.

It’s nearer than we think, too. The Overwatch beta is coming in 2015, and you can find out more at Playoverwatch.com. My only question: will it have hats?