Prior to the original game’s announcement, Blizzard had been interested in making a team-based multiplayer shooter for a while. Overwatch has its development origins rooted in Titan, a Blizzard project that was cancelled in 2013. Elements of Titan were reworked into Overwatch, which was announced at BlizzCon in November 2014. Overwatch became Blizzard’s first new series since they launched Diablo in 1996, as well as their first attempt at making an FPS game. After the game’s announcement, Polygon wrote that it “appears to feature Blizzard’s signature chunky, slightly cartoonish style.” A beta for the game was launched in 2015.
After the release of Overwatch, Blizzard’s developers continued to add to the game through free updates, introducing new characters, maps, game modes, and cosmetic items, often as part of seasonal events. The different gameplays of individual heroes were also tuned and patched in response to player feedback and statistics regarding the meta found within the game
