Jeff Kaplan Talks Overwatch's Somber Beginnings

At the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, game director Jeff Kaplan took to the stage and talked shop about Overwatch's somber beginnings. The project—as many know—was the picked up pieces of the abandoned MMO Titan, which had a team of 140 developers working on it. Once Titan was shut down, 80 of those devs were shipped to other games, another 20 were lent to other Blizzard projects for the long-term, while the remaining 40 were given two weeks to salvage what remained of Titan. Kaplan said “It was a daunting, almost devastating concept.”

Kaplan then went to talk inspirations for Overwatch, and how the team framed the game's universe in their minds. Rather than offer a bleak picture of the future, the Overwatch team wanted to instill hope, evident from the vibrant environments within the game. “Our goal is to make the game hospitable, to make it inclusive as possible." Ever notice that none of the maps in Overwatch are torn-apart by bombs and wreckage? 

He went on to discuss the motivations behind character creation. "We wanted there to be heroes that would be approachable for each person." Far from bleak soldiers of fortune, Overwatch challenges stereotypes and tropes with distinct endearing characters. And it's worked, really worked. 

Now we can ask again, who is Overwatch's next hero? 

Source: Gamasutra