Overwatch GM Walter Kong gives fans hope for a Cyberpunk Edgerunners-esque animated series

Adapting videogames into movies and TV shows seems to be all the rage in Hollywood right now, and Overwatch General Manager Walter Kong knows that his game is ripe for the same treatment. While he hasn’t gone as far as confirming it would happen, Blizzard’s head of live games and mobile development does admit he knows that fans would be keen to see it, and doesn’t close the door on the idea.

With the success of the Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario movies, it’s no surprise that studios across the entertainment industry are constantly eyeing up games that could work for them. Netflix has been a big proponent of this, too; both Arcane, based on League of Legends, and Cyberpunk Edgerunners have been huge successes both critically and commercially. While there’s nothing in the pipeline for Overwatch just yet, Kong has definitely given us some hope that it could be next in line.

Speaking to IGN, Kong said he “wouldn’t rule it out” in regards to an Overwatch TV show, stating: “Every time we release assets, whether it’s a hero trailer or an event piece, there are all of these comments about, ‘Hey, we would love an Overwatch animated series. Blizzard, what the hell? When’s that happening?’ So we certainly hear that, and I think that it is not a huge stretch to believe that there would be a lot of demand for that type of content. So certainly, no, I won’t rule out that sometime in the future there could be other storytelling experiences in the Overwatch universe.”

While that answer doesn’t indicate that there will be any big announcements regarding a series based on its FPS game in the near future, it does show that Blizzard is open to the idea, which can often be the biggest hurdle when it comes to these kinds of things.

It’s especially promising considering that, according to Jason Schreier in his book ‘Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment,’ Blizzard had a deal with Netflix for adaptations of Overwatch, Diablo, and Starcraft, which came to a bitter end in 2019 when Blizzard sued the streaming giant for poaching its CFO Spencer Neuman. Clearly, despite that experience, Blizzard hasn’t soured on the idea of making a show in the future, although it would be surprising if Netflix ended up being its partner on the project.

Of course, if you’ve watched Overwatch’s cinematic trailers, you may think that it doesn’t need to partner with anyone to create the show, as the visuals it can conjure in-house for these events are breathtakingly good. Blizzard may only need to partner with someone for distribution, although it’s worth remembering that producing a full-length TV series is a much bigger proposition than short videos to launch seasonal updates.

No matter which way things go, though, it’s hard to imagine that streaming companies wouldn’t be lined up with big bags of cash for those exclusive broadcasting rights.