7 Overwatch Lore Reveals from Lucky Man (SOMBRA/SOLDIER 76 Short Story!) | Hammeh

[@Hammeh]

What do you think of the story? Let me know your favourite parts below, and where you think this leaves us for whatever the next step in Overwatch 2 Lore might be! :) -Hammeh

[@Rezlusiowa]

Nothing interesting for me, they still gatekeep lore of the hero who's the most interesting in that regard

[@Politoed89]

i loved the way jack was written in this story, how it shows his PTSD and guilt instead of just “he’s so EDGY now”. the development is *chef’s kiss* and his dynamic with sombra is great. i want them to talk petty gossip together now

[@vela_nova7651]

Sombra has this inkling of main character vibes seeing how shes the only one chasing this “greater evil”. Which makes me wonder when all is said and done (in 2144 lol) who will be the most prominent character?

[@alexbolt5]

I feel like Overwatch itself doesnt have a prominent or “main” character seeing as theres a bunch of them. But each of their stories seem to imply that their a part of something bigger so im guessing whatever connects them all and how that affects them personally will bring in a core group of characters for that storyline with Sombra and Soldier being confirmed to be their when it ends no matter what.

[@Hammeh]

2144? You optimist :D I think she'll be in the mix. She's a good glue character that many people in stories can bounce off, from whatever faction or place.

[@Hammeh]

Fair! I think there's also a part where some 'main' old characters can, and have the ability to somewhat fade away, or have their stories ended in many ways. Which could be super cool if done nicely :)

[@alexbolt5]

@@Hammeh I think this was brought up a while ago but do you think if there is a big conclusion to this story would they be brave enough to kill off anyone in the roster? Not saying that it should happen but with a story of very big stakes like the conspiracy one it seems unrealistic that anyone involved comes out unscathed. It could amp up the emotional levels to the story depending on the hero and offer a somewhat bittersweet ending to conclude it all.

[@blazingsonic]

@@alexbolt5 I wonder why people depressing to bittersweet endings. Seems like younger fans won't bleak or bittersweet and hate the idea of a happy ending. I rather walk away from a story feeling good.

[@patonnight]

It's so sad the devs are letting the game decay while the short-story writers are literally carrying the Lore. A shame we aren't getting these in the form of animated shorts anymore (And we aren't getting it in any campaign either). Anyway, thanks for the awesome summary and analysis Hammeh.

[@Hammeh]

It's awesome to have all these guest/different/commissioned writers chipping into the universe, and they've clearly got a good historic base/database to reference with the franchise and historian teams. Definitely can see the coherency over the last few years coming together more, which is nice. Things will probably never be perfect, and things evolve, but that's all cool. Campaign...eh, PVE set of missions 2, who knows. Maybe there's hope of more books and who knows, I still pray for the TV series. Animated shorts might come again! Thanks for stopping by as always paton, very kind - lots more to come!

[@laughingfox1606]

Please for the love of God don't blame the devs for the game "decaying" A lot of the games issues aren't their fault and the short stories are really all they can do to continue the story. Since blizzard cancelled the campaign, despite being largely finished and not getting enough money to make active animations

[@blazingsonic]

@@laughingfox1606 Meanwhile Venture's VA is saying straight people can't play the game during June, I think it's time for someone to step in and clean house. The game needs to be reset.

[@laughingfox1606]

@@blazingsonic boohoo

[@shanonfrancis5071]

​@@laughingfox1606womp

[@yoshi12370]

Lucky Man parallels Code of Violence and how both Jack and Reyes dealt with the trauma of the Swiss base and how well they work post fall. Interestingly Sombra is present in both stories and we see how well they work with her work antics.

[@Hammeh]

Sombra is a great character in that she can be a foil / glue to so many stories going on!

[@alanrendon9302]

I really hope this leads to a sub-plot where Soldier and Reaper team up against the eye.

[@Hammeh]

Hmm, a greater evil? Maybe too much water's under the bridge for that, but who knows!

[@kendrickvieraramos]

This should be an animated short

[@Hammeh]

Dream! We've had soldier and sombra both in combat in shorts, and sombra in Mauga's animation also. Perhaps they'd shoot for other characters :)

[@D00dman]

I wish this game was still good. The story was amazing back in the day. SOOOO much potential

[@Hammeh]

Game is honestly still good, just...different I think. Story - honestly we've had a lot of good stuff with Declassified and this compilation of short stories, I just wonder what the next - or any - big thing will be...the potential is still there!

[@insaneyoohoo]

Thing with me is this: Where do they even go from here to develop the story or universe? They already canceled it with Overwatch 2, so are we waiting for a 70 dollar Overwatch 3 now? Or is all the story now just going to be drip fed through short stories and the occasional comic? And that’ll just be the entirety of our experience with the universe? They aren’t going to commit to full animation for it either if they can’t even get the PvE mode working. So I just genuinely don’t know where things go from here for the narrative.

[@lamelonlord1854]

What don’t u like about the game?

[@dziosdzynes7663]

Story was good before they turned everyone gay indeed

[@lamelonlord1854]

@dziosdzynes7663 ?? How did they turn the story gay?? Like ik you're just homophobic but what's gay about the omic invasion 😭😭😭😭

[@gardoc1669]

In Venture's story trailer the EYE logo can be seen in her room briefly on something black and circular like the disc from this story. In addition in the latest comic about Venture, Sombra also has an appearance. So this EYE may somehow be connected with archaeologists or relics Talon is looking for

[@Hammeh]

Saw these! It'll be interesting to see what is linked by the Eye stuff, and if Venture's comic drop of the eye is meaningful.

[@mopman8127]

I would love an animated overwatch tv series from the start of the lore through till the current/future lore entries. If done right it could be just as big as the game.

[@Hammeh]

I really liked the A Great Day - Mauga and the Doomfist origin...Mauga one was real 80s cartoon vibes. We did get Genesis too..but yeah, would love a series. Imagine it!

[@Burning-Twilight]

Its nice that after all these years we are finally getting more hints as to this mysterious faction that Sombra has seemingly been chasing for a long time. More so this third faction seems to have played a far bigger role in the Swiss HQ destruction and perhaps even the fight between Jack and Reyes. I do hope this may also lead to some form of revelation or perhaps even redemption for Reyes. As we have seen despite his impulsive and sometimes violent attitude he still believed in what Over/Blackwatch was doing to keep the world safe from big time threats like Talon. And certainly wouldn't just drop all of this and side with Talon who he clearly hated with a passion.

[@Hammeh]

It'd be bold if Overwatch killed someone off in canon. Reyes...Morrison, Reinhardt might be candidates for me. Death might be a release for Gabriel - perhaps an option! It's cool in these stories to see lots of throwbacks to old 2016 lore and posts. Nice that there's clearly been a sync up on all lore materials for the last few years :) Eye Conspiracy web in 2024!

[@Burning-Twilight]

@@Hammeh Of those candidates I feel like Reinhardt would be the best choice. Jack I feel hasn't garnered enough fanfare so to speak to really make people be torn up about his death (not saying he doesn't have fans, but I feel as though his death wouldn't resonate enough feedback with the overall fandom.) Reyes I feel still has too much potential in terms of story right now to kill him anytime soon. He's so far one of the few characters to not have his own dedicated character short, and still so much about him is unknown. But Reinhardt, we have learned a lot about him, we know how he started out, why he fights the good fight, and how he is willingly to fight to his last breath in the name of honor and justice. Him dying in the line of battle, perhaps even to save others would be a good way to close the book on this valiant old knight.

[@jeshuarestituyo284]

Sadly Reyes only redemption will be dying after all the innocent people and ommics he has killed

[@Burning-Twilight]

@@jeshuarestituyo284 His hands are undoubtedly soaked in blood and oil of innocents, but the fact remains he was once a good person and his talents and information could be critical in finally getting rid of Talon for good.

[@floraazul7622]

@@Burning-Twilight To be honest... I feel like Reyes is a story of "this could have been a good man, but the systems of society failed him and he became a monster" -- Declassified told us that Gabe's dad worked a convenience store, and his mom did social work.... yet Reyes became a cop??? (idk if you know anything about the USA cop system and USA social work --they are usually at odds-- but my guess is that Reyes thru his mom's work was seeing violence in his community and he got lost in copaganda to the point he had the 'i know there are bad cops out there, but i can be THE GOOD ONE to fix it! my community needs saving!' but then.... just like with so many, he enters the force thinking he will do good, only to be corrupted by the rotten system until he is 'one of the bad apples'--buddy, the whole orchard has root rot.) Reyes was a cop investigator, then joined the USA military in his 20s, then survived the super soldier program with jack, then joined overwatch--to then be in charge of black watch. In Blackwatch Gabe realized that the politics got in the way of dishing out real justice... and his trigger happy attitude blew up Blackwatch's cover when he took out the Talon target in Italy. It's funny really, taking out the Italian talon target WAS the right choice--the criminal wouldn't have faced justice otherwise. But the way Reyes did it was wrong(no one should be judge, jury, executioner), and the corruption of governments preventing the talon target from getting justice thru legal systems, was wrong. Reyes is always in the middle of corrupt systems, showing how systemic corruption prevents heroes from being able to be heroes, or even worse: turning heroes into villains. Reyes is not a good man, but he did have the potential to BE a good man. The systems he grew up in failed him, and enabled him to become the monster he is today. Gabe lost his parents in the crisis early on, and was never the same afterwards, feeling like it was HIS fault bc he made certain tactical decisions that resulted in his parent's deaths. Especially now as "Reaper" Gabriel is essentially a living cancer--cells reproducing uncontrollably and dying off... he is a ghost of his former self, he is in chronic pain, he probably not all there mentally... and his mind is on vengeance and violence to dish out the justice HE thinks is right. IMO Gabe represents the corruption of systems (from cops to super soldier abuses to blackwatch), the interpersonal horrors of war, and so imo as a 'representation of an ideal' character he doesn't deserve a redemption, he deserves to be put to rest so he doesn't suffer anymore. Gabe is a cautionary tale.

[@ryankwon8785]

I think the same entity (link with the Iris or Aurora?) that destroyed Overwatch HQ is the same entity that might have started the Omnic Crisis (not Anubis). Some villains might not start wars and conflict for money or power, but out of a desire to watch the world burn.

[@Hammeh]

Could be! Fun to lean into the whole eye conspiracy thing again!

[@coldhazzard]

i no longer play OW but i still love the art and story. i hope they keep going for their sake

[@Hammeh]

understand, game has been around a while! I hope the same :) what you enjoying playing nowadays if it's not a rude q?

[@coldhazzard]

@@Hammeh Mostly single player games. I just finished valkyria chronicles 4 which was on my backlog for a while. looking forward to disco elysium next. The only live service game im playing right now is genshin impact which only takes 5-20 mins of my day unlike ow which took several hours.

[@Qorvid20]

I really want a map of the decrepit Zurich HQ. Have it be old and abandoned, with parts missing from ceilings, walls, and even floors.

[@dimitarapostolov9788]

I am always as excited to watch your OW lore videos as I was so many years ago Hammeh! Love to see you cover this story!!

[@Hammeh]

Too kind dimitar, thanks for stopping through :) Lots more to come! We'll try a few more new things too, see how we go.

[@floraazul7622]

@@Hammeh Looking forward to it! Your content is always so well thought out and nicely put together.

[@lilboiflacko7672]

Thank you for the video. I have been wanting content on the new graphic novel.

[@Hammeh]

you're welcome and thanks for watching lil! you mean the new short stories? 2 down, 6 to cover here!

[@lilboiflacko7672]

@@Hammeh I will be there to watch all of them. Subbed. Thank you again.

[@LolainOW2004]

Yes yes yes!!! Finally more content about the mysterious eye conspiracy. I feared that the lore team had forgotten about this

[@Hammeh]

It's back pedro! How did you find the story?

[@LolainOW2004]

@@Hammeh ever since the Sombra trailer I had been thinking about this. Nice to see it has not been forgotten. I remember a very old meme implying that Efi might be the person behind the eye, cuz she has 3 dots above and below her's. Also a ton of people might already have commented, but in venture's animated short against Talon, there's a scene in their room where you can see a disc with the same eye symbol.

[@Deliriumz007]

an overwatch anime with sombra as the main character would be nice.

[@Hammeh]

she's been in a lot of animated stuff! would be cool

[@DirtyBlueDahlia]

ahh Hammeh! it's been so, so long since one of your vids showed up in my feed and I am so grateful that it appeared. I can see a lot of people do not approve of the state of the game rn and while I'm torn about that idea, I can definitely say I still enjoy it and I love that there's more lore coming out now. I really hope there's a moment where Jack and Gabe leave the past where it's at and join forces to chase this Eye entity and the whole AI plot moves forward. I love to see Sombra cooperating with someone from the other side, makes for an interesting story and adds more to her character. I've always thought of her as a rather chaotic neutral character when it comes to the war between Overwatch and Talon, so I do hope that whatever she's after and what she finds helps the effort towards the upcoming events. Wish this was a pve mission, sounds like a fun time ngl thanks for the insight, stay safe!

[@Hammeh]

Thanks for stopping by again Dahlia! I've been a bit quieter the last couple of years but slowly getting going again now, glad to hear i'm popping up on some feeds :) Honestly, I feel (as a casual player, with some competitive), the game feels alright - outside 5v5 or 6v6 debates at the competitive or hyper regular player end of the playing spectrum. Overwatch is 8+ years old now - needs some experimenting to keep things fresh or feeling different, and if you've been there every year of those 8 years, or a lot of that time, multiple hours days a week, then it's a different perspective to the average player for sure. I think we could have some really interesting stories with Jack and Gabe - kill one off? both? would be bold..Sombra is a good one for everyone in the story to bounce off - good plot glue and pivoting! But, not reducing the writing or her. Good fun either way and an enjoyable story. Always cheery when Sombra shows up PVE missions, eh, i think if there are any we'll get some kind of 'wrap up', or if not, then leaves room for story to be told in other media!

[@Politoed89]

@@Hammeh personally, i would really hate if jack got killed off. i would quit the franchise if that happened. the more simple reason is that the 'bury your gays' stuff SUCKS. but the other reason is this: his biggest character flaw is supposed to be his obsession with self-sacrifice and being a martyr, so if he dies (assumedly in a 'heroic' way), it's like the narrative is confirming that his worldview was the correct one and this is the best ending. that's bad writing. i think of him as a sort of deconstruction of a superhero, showing that obsessing over self-sacrifice hurts your life and relationships. not only would it be a bad writing decision, but it would also be a pretty awful message, especially when you combine it with him being gay. imagine ending a story with the message "being gay means giving up your chance at having a love life for the benefit of others, being lonely your whole life, then you're miserable until you sacrifice yourself and die". no thank you.

[@logeyperogi1805]

Sombra looks out for herself above all others So it doesn’t surprise me that she and Soldier would work together, she had something to gain I like characters like that, they don’t need morals, to do good deeds

[@Hammeh]

for sure - Sombra is her own person! I think she may eventually find what she's looking for at this rate!

[@krizash]

Sombra is the main character of Overwatch confirmed.

[@Hammeh]

one of the key ones!

[@Malevolence460]

Wow what a phenomenal breakdown!! Definitely gonna sub for more overwatch content!

[@Hammeh]

that's very kind, thanks and welcome mal!

[@yoshi12370]

Also! Venture's "Origin story" has that same Eye disc visible part of their belongings

[@Hammeh]

Aye, a nice nod in that trailer! Who knows, maybe there'll be something more on it in their comic tomorrow :)

[@darkstar_57]

So glad I am not the only who still runs the PvE stuff

[@Hammeh]

Haha, do them time to time for fun! Bit of a long slog though with bots sometimes! Remember - many short stories free on the Overwatch website, and you can catch a few of this compilation on there too!

[@squidrecluse2336]

Imagine a different version of this where Soldier, Sombra, Ana, and a fourth character fight through Zurich to prevent Null Sector from stealing the disc. That'd make for a really fun PvE mission that we'll never get, but at least we got a $30 skin to match the Porsche none of us own. On a less bitter note, awesome video as always Hammeh. Thank you for keeping what little bits of lore we get alive!

[@Hammeh]

Would be an awesome mission! I've (I know) yet to do a video on my takes on the PVE still. After all that's happened the last few years, I was head under in work at the time. What came out was a great, for me, 'funfair ride'. It wasn't a replayable experience hugely beyond the interactions. Evolution beyond archives and other missions wasn't easily visible or obvious at first experience, and, with hero missions/talents/replayability being canned, that was always going to hurt it. Porsche stuff baffles me - I want the team to succeed, the execution of this feels very off base to me. I'm not even convinced by the link in the past in other games or partnerships (cars esports) - but, it has been done OK at other times. Maybe I'm not the target audience ^^ Thanks for stopping by as always Squid - more Overwatch lore, and honestly, other things to come - stay tuned ^^

[@marcusbullock2753]

Why couldn’t they just make an animated movie with all this lore man. So much potential.

[@Hammeh]

who knows marcus, maybe they can in future! it's not too late! we've had hours and hours of material over the last 8 years when you look at it..

[@kevingame3198]

I wish the PVE wasn’t canceled. I wish this was in the story mission but I switched to Genshin and I’m currently in chapter 3 act 5

[@Hammeh]

me too kevin, but who knows, maybe in future some story missions might find their way out. Seems unlikely given what the team have said though! How is genshin story?

[@kevingame3198]

@@Hammeh good makes me wish that overwatch 2 story mode was realeased yearly

[@floraazul7622]

I REALLY hope they don't drop the eye conspiracy, it's so interesting and compelling to have a "grand conspiracy" in charge of Talon, and larger forces....

[@Hammeh]

some mystery is good! thing is, you can fairly say that if they do anything with it, it can be a big plot beat in X years time...X = ????? :)

[@sternritternovad]

Absolutely fascinating, I hope Overwatch does an announcement at the Xbox Showcase to link with this.

[@Hammeh]

Might get something for Season 11! Who knows!

[@Politoed89]

something this story made me sure of: i think jack still cares about reyes, in his own weird way. i mean, he even says that he didn't want to believe that reyes caused the explosion (he says it "didn't feel right"...even though the reason he gave was that he saw reyes' stunned face, i think the subtext is pretty obvious), plus he seems to defend reyes a lot even now. considering reyes literally shot him in the back, jack has gotta have some serious dedication to be saying that kind of thing! (also, i'm so sure that line from sombra where she says, "your former...." and gets cut off was meant to throw shippers a bone, lmao. your former WHAT, sombra? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM? you have some tea???)

[@Hammeh]

I think he does still have unresolved feelings around how things were left with Reyes. Bear in mind he has seen him since in Old Soldiers at a minimum. Maybe he wants to put him out of his misery.. Your former....hahaha indeed. I think you have to tread a very delicate line on this kind on thing!

[@Politoed89]

@@Hammeh i don't think he really wants reaper dead, honestly - or at least, he couldn't bring himself to do it. i noticed that in old soldiers, after ana gives him the boost (aka after reaper has already shot him), jack has the chance to grab his gun and shoot reaper, but he tackles him instead. obviously it's possible to come up with plenty of reasons that he does that, but if you think about how sentimental jack is in general about the people in his past (to the point of literally carrying pictures of them for years), it makes sense to me that he wouldn't be able to actually go through with killing him. especially since they were close for so long, and because jack didn't really have that many close relationships in his adult life because of his job. maybe someday in the future (if the story actually gets told...), jack will have the perfect chance to take him out, and he won't be able to do it. that's some classic drama right there

[@Boogsbunny13]

The overwatch shorts were peak!

[@Hammeh]

Still are :)

[@ncascini01]

Good job!

[@Hammeh]

thanks, hope you enjoyed!

[@thefairestintheland9025]

So far, Hanzo is staying home (until the guilt eats him up) Jack is going to oasis (moira's home) and Satya is looking into Vishkars founder. I wonder when their paths will intervene. Also do u think these characters (everyone in the book) were chosen randomly OR do u think their story is vital to Overwatch as story continuing?

[@Hammeh]

Hanzo is coming out of his shell with Kiriko a bit! I think they can progress all the characters stories a bit in parallel, but new Overwatch will deal with the new crisis, and the other characters can delve into the past/other bigger questions (or non central questions).

[@jwatchcraft5564]

thanks for updating us on the story when Blizzard won't. Update: We'll probably never see any more campaign related stuff for games. Same for novels, comics and animations since the last one they did was for Mauga. Usually they'd release new animations, comics or anything story related was usually frequent which is what I loved about this game. The story was being progressed on the side while playing the game. You could even relieve some of those narrative moments as well. But now? Yearly releases of narrative that build to something that leads to nowhere right now.

[@Hammeh]

glad you enjoyed jwatch! I mean, it's nice to have these stories, comics etc - there has been a lot of lore released before/during/after PVE launch to be fair. It's more, where things go from here after the 'flood' of lore we've had.. these stories as well as everything else, bring the lore to a 'what next?' type point for several stories and characters. be interesting to see how they move it forward - i'm guessing it's not going to be more PVE missions...

[@jwatchcraft5564]

@@Hammeh Just wish there were more of those pve missions tbh, Loved the archives event from the first game and when they were going to do more of that in the sequel I was excited beyond belief. But now all that's left are these books and comics and just wish it wasn't the case. I was brought into the game more for its mysterious story and where it'd lead, not so much the gameplay but was a bonus.

[@분노한마법사]

I have one theory for the eye conspiracy. As long as the Iris is one of the most important concept in OW lore, the conspiracy may be connected to the Iris as its symbol is an iris(or eye whatever). But we know that the Iris is purely good as Aurora was, as she finished the Omnic Crisis by making all omnics sentient with her sacrifice. So I don't think the Iris itself is evil or the followers of the Iris, Shambali Monastery is evil. We could see Mondatta truly wanted peace between humans and omnics in the last cinematic of the latest PvE. So the only possible answer is another group connected to the Iris(that we haven't seen yet). As long as the Iris isn't evil, who might want to use it in a evil way or make it evil. So why would they use the Iris in a evil way? To answer this, I think we need know what the Iris is first. The Iris is definitely connected to sentience of living things. The ego, emotion and all human things that don't physically exist. And these can be what the group want to use to achieve their goal. But how can they do it? How will they be able to access the Iris and use its power? Considering the group is connected to almost all organizations in the universe, it may be a really old group. And that can explain how they're gonna access the Iris perhaps. They are old so they affected the Omnic Crisis and the Iris. Or perhaps they caused(or guided the Anubis to cause) the Omnic Crisis to create the Iris. They are secret and mysterious to hide their goal and themselves, so they didn't really do something by themselves but used others to do their favors perhaps. But so what's their goal? Why would they have caused the Omnic Crisis to create the Iris? Why would they have wanted to make a formless spiritual thing that has the essence of human mind? From here it's totally my guess; they wanted to combine all humans' egos into one to become a god. The founder of the group had a innate superpower just like Genji and Symmetra. The founder thought superpower comes from brain and after years of thinking finds out how to make human a god. It was to develop an AI that solves human mind mathematically and make it as 'consciousness space' which can accommodate other consciousnesses and combine all humans' egos into it. The founder joined Omnica Corp to develop the sentient AI but didn't know the most important part, empathy and eventually Dr. Liao creates Aurora. The founder then ruins Omnica Corp with hacking skills to abandon Anubis and then makes Anubis to cause the crisis. The founder believed in Dr. Liao's power and eventually Aurora becomes 'consciousness space.' Now the founder and the group try to infect the Iris and upload all egos of humans and omnics into the Iris with special devices put on their head. I think this theroy fits the theme of Overwatch as the evil group tries to make everything the same, removing all the differences, and make the world blank that even peace can't exist as there's no others. Which is completely contrasted to Overwatch's theme: peace between humans and omnics, understanding and accepting the differences between others.

[@bradyonetta]

i don't mind them selling lore in the form of physical books, comics, etc. but why can't we buy this digitally as DLC and read it in-game? lmao

[@Hammeh]

It's free on the Overwatch website! Some of the stories are out and I think they may slowly release them all (not confirmed) - so go enjoy some!

[@davidgoldstein729]

I didn't remember it from watching Infiltration but... it looks like Sombra did some wall climbing in that... I wonder if that was original an ability she was supposed to have in game?

[@Hammeh]

haha, she definitely hacks a big mech's arm and a lift - some of it looks like wallclimb though! I think we have enough wall climbers :D

[@davidgoldstein729]

@@Hammeh Personally I would've liked to see Ana pick up some kind of wall scaling, even if it's a challenging or inconvenient one. She's the only "sniper" with no vertical movement ability...

[@Politoed89]

“soldier never thought reyes caused the fall of overwatch” reaper76 fans cheered

[@Hammeh]

hahaha, still hanging on in there are you :D

[@Politoed89]

@@Hammeh they reeled me in, and i'm here for the long haul, probably to my own detriment

[@user-ur4nl6dq2x]

I want to read these, but i strongly suspect these were all PvE mission stories that have been pushed out as books now the PvE has been canned...and i dunno, watching this just makes me sad 😢 So much potential for OW as a franchise, just gone

[@Hammeh]

This book was on the cards before PVE I think. So must have been planned alongside it. I get the feeling on the potential bit though - it feels like after story missions, and these, and genesis, it's all a big setup of sorts - for PVE2 missions (which may never come), or what? :(

[@MomsAgainstCatboys]

I’m not sure if i’m Mandela Affecting myself, but i could have sworn that Jeff mentioned at one point that at least one of the overwatch heroes would canonically die. Part of me thinke the remaining 5 of the founding team; Reyes, Amari, Wilhelm, Morrison and Lindholm will pass, but i’m not sure.

[@Hammeh]

he said something to the affect of 'it could be something we could explore or it'd be a big step, they could still be playable in game etc'. So! Not ruled out, but not definitively confirmed off the top of my memory. Can check back. It'd be a bold one to do!

[@chriscorcoran4515]

I'd love to have an Overwatch animated series in the style of the animated shorts. If we can't have PvE, we better get this.

[@Hammeh]

i'd love it - it might take a while though if it was/is in dev!

[@cashordeals3672]

New character's in said new faction one day 😯 would be a sick

[@samr5221]

Ummm Space ranger is from Mars .. that's a new faction hopefully 🤷‍♂️

[@Hammeh]

mars lore hype!

[@msacco36]

Yesss hammehhhhhhh

[@Hammeh]

ninjaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - first msacco and thanks for stopping by!

[@cashordeals3672]

more ow lore👌🏾

[@Hammeh]

it's still coming!

[@kml7121]

The Iris 👁

[@Hammeh]

👁

[@animo358]

Man...they really need to just Drop the Gameplay ideology of Overwatch and just focus on the story. Games literally unplayable but with story and characters that could so easily be a, if not few, series of their own. This and the Declassified book have done more for Overwatch than ALL of Overwatch 2.

[@Hammeh]

Thanks for saying hi animo! Honestly, zooming out since story missions launch, we have had A LOT of lore - compared to the last few years before that particularly! The game can still exist for this story to move forward, too. Might be more comics and books mind but I'm ok with that :)

[@animo358]

@Hammeh I got banned for 5 minutes for leaving quick play because they still can't fix the match making and they have no interest in a single player experience.

[@nex5691]

at this point the devs dont want to continue the lore, origin stories, and animations ya know what why not we fans continue writing the story while blizz is busy killing our game

[@Hammeh]

I think they do, it's just how, what form and what makes sense. There are expensive and cheaper ways of doing story, which will inevitably be linked to how much financial sense they make, like everything in a business, in this case the games business. If the book sells well, probably be more books etc! Also, some of these stories are for free and released on the Overwatch website. If all of them are free, then great! If not, I'm happy to spend some money on a book of stories rather than a skin, personally.

[@aSkymne]

did they make the characters ages and lore backgrounds make logical sense yet?

[@Hammeh]

I mean, most do! :) Which were you thinking of?

[@homemaranha5649]

Bring more Marvel Rivals characters lore like Hulk, Spiderman, Storm, Black Panther, Witch Scarlet, Magneto or Loki pls

[@Hammeh]

Will do! More incoming for all characters :)!

[@zc8673]

I really hope we never find out who the eye really is. I think part of what makes Overwatch so appealing is the intrigue of the story and what we don't know. I think the best thing that could do narratively would be to focus almost entirely on the character interactions and dialogue and leave the plot ambiguous and mysterious still.

[@insaneyoohoo]

I’m not sure about that one. Just never ending character interactions while the story never truly develops? Just an endless loop of banter and overpriced hero skins is what we want now?

[@alexbolt5]

⁠@@insaneyoohooI think they meant to say they prefer the focus to be on smaller scale stories with small hints of the grander scheme of things. Right now we’re in the null sector invasion part of the story which Is considered major. But the global conspiracy seems to be the main event. I dont mind a slow build up to it. But with how things are now I doubt we will ever truly see how this story unfolds. Been a fan since the beginning and even now it gets tiresome at the droplets of lore they give out.

[@alanrendon9302]

@@alexbolt5 Yeah I remember waiting to get a drop of lore when Michael Chu was onboard. It was slow, but the lore always felt well thought out and exciting.

[@Hammeh]

The eye itself can be a bit of a mcguffin/macguffin also. This second omnic crisis could be years in universe, and years of real life time also. Plenty of space and time to jump around :)

[@zc8673]

​Pretty much this. Like obviously I want the plot to develop, but through the stories of our heroes and other characters. We don't always need on the nose, super plot focused development, like the invasion PVE missions kind of were.​@@alexbolt5

[@caustin850]

So who officially brought Overwatch down?

[@Burning-Twilight]

Right now it seems to be indicating that some unknown third party may have been responsible. Up until this point it seemed as though Reyes started the fight with Jack and the two somehow caused the destruction of the Swiss HQ, but now it might not be as cut and dry. Hell Talon might have never even been aware of such an action and just happened to find Reyes in the rubble and convinced him to join them.

[@Hammeh]

This! Seems like there was a third party involved, the 'Eye' as the organisation, person or thing has been since 2016, that hacked/came after Sombra.

[@caustin850]

​​@@HammehThen is it on the good side or the bad side? Or is it neutral?

[@bakad5458]

me waiting for soldier x reaper to be canon

[@Hammeh]

hahaha bakad! well, I'd be surprise if it ever was! I think the two have pretty much their pasts and present characters set at this point, but never say never!

[@Politoed89]

it would be canon if blizzard weren't cowards >:(

[@bobbymcjoey9432]

Can't wait to ignore this lore too

[@Hammeh]

Why ignore it?

[@bobbymcjoey9432]

@@Hammeh Nothing personal, was just being cheeky. The lore for overwatch lore is one of the one's I care the least about personally; it has so little connection to the game I just cant get invested.

[@Ajoi14]

OMG!!!!

[@Hammeh]

Omg???? Ong

[@Ajoi14]

@@Hammeh I just get excited whenever we get a Sombra lore hehe. Thank you Hammeh!

[@spawn2414]

"hey soldier, the developers decided to make you gay how do you feel about that" *falling death sound effect

[@zelamorre1126]

Just so you know, putting a slash mark between two different character names is often used online to denote a romantic or sexual relationship between two people. (Why yes, I did click on this video thinking that Blizzard had lost their minds.)

[@Hammeh]

😂 I'll go for + or something to avoid any confusion 😂

[@assassith]

Feel like the story is going in a direction where Jack was forced to leave the destroyed base before he could go look for and help Reyes out of the rubble (and I hope it does). It would be the perfect reason for Reyes' grudge to be set in stone, being abandoned for the final time by his best friend.

[@Hammeh]

Totally possible! If we believe Morrison then he was wanting to help..

[@assassith]

@@Hammeh I think that's what makes Reaper's story such a beautiful tragedy

[@blazingsonic]

So there's the story mode.. I see, Story in every other media but the game itself...

[@Hammeh]

i mean, we had the 3 pve missions and get some in level/in world storytelling..

[@H3NTAIPROMISES]

This game could've been up there with Helldivers. Such wasted potential 🤦 because greed 😂

[@Hammeh]

i like helldivers! also like overwatch! what do you think has been wasted potential wise? honestly, helldivers is very in-game story / environmental story telling with a very rapid update schedule for now - let's see where it is in 1-2-4 years time! (i like it, i just feel it's a different style..)