With Sony opening the floodgates for crossplay with Fortnite, Overwatch is one of the games that the community would like to see playable across PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Speaking to Gadgets 360 at BlizzCon 2018, Overwatch Production Director Chacko Sonny stated that Blizzard is of the same opinion as well.
"We're following the situation very closely," Sonny said. "Anything that's good for the players we're supportive of. We love the idea of Overwatch in as many places as it can go."
Although Sonny didn't have anything to announce at the moment, it appears that Blizzard is hopeful of a positive outcome eventually. Considering that Rocket League has cross-platform play slated for 2018, perhaps Overwatch could see it implemented sooner rather than later.
That being said, Gadgets 360 also asked Sonny on the possibility of Overwatch cross-progression and the likelihood of it appearing. What this could mean is, cosmetic unlocks, credits, and achievements earned in one version of Overwatch, say PC, could carry over to Xbox One or PS4.
"We're very interested in discussions on-going with first-parties at this time," he said. Could this result in Battle.net being available on Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch? While Sonny did not comment on this, it's good to know that Blizzard is keeping player interests close amidst developments between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.
Previously, Sonny revealed that Blizzard has five to six Overwatch heroes in development at any given time. The Overwatch team has a variety of potential heroes to choose from to announce and add to the game. Though the thought process behind them isn't the same.
"There are five or six different hero prototypes being worked on at any given time," he said. "Some are driven by ideas like 'this would be a great addition to this class' and other times its driven by a cool sketch that we want to turn into [a hero]. I don't want to present a picture that they're all derived in the same way. The inspiration comes from many different places and there's a lot discussion at the time, figuring out what the next hero is and what's the right thing for the game at that point in time."
On that note, we asked if there was a definite hero count in mind for Overwatch. The game launched with 21 heroes and has added eight more since Sonny claims that the studio is driven by what heroes add to the gameplay rather than the sheer number of them at a player's disposal.
"They've all introduced something new and changed the way people play the game," he said. "There have been some cases where we tweak some things post-release, but we think there's some fertile ground to introduce some new hero designs. I know certainly with some of the prototypes that I've been playing recently, I'm super excited for what's coming up."
Disclosure: Blizzard sponsored the correspondent's flights and hotel for BlizzCon 2018.
If you're a fan of video games, check out Transition, Gadgets 360's gaming podcast. You can listen to it via Apple Podcasts or RSS, or just listen to this week's episode by hitting the play button below.
For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.