The lens of what do we want to deliver for the fan experience? The lens of playability. We really spawned a lot of ideas, and we started looking at those through different lenses. spent a lot of time together just kind of ideating, brainstorming together with the designers that came from LEGO. Newman: How did you decide which characters to feature?īeecher: On the front end, we invited LEGO to our campus to spend time with a couple Blizzard immersion days, with the Overwatch game team, including Jeff Kaplan, and the Overwatch leadership team. “So we are them and in a way, they are related to us.Dorado, with Reaper, McCree and Soldier 76, retails for $30. “We are doing the voices of their best selves,” she said. “This is the moment we get to connect with those people who get so much meaning out of the game.”Ĭohn added that the game’s message - that anyone can be a hero - is also meaningful. They have our voices in their heads for so long when they play that they feel like we’re friends or part of their family.”Īfter hearing Pohl say Mercy’s line “Heroes never die” at an event, one mom said “That you keeping me up all night,” she said laughing. “I always feel that it’s such a privilege to get to do something that makes people feel so connected to you that they share their stories. “The fans share a lot of their owns stories,” she said. Pohl added that every chance she gets to meet with fans is special. “It’s not often that you get to do a voice role that inspires so many young people and touches young people.” “I’m so honored and moved and flattered,” Cohn said. As her “Overwatch’s” popularity has grown so has the fame of Cohn, Pohl and all of the voice actors.Ĭohn said her son even jokes about buying her a t-shirt that says “Yes, I’m Pharah from ‘Overwatch,’ don’t bother me.” Occasionally, she even plays on his team in the game, quietly listening to his friends chat about her character. In many ways, “Overwatch” is becoming a lifelong commitment to the voice actors, one they seem to embrace.Ĭohn said she loves that her 10-year-old son plays the game. It somehow really helps to bring them to life.
“Voice illustrates something in more than three dimensions. “Every hero has story, abilities, animation, but there is a certain magic of the voice coming through,” he said. Every time a new hero is introduced all of the characters need new lines acted out, stories add lines, and of course, those shorts mean more work.Ĭhu says that voice is the thing that brings Blizzard’s characters to life. Chu came straight from a session to the Lego event this week. Giving voice to a character who’s entire backstory hasn’t yet been told can be an interesting challenge for the voice actors, because once that backstory hits it could impact the way they voice the character.įortunately, the Blizzard team frequently captures new voice work for the game and its many characters. “So the voice actress who plays my mother and I asked and he very nonchalantly dropped the dad’s name.” “I’ve been working on this character for years and I didn’t know,” she said. But I’m in the same boat as the fans, waiting to see what comes next.”Įven the smallest piece of information can often create waves among the game’s biggest fans.Ĭohn mentioned attending a convention once where a fan asked about her character’s father in a Q&A session. It’s cool seeing what Michael and the team come up with. But that’s the cool thing for us: A lot of fans ask what we would like to see happen for our character. “When something comes out it is a really special thing. “The shorts are little cinematic masterpieces,” Pohl said. When I ask Cohn and Pohl if either of their characters has had an animated short, they both turn to Chu and draw out a long “No, we haven’t.” “We don’t just want to release a list of story beats for characters. “It’s hard because the audience is really hungry to find out more,” he said. That decision to drip-feed an audience clamoring for more story is driven by what Chu calls a careful balancing act. “‘Overwatch’ is also pretty huge in our mind.”Īs the lead writer, Chu says he knows the overall thrust of the “Overwatch” story and the backstory of its characters, much of which hasn’t yet been told.
“‘Diablo,’ Warcraft,’ ‘Starcraft’ all of those have been around for years,” Chu said. The mix of content helps to create a narrative quilt that both builds on the players’ connection with those characters and leaves the door open to major story beats.Īnd that approach is a reflection of just how important an investment the game is to Blizzard. Those stories arrive a bit in written backstories on the game’s website, but more often through other sorts of medium like print comics, online comics, and animated shorts.
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