[Updated] Overwatch Archives May Take Players To Venice, Italy

Published: April 3, 2018 10:47 AM /

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overwatch archives round logo

More details have emerged about the return of the Overwatch Uprising in a new Developer Update video featuring Game Director Jeff Kaplan and Lead Engineer Tim Ford.

Last year's Uprising event was announced to be returning soon in a tweet on the game's official account late last month. The event features Reinhardt, Tracer, Torbjörn, and Mercy engaging in an unsanctioned mission to take down an Omnic extremist group who has occupied the King's Row section of London. The PvE event debuted last year and it has been confirmed that it will be returning again this year. Check out the Developer Update video to get a hint of what to expect:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG7fLWcvv-4

While last year's event was focused entirely on the single King's Row Uprising mission, this year the event will be branded as Overwatch Archives. In essence, the event will now be a focus on "all of [the] cool past moments in Overwatch history" rather than just the single mission we've been able to play so far. There will be more content and more parts of the event that will be detailed in the coming days.

Last year's cosmetic skins are confirmed as returning again this year. It hasn't been explicitly stated, but it's likely that 2017's content will be discounted to normal prices (compared to the treble cost for new content) as has happened in previous repeats of events in the game. A hint was also thrown in about a new skin for "your favorite Shimada brother", hinting that either Genji or Hanzo will be getting something in the upcoming event.

Overwatch Archives will be talked about all week long. Members of the development team will be at the Overwatch League broadcast on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, to show a video relating to the event. This will coincide with the beginning of Stage 3 of the league which is currently winding down a week-long break after the conclusion of Stage 2. The last statement in the video from Mr. Kaplan was his hope that players are "ready for the retribution" - this particular bit of information is expanded upon by social media posts from entertainers around the world who have recently visited Blizzard headquarters in person.

https://twitter.com/chinglishtv/status/981039882821779458

Many of the various social media posts (some of which have been highlighted on /r/Overwatch) show a "Retribution" logo. A Chinese video game professional posted (now-deleted) images on social media highlighting it as "the Venice Incident". She also stated that she had played on an entirely new map. This specific event was referred to in Moira's story on her hero page on the game's website:

She received a lifeline in an offer from an unlikely source: Overwatch's covert ops division, Blackwatch. She continued her work in the shadows while developing new weapons and technologies for the organization. Her employment was a closely kept secret, until it was uncovered during inquiries following the Venice incident. Many high-ranking Overwatch officials disavowed all knowledge of her affiliation with them.
I think it's safe to say that we'll be getting a new map for the Overwatch Archives event to play this year, and it may be focused on the Blackwatch division of the organization. We're sure to find out more details in the coming days. Be sure to tune in to the Overwatch League on Wednesday evening at twitch.tv/overwatchleague to catch the upcoming video about this event! Overwatch Archives will return on April 10, 2018.

Update: An in-universe news article was posted to the game's official website which highlights an attack on Overwatch facilities in Oslo, Norway. The article has Commander Jack Morrison (now known as Soldier: 76) stating that they have a number of suspects behind the attack but an investigation is still underway.

What do you think of Overwatch Archives? Would you like to see PvE content become a permanent fixture in the game? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


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