Overwatch 2 Boss Interested in Exploring Fortnite-Style Brand Crossovers

ign.com:

Overwatch’s Commercial Leader and Vice President, Jon Spector, has said that he is interested in exploring brand crossovers similar to those seen in Fortnite with Overwatch 2.

Talking to Game Informer, Spector said: "I'm a big anime nerd myself. I think it's super cool when I see Naruto appear in Fortnite. I don't even play Fortnite, but that's awesome. And as we look at the Overwatch 2 space, those are things that we're interested in exploring. If and when we do that, one of our key values is to do it in a way that feels like a great fit for the Overwatch franchise."

Spector added that Blizzard is less interested in displaying adverts in Overwatch 2 in order to fund its transition to free-to-play. The main generator of revenue will be premium-priced battle passes and cosmetics, which in Season 1 of Overwatch 2 will be cyberpunk-themed.

It’s not difficult to imagine Overwatch 2 launching seasons of content themed around other brands. Overwatch has previously crossed over with other Blizzard games for special skins, such as Windowmaker’s Nova and Kerrigan Legendary skins, which reimagine the sniper as StarCraft 2 characters. Brand crossovers could potentially do a similar thing, as it’s hard to imagine Overwatch straight-up putting anime and comic book characters in the game. But who knows what Blizzard are thinking. Afterall, none of us ever expected to be able to do a kamehameha in Fortnite.

For more from Overwatch 2, check out how Blizzard put together the new Portugal map, the origin story for new character Kiriko, and the news that lead hero designer Geoff Goodman has left the team.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.