Overwatch 2’s newest cinematic is the next big step in the game’s journey

theverge.com:

From the first reveal of her character in a small thumbnail portrait in 2016 to her official debut in Overwatch 2 some six years later, Vivian Chase, call sign Sojourn, has been on a journey. Today, that long journey takes a new direction as Blizzard reveals her first animated short, bringing newfound depth to her character and to the Overwatch franchise overall. 

In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Sojourn’s creators talk about her new cinematic and her place at the center of Overwatch 2’s story.

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Sojourn occupies a peculiar place in Overwatch’s canon. She is an important figure in the game’s lore as a leader in the Overwatch organization, an international military force assembled to protect the world from a deadly robot uprising, and as the orchestrator of its eventual downfall.

From a development standpoint, Sojourn was meant to be a playable hero long before Overwatch launched in 2016. During a livestream at Blizzard, former game director Jeff Kaplan stated that the team began development on her as far back as 2014 / 2015. 

Despite her development history and importance in the game’s story, Sojourn was only introduced in 2022. At that time, I spoke with the Overwatch development team, and they told me that because Sojourn “moves the storyline forward,” they needed to wait until the game’s story was ready to be moved forward.

The majority of Overwatch’s animated shorts have served as hero introductions, giving players a feel for who these characters are and what motivates them — but without really moving the game’s actual story forward. 2016’s Recall short initiates Overwatch’s story with the revival of the Omnic Crisis and Winston recalling all the old Overwatch operatives to fight them. That plot