It doesn’t matter how many years pass, how many games get canceled, and how many employees get laid off. The one thing gamers will never forget is Blizzard’s famous line, “Do you guys not have phones?” This was in reference to Diablo Immortal’s Q&A during BlizzCon 2018, and despite all the years that have passed, the meme will likely resurface today because Overwatch Rush has been announced. It’s a top-down hero shooter designed specifically for mobile and set in the Overwatch universe.
The game is currently in development by a dedicated team at Blizzard that is separate from Team 4. Blizzard reassures everyone that the team has deep mobile experience, because that was our main concern, obviously. While I understand why Blizzard would make an Overwatch spinoff for mobile, given how huge the mobile gaming market is, this introduction is not the way to do it. Further showing just how disconnected the team is from gamers, the debut video is full of cringey, scripted commentary. It’s not the worst we’ve seen, but anyone who has played Overwatch knows that’s not how voice comms sound. Then again, if they wanted to depict accurate Overwatch voice comms, it wouldn’t be a family-friendly video.
