Overwatch’s Story Explained: Why They’re All Even Fighting

Overwatch is the latest online multiplayer shooter from Blizzard Entertainment, but did you know that this game and its characters have tons of backstory too? The events of the game take place about 60 years in the future, but the big incidents and crises in the world began about 30 years prior to that.

To start, these are the characters who are part of the organization before it was disbanded: Soldier 76, Winston, Mercy, Reinhardt, Tracer, and Torbjorn. Reaper and Widowmaker are the terrorists, and everyone else are considered outliers or neutral parties. We’ve taken the time to put together and summarize the important bits of the game’s lore, all so you can understand the climate of the world, and perhaps even the mindsets of the characters themselves.

The Omnic Crisis

Before the organization we now know as Overwatch was formed, there was the Omnic Crisis. 30 years before present day in the game, the humans had indulged in the creation of robots, also known as Omnics, and used them for personal gain. However, the Omnics began to develop a mind of their own and they rebelled against the humans, thus causing the Crisis. Unable to suppress the rebellion on their own, the United Nations called for the formation of the Overwatch.

Founded by Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison, the members of the organization fought back against the Omnics and essentially beat them back into submission. As a result, the humans began to feel disdain for the Omnics in general. There was also a religious group that formed after the Crisis, known as the Shambali, and it consisted of people who believed that the Omnics had souls.

Overwatch Collapses

After crushing the Omnics and their rebellion, Overwatch grew in prominence. And even though Gabriel Reyes was the original founder of the organization, it was Jack Morrison who became the face of Overwatch. More members joined the organization including Winston, Tracer, Reinhardt, and Mercy. As the organization grew in power, they were able to deal with terrorist groups like Talon and the Shimada clan.

However, rumors of internal strife and corruption began to arise, and the UN called for an investigation into Overwatch. There were accusations about negligence in high-profile missions, and the team was also accused of weapons proliferation. Before the UN could unearth any evidence about these accusations, the Overwatch Swiss headquarters were destroyed in what was allegedly an accident. It is suggested that Reyes had led an uprising and rebellion against Morrison’s leadership. The organization collapsed under the weight of these rumors, the accident, and Overwatch was eventually disbanded and everyone went their separate ways. This was six years ago.

Today

Since the organization disbanded, tensions have once again arose between humans and the Omnics, and this was exacerbated by the terrorist organization Talon. The organization was responsible for killing the Shambali leader (all Widowmaker’s doing), and they’ve also been attacking older Overwatch outposts in an effort to retrieve the locations of past Overwatch agents.

In-game interaction suggests that Mercy was the one who revived Reyes, and was reborn as Reaper. Now working with Talon, Reaper led the assault on Overwatch outposts to eliminate all surviving operatives. As for Morrison, he took on the identity of Soldier 76 and started on a journey to uncover the truth behind the collapse of Overwatch.

It was Winston who thwarted Talon’s efforts to retrieve that information, and he illegally issues a recall to all Overwatch agents, bringing the crew back together. This marks the start of the game.