Overwatch digital comics and animated shorts coming soon

Blizzard is taking a different approach - for them, at least - with the story telling in their upcoming multiplayer shooter Overwatch. Since fast-paced online shooters aren't exactly the ideal medium for adding character depth, the stories of the Overwatch universe and its ensemble cast will be told outside of the actual game.

Those stories will come in two forms: as animated short films and digital comics. Blizz has unveiled a few of their plans for these releases, with the first of them coming later this month.

The first animated short, scheduled to arrive in March, will seemingly focus on hyper-intelligent talking scientist gorilla Winston. Blizzard is also working on a six-issue comic book series about characters like hammer-wielding Rheinhardt and the crime duo Roadhog and Junkrat. The first issue, coming in April, stars gunslinger McCree, the Overwatch blog reveals.

There's also a graphic novel coming, titled First Strike, focusing on the Omnic wars that took place years before the period depicted in the game.