So, Activision just announced a partnership with Lego to produce sets based on Overwatch. All anyone knows is that we're getting sets at a variety of price points, which I would guess rules out Brickheadz and perhaps reduces the chance of Constraction. You can find the proof
here, if you haven't already heard (article in English).
For those who aren't aware (there are many members of this forum who are particularly... mature) Overwatch is a video game for computer, Playstation and Xbox that pits teams of players against each other at random in online matches. Each player selects one of a variety of characters to play as, each with their own distinct appearance, abilities and play style. The teams fight over a mobile objective known as a "payload" by, you guessed it, shooting at each other.
Now, a major aspect of the game that has contributed to its immense success is its colourful trivialisation of such combat. The characters are cheerful and comedic; the weapons are fantastical, often ridiculously so; the violence is deliberately unrealistic and filled with everything but gore. Mind you, this description comes from me having observed and very rarely played the game but never purchased it.
I've seen quite a bit of popularity surrounding it as both a casual introduction to the first-person shooter genre for young people and a dynamic system of play for adult competitors.
While it obviously lacks the insane universal popularity of Minecraft (a game both appropriate for young children and engaging for adults) I can see why it could benefit Lego. Looking back, nearly all licenses have been designed to appeal to one of Lego's two already established fanbases of children and adults.
My guess is that this is designed to fill the gap between them. I have a few (teenage) friends who have already told me that this announcement is sufficient to convince them to get into Lego. The biggest reason teens stop buying Lego (i.e. enter their Dark Ages) is because they feel that sets are too childish or, occasionally, that AFOL sets are too nerdy. I think Overwatch is "cool" enough to overcome both of those misconceptions simultaneously.
But I didn't create this thread to ramble. I want to see what others think. Is the idea too adult? Too childish? Too niche? What do we expect to see? What do we
want to see? Will it be the next Galidor or the next Star Wars?
Note: While other Blizzard properties (namely Starcraft, Warcraft and Hearthstone) have been produced by Mega Bloks and later Mega Construx, it seems Overwatch is the only game now to have construction sets planned at all, if the aforementioned article is trustworthy. Mind you, Activision titles
Destiny and
Call of Duty are still in with Mattel. R.I.P. You also might want to take note of the disclaimer at the bottom of the article.
Comments
My youngest son is obsessed with this game even though he cannot play it due to the rating (and because we don't have a current generation console). The rest of my children are aware of it. There are countless YT videos showing gameplay etc. and some have collected millions of views. It is well-known.
I think Lego is trying to expand beyond the core demo it usually sells to and hopefully avoid the Dark Ages teenagers tend to drop into. There is certainly a market for it, based on other franchises and toy ranges (McFarlane toys for one, Diamond Select and Kotobukiya are others). Minecraft is becoming increasingly like Lego in that the core audience is younger children and adults. It is no longer cool for teens.
Regarding 'multiple price points': Brickheadz, CMF and Constraction. Those are 3 price points all by themselves. BH already has different prices for single and double packs (and I imagine there will be a third when the 'big plus little fig' sets are out) and there are multiple price points for Constraction as well (Scout Trooper & Speeder Bike compared with any other figure). I wouldn't necessarily get your hopes up for actual sets. Or anything other than BHz at this point.
And finally, if people don't know what Overwatch is (or any other term, to be honest) is it really that hard to type the word into Google or Bing and hit return? Is it harder to do that than to make a post stating that they don't know what it is? Is it somehow helpful to tell everyone, without explaining why you are telling everyone? I was reading some comments, and I didn't know immediately what TF2 was referring to, but there were a lot of mentions so I presumed it was well-known by most of the commentators, so I selected 'TF2', right clicked and chose "Search with Bing". Team Fortress 2. Done. You don't need to know everything about the game to understand where it might fit into Lego's toy lines, and it's a little early to start speculating anyway.
Overall, I like the idea that Lego is trying new and different things. If they don't work, at least there will be interesting parts and colours we can use in something else!
I hope they don't go down the route of CMF though. They have always been aimed at all age groups, both young and old, and also based on very popular franchises when licensed. There might be a big group of people into playing Overwatch, but is there enough overlap of that group with the LEGO fanbase to get them to buy CMFs in enough numbers to justify them?
^ I don't know CCC - I don't collect these minifig ranges (although they are on the increase in my house so Lego must be doing something right) but I think you're right to worry about the Venn diagram of Overwatch|CMF buyers.
If they do go for actual sets, I sincerely hope that Lego can do better than these:
https://mcfarlane.com/search/?s=construction
Those McFarlane sets are good for what they are. They are highly detailed display style diaramas that can normally be put together in one way and that is it. The construction part is minimal and essentially there as a way to get the diarama into a smaller box.
It may just be that this is testing the waters for WoW, or maybe there is still some blackout period as MegaBloks previously had that license, and so they are doing this instead.
Power Miners, Atlantis, Alien Conquest, Ninjago, Chima, Nexo, etc
Proper sets. Even if you don't like the themes, the vehicles and so on are decent builds.
As a parent of a teenage Overwatcher, whose watched far too much gameplay, you'll never convince me this license is a good fit for TLG.
The game at its core level is who can talk the most smack while shooting everyone in the face the quickest...
l am a fan of LEGO sets and if the sets are good l'll get them regardless of my feelings on the game, but my initial reaction is surprise. l COULD see brickheads or a CMF line for the game. And it'd probably have nice minifigs (even though the characters are all either racial stereotypes or sex objects).
I'm cautiously happy about this news. I love the look and feel of Overwatch, but I think it is a much better fit for Mega. The Mega Construx Destiny characters are absolutely amazing, and the sets are very good too. As Overwatch is quite similar in look and feel to Destiny, and Blizzard has had a long term relationship with Mega, I wonder why they choose to work with LEGO this time.
LEGO simply can't recreate the diverse size and shape of Overwatch characters without loosing their special features. The fact that Mark Stafford is working on the sets gives me hope though that at least we will get some awesome mechs/vehicles or something like that.
If it turns out that LEGO doesn't do well with Overwatch, Mega may still pick up the license. They have passed licenses between themselves several times. And I'm happy to hear from the press-release that Mega will continue with Destiny 2 and Call of Duty. Those and the Halo sets are their best.
While I've never played Overwatch I hope the theme does well enough to at least make LEGO consider other computer game franchises...
(obligatory I'm still just wanting Nintendo LEGO comment)
Hopefully Overwatch gets actual sets and not just brickheadz. Maybe a D2C Watchpoint: Gibraltar with a Winston bigfig, Soldier, Ana, etc. Maybe variants of the minifigs in sets based on events like Junkenstein's Revenge and Omnic Crisis. Maybe a few escort the payload sets. I'd love to see sets of the giant vehicles that serves as spawn points/home base. Buy two of those and you have a complete game! Ah, wishful thinking.
I strongly agree with you on the loot box system, and I personally will be extremely hesitant about even spending money on a DLC. I believe that when you pay for a game, you should be able to play the entire game, and that parts should only be locked off by in-game requirements (e.g. gold). However, Overwatch is not the worst offender. The loot box system is purely aesthetic here (as far as I'm aware; correct me if I'm wrong) whereas EA's Star Wars: Battlefront II (for instance) infamously utilises the system for actual items that improve one's effectiveness in the game.
There is quite a bit of external media surrounding Overwatch that could easily form the basis of a few playsets.
I disagree with the last line. There are many sexualised characters (though not more than the majority of other games) and I was shocked to find how stereotypical others were. I wouldn't say all characters come under that banner, though. Tracer, for example, isn't exactly a stereotypical white person nor is she particularly sexualised - in fact, I was convinced that she was a he until a few months after the game's release!
Wishful thinking indeed! I should imagine it will look something like the first wave of Minecraft in terms of spread (assuming they will in fact be playsets) but a CMF series, as others have mentioned, seems quite likely due to wide range of characters.
So you don't even have to wait for the RNG to reward you, you can just save up by playing the game. I hate lootboxes in games but honestly don't mind the Overwatch ones at all. Of course you can exchange real money for lootboxes but I'm at a loss for why you would need to. I'm a fairly casual player and manage to afford the skins I want each event by just casually playing the game.
I'll be very disappointed if overwatch takes the slot
But yeah, what Aanchir said, apart from Widow maker, I think most character designs are tame. It's clear Blizzard wanted to appeal to kids of every age(and their parents), s'why it's perfect for a LEGO collaboration.
G'dang it, this whole topic is making me wish LEGO had the rights to Nintendo. Personally want a Wario bigfig and a Bowser Castle. Throw in some new molds for Goombas for good measure.
Now that you mention it, I remember hearing something about the game taking a "huge step forward" by revealing something like that for some character. Guess it was her.
I think video games generally receive more criticism because they put the audience in the seat of a character. Watching people pretend to shoot each other on TV, for example, is not quite the same as pretending to shoot someone yourself. Games are also still seen by most people as just that - games - and it's difficult for a game (such as The Beginner's Guide) to be seen as an art form in the same way that films are. As such, I expect to see some really passionate arguments for and against this partnership at best, and a salt mine at worst.
I definitely encourage watching some of the animated shorts. I’ve never played the game myself, but I always enjoy the shorts for their beautiful animation and emotional range. Here are some of my favorites:
https://youtu.be/FqnKB22pOC0
https://youtu.be/to8yh83jlXg
https://youtu.be/8tjcm_kI0n0
They're only half as late to the party...
Did it? Is that sarcasm? I was under the impression it under-performed severely.
Well, 0 x 2 = 0...
My bads. Anyways on on with da muppet show.
So I actually would not be surprised one of them tried to design a Galidor style Overwatch set. I would also not be surprised that if so, it got shot down at the first review stage ;)
While I am not a fan of the story or sets, some of the parts used were actually pretty decent. Based on getting outbid on ebay, I think they are fairly popular on the secondary market too. Everyone makes out they are hated, yet people can pay quite a bit for them.
#75971 - $19.99
#75972 - $29.99
#75973 - $39.99
I've just looked on Target US and I can't find anything, so I'm assuming that they've been taken down since. I trust that Hothbricks wouldn't outright lie about something like this. Thoughts?