Overwatch is celebrating its second anniversary as I write this. It has been wildly successful since the day it came out and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. It boasts 27 diverse characters (each with their own dedicated fan community), 40 million players worldwide, and an eSports league that includes teams owned by the likes of Bob Kraft. That is, clearly, not enough, though. Overwatch is going to be expanding into the world of toys.
Hasbro is in the Mix
Hasbro and Activision Blizzard announced a partnership today that lists Hasbro as the master toy licensee for the Overwatch franchise. They will be creating a wide range of toys, board games, and other products using Overwatch characters. The announcement press release wasn’t very heavy on details, but we do know a few things.
The official Overwatch Twitter account tweeted out a message that Overwatch themed NERF Rivals guns will be coming sometime next year. The tweet, embedded below, doesn’t show us ANYTHING about the guns that they are making, but I think some of them are pretty obvious. I assume that we will see Soldier 76’s assault rifle, Tracer’s paired pistols, and Reaper’s shotgun pistols. There are 27 characters that each have distinct weapons, so I am sure we’ll see some interesting choices. The only real restriction I can think of is that the Rivals line shoots ping-pong ball like ammunition so that does limit the kinds of weapons they can use. Hanzo’s bow, for example, doesn’t fit into that mold.
A new way to play.
Get your hands on Overwatch-themed #NerfRival blasters – coming soon! pic.twitter.com/93FZteQabX
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) May 16, 2018
Hasbro does more than just NERF though. They are also really good at action figures.
Overwatch LEGO
Activision Blizzard has announced that they have entered a partnership with LEGO to release a variety of building sets at several different prices. They haven’t made any official announcements about what those sets will be (unfortunately), but the fact that they are happening at all is exciting enough for me and my kids. I suspect that the minifigures will be a big part of the draw for these sets. I know they won’t, but I hope that there will be some sort of box set that I can buy that will include them all.
It looks like Overwatch is going to keep expanding all over the place. It’s already a pillar of the video game space and it will soon be in our toy boxes. When will they get around to making it a movie?
What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!
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