The first animated short released by Blizzard was Recall<\/em>, which debuted on March 21, 2016 ahead of the May 24, 2016 Overwatch <\/em>launch date, pushed the story back from the cinematic trailer. Also released before Overwatch\u2019s<\/em> launch, Recall<\/em> is set before Winston contacted Tracer and the rest of the Overwatch crew. It establishes a worldview for players: Overwatch was once an organization lauded for its peacekeeping, but it\u2019s since disbanded. Bringing the crew back together would even be illegal, Winston\u2019s AI helper Athena explains in the animated short. Something bad happened with Overwatch, and Blizzard is setting the crew up for redemption.<\/p>
We\u2019ll later learn through more animated shorts and digital comics that Overwatch is a product of something called the Omnic Crisis, where man-made, sentient robots rebel against humans. The history spans back 30 years. The Omnic Crisis sparks the start of Overwatch, the omnics rise and then fall, as does Overwatch\u2019s usefulness. Just less than 10 years ago in Overwatch\u2019s<\/em> timeline, we\u2019re introduced to one of Overwatch\u2019s<\/em> most impressive acts of storytelling: The Overwatch<\/em> Uprising event, which merged Blizzard\u2019s out-of-game narrative with campaign-style gameplay. We finally got to play<\/em> the history of Overwatch<\/em>, rather than just read or watch it. (Not that either of those is bad, but it was a surprising change in the game\u2019s narrative structure.)<\/p>
This leads into the downfall of Overwatch, though the reasons for its disbandment aren\u2019t entirely clear just yet. Offshoot groups like Blackwatch may have caused trouble for the organization, fracturing the Overwatch image of a pure peacekeeping group. The United Nations calls forth the Petras Act, which makes Overwatch illegal.<\/p>
