The first year that Overwatch was live, there was a demand for the game to include some kind of lore based events after the first Halloween event took the game by storm. Then in mid-April, Blizzard answered that demand with another PvE event known as “Uprising” where players went back in time to an important part of the Overwatch lore during the Omnic uprising in King’s Row. For the event, players could choose between Mercy, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Tracer. It filled in some of the story aspects for the game, and gave out some sweet cosmetics.
The event returned again in April of 2018, with “Retribution”, which also introduced the map Rialto. In this one, another PvE event, the characters took the roles of Reaper, McCree, Genji, and Moira, the Blackwatch team. It was focusing more on what Talon was focusing on on the effects that they had on the Overwatch team.
And since the tease of Baptiste, Overwatch’s most recent combat medic character, the idea that his lore could be involved in an Archive event was a though on many people’s minds. But he came in as is, with no event surrounding him. So the hunt for the next Archive event tease was on. With nothing showing up.
Until the Overwatch twitter decided it was time for the announcement of the upcoming Archive Event, known as “Storm Rising”:
The video describes a lot of what’s to come, and a few questions as well.
First, the timeline. This is after “Uprising”, but possibly before “Retribution”, and definitely before the fall of Overwatch. But given the name ‘Maximilien’, who had previously shown up in a comic before; “Masquerade”. That comic had shown Doomfist meeting up with the notorious omnic and ending with the quote, “We have a war to start.” So it is possible that the new event will take place close to this, as this comic was the one that came out after “Uprising”.
As for the characters. The event will feature another 4-player co-op, with three returning characters from previous events, and one new one. The three returnees are Tracer, Mercy, and Genji. The new addition is Winston, filling in for the tank role. Though Tracer will be leading this fight, as the voice in the video describes that Tracer has grown since the Omnic uprising, and that she’s ready for this.
Speaking of mysterious voices, the voice in the video. They’re name is Sojourn, and they seem to know the Overwatch team well, being able to infiltrate Soldier 76’s login (or that what it seems to be). It’s never specified who they are and who they are in relation to Overwatch, just that they seem to be there to help, and believe that these four can take on Doomfist, or well, take on Maximilien. As they say, follow the money, and you’ll find the problem at hand.
So it leads to the final questions: Who is Sojourn and what role do they represent? And how big of a role will Maximilien represent?
Chase the truth in Overwatch: Storm Rising to hopefully get the answers. The event is set to come out on April 16 and run until May 6.