Actually, Overwatch was supposed to be a completely different game, as Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan revealed at Blizzcon.
The team wanted to develop a multi-class MMO called Crossworlds. 50 classes were planned. The game’s scenario was supposed to place you at the “crossroads of the universe”.
After Blizzard had stopped working on the MMORPG Titan, Jeff Kaplan and his team were tasked with coming up with a new concept for an online game within six weeks. One of the concepts was an MMO called Crossworlds.
An MMO with 50 Classes
In Crossworlds, players were supposed to be in an outpost deep in space. This was referred to as the “crossroads of the universe” because all aliens were supposed to come together here. Originally, around six to nine classes were planned, but designer Geoff Goodman suggested that this number could indeed be increased to 50. Each class was supposed to be highly focused and possess its own set of abilities, which would have made each class very different from the others.
Jeff Kaplan initially thought it was impossible to create an MMO with 50 classes, but then he liked the idea. He created a presentation with artwork from Titan. A few classes were depicted, including a Reaper, a Guardian, and a Jumper. This should sound familiar to some. No wonder, as the concept was later transformed into Overwatch and some of the ideas were retained.
Blizzard Had More Ideas
However, Crossworlds was not the only idea for a new game that Blizzard wanted to develop after Titan. There were also thoughts about a spinoff to Starcraft focusing on the heroes of this universe. An artwork of this game shows a hero that bears a strong resemblance to McCree from Overwatch.
In the end, Blizzard decided to develop neither Crossworlds nor the Starcraft spinoff, but rather to focus on Overwatch. Given the success of the game, that was a pretty good decision.
