Bad news for romance fans in Overwatch. No love from the heroes can compare to their affection for the payload.
Once any franchise with a lot of colorful characters is in the hands of fans, it doesn’t take long for numerous stories to emerge. Fan fictions are a widespread phenomenon and creativity flows abundantly (or reaches some “peaks”) as fans create new pairings among the characters.
It’s called “Shipping” when fans assign romantic and sexual relationships to fictional characters. The first “Ships” in pop culture came from Star Trek: Some wished for a romantic relationship between Kirk and Spock. Later in The X-Files, some hoped for a Mulder/Scully thing.
Overwatch is very popular among shippers
Especially in Overwatch, the phenomenon of “Shipping” is widespread, and some players are eager for new information about the loves among the heroes. Who’s with whom? Since when? Why?
However, Blizzard is cautious with information on this. While there are some concrete details here and there – such as Tracer’s relationship with her girlfriend or the fact that Torbjörn has several children – generally, they prefer to hold back.
Heroes have no time for love, must escort payloads
In an interview with PCGamesN, Michael Chu, who is primarily responsible for the story of Overwatch, revealed the following:
“I think one thing that Shipping shows us is the fact that players have a connection to the characters and the world. It makes me happy that people have such strong feelings for the characters. Shipping – within the universe – isn’t the focus, though.”
The heroes are generally married to their work. They don’t have the time to be making out all the time; instead, they must focus on protecting the payload.
However, in the development of the characters, they won’t let themselves be influenced by fans, no matter which pairing they might want to see:
“We have determined the directions in which the characters will develop. To tell the story, we must do what feels right to us.”
He sees the stories of the fans as “their works” – they have taken a part of the game world and shaped something of their own, which is “really great”.
What do you think about fan fictions and the excitement around the heroes’ relationships? Just unnecessary “blah blah” for you, or something you’d like to learn more about?
