some character highlights from Michael Chu’s panel @ GDC 2017

I got to go to the GDC panel today where Michael Chu discussed building the optimistic future of Overwatch. Most of it was on how the project was designed from the ground up, but there were a few interesting character comments as well.

Note: He said at the start of the talk that any date or timeline stuff he discussed at this panel might be incorrect so don’t consider any of that in stone if it comes up later. Also some pictures are my own from the panel, others are references pulled from stuff we already have.

If any of this info has been in other interviews or posts, my bad. I’ve just posted this because I didn’t see it elsewhere.

–

His elaboration on the last bullet point was that character lines and interactions in the game should be seen like a person playing with a set of action figures, that these are all things that characters could do and say, but the actual story and plot is all external. If the dynamics in-game are the action figures, the comics/animations/etc. outside it are the actual show that these action figures are inspired by.

Chu said that the intent was always for Pharah’s parents to be a soldier and “a public servant of another type”. Ana is the soldier.



Mercy is visiting the Overwatch base here while she is at university. McCree was also confirmed to be newly recruited into Blackwatch here.

Mei’s first concept was a futuristic bounty hunter where she froze the targets she intended to capture. If that sounds Boba Fett-esque, Chu made that exact joke during the panel.

He discussed how they always intended to reveal Tracer’s sexuality, but were waiting for the right time to put in the canon (read: the comics) in order for the moment to seem seamless. When the holiday comic idea came up, the idea for her to rush a gift to Emily became the solution for that. Chu also said that Tracer is meant to represent the best parts of Overwatch’s optimistic and heroic hopes.

Orisa’s initial personality was described as, “Robocop meets GLaDOs”.

These notes were given on both the character and world diversity. Chu said that diversity actually makes a creator’s job easier because it encourages rounded, distinct, and representative characters in a cast. He also admitted that they have certainly made mistakes – both with representation and with lore – and that they have to learn from these snafus in the future.

–

Overall it was a super-cool panel, and seeing the bright intent behind Overwatch examined and illustrated made for a really fun time.