New Overwatch Short To Debut At Gamescom

Overwatch's [official site] next short will premier next week at Gamescom. Titled "The Last Bastion", the short debuts on Thursday August 18 and tells the story of Overwatch's robotic hero. It begins with Bastion - who is like a sentient turret - reactivating after lying in wait for more than ten years. Blizzard writes, "Fascinated by its unfamiliar surroundings, the curious omnic begins to investigate, but quickly discovers its core combat programming may have a different directive...".

That's great if you like slick animation and (thus far) empty plotting, but there's rumours of new Overwatch announcements to come alongside. Reddit is speculating wildly about what the short's forest environment could mean for the game. Intrepid redditor Syndrel shared a post featuring datamined audio files, suggesting a line from Rinehardt might be hinting at a new map to come. Others suspect that we might be getting some more information about rumored hero Sombra, especially since previous shorts have hinted at the character.

That's all pure rumor and guesswork for now. We'll have to wait until next week for any official word. You'll be able to see the short broadcast live on Blizzard's Gamescom stage and via livestream on the 18th starting at 9 A.M. PT/5 P.M. BST, and probably YouTube right after.