Blizzard has trademarked two new computer software names: "Eye of Azshara" and "Overwatch." What do these mean?
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UPDATE:Overwatch is a new scifi team-based multiplayer shooter with Pixar-like animations. It is Blizzard's first new IP in 17 years. You can read more here.
Original Story: With BlizzCon speculation already running high, Blizzard game fans now have another fun tidbit to speculate about. Yesterday, fans and news outlets reported that Blizzard had filed a trademark for two new PC game names: “Eye of Azshara" and "Overwatch."
"Overwatch" was trademarked back in April. Rumor has it that it might be a shooter...The name seems to fit the genre. Is it time for a completely new Blizzard game? Maybe!
It seems like risky business, since shooters (like MOBAs) have a pretty much set hierarchy. If your game's title doesn't start with Call of Duty or Halo, how much of chance do you really have? Just ask Heroes of the Storm, which hasn't really been able to step out of of League of Legends and Dota 2's shadows. Of course, were always open to new ideas and shouldn't count Blizzard out if a shooter is what they want to do next. Note that this could mean that Activision Blizzard would have THREE big name shooters under their belt: Call of Duty, Destiny, and "Overwatch." Yikes!
Not much else on this, and it seems crazy to speculate on what a Blizzard FPS might look like.
But let's take a closer look at the other trademark that showed up yesterday:
While we don’t know for sure what this name "Eye of Azshara" could mean just yet, most of the rumors around the net are pointing toward it being the name of the next Hearthstone digital expansion/pack. This bit of speculation seems to make sense on a surface level, especially since we already know that Blizzard is indeed working on a new expansion pack for Hearthstone and will likely announce it during this year's BlizzCon.
Blizzard doesn’t shy away from creating a little hype among the community, so a trademark filed just days before BlizzCon? Likely not a coincidence. There’s also the fact that with the name Azshara, we know that it has to do something with Warcraft lore, which fits with the possibility of either Hearthstone or World of Warcraft expansions, or an expansion of the original Warcraft RTS franchise.
There’s one issue, however. Thanks to recent hints and images that have found their way to the Hearthstone community, the content of Hearthstone’s next expansion seems to be focusing on mechanical creatures and engineering—i.e., creations of Gnomes and Goblins. “Eye of Azshara” hints at content involving Naga and other sea creatures. The two theories don’t seem to make sense when examined together.
So, what else could Blizzard have up their sleeves here? The next World of Warcraftexpansion? That’s a definite possibility, and it even seems to fit from a lore point of view since Queen Azshara is still alive and due for an appearance. We could even see a tie-in with the Maelstrom which would make perfect sense given the name of the trademark. And there could be murlocs. Lots of murlocs.
There’s also the fact that one of WoW’s original dungeons (the watery, Naga-filled one, none the less!), Blackfathom Deeps, was revamped of sorts with a new background voice added in that seems, well, fairly foreboding. It speaks of a revival of an old god. Is this a huge hint that someone—Queen Azshara, perhaps—could find a way to revive N'Zoth? The hints for Warlords of Draenor started with a revamp of Ragefire Chasm, Orgrimmar’s 5-man dungeon, remember. Oh, the speculation. It abounds.
The other possibility is Warcraft 4. I’ve already speculated a bit regarding seeing an uprising of the original Warcraft series with the movie hype due to begin soon, but Warcraft 4instead of a remake of Warcraft 3? I’d totally be down for that.
Whatever Blizzard has in store for fans, we’ll most likely find out Friday. We’ll be covering all things BlizzCon, so stay tuned!
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