Update: A new teaser video for Overwatch Uprising just went out, confirming that all the content from last year's event would be returning to the game. However, as we've seen recently, seasonal events returning for their second year not only bring back the previous year's content but also introduce a pile of new skins, cosmetics, and content. It's curious that this new trailer doesn't mention any new content—save for a quick tease at the very end. As the video finishes, it reads "Accessing Archives File 0382 ... Complete"—referring to the King's Row Uprising mission from last year. It then briefly flashes "Accessing Archives File 0274 ..." See for yourself:
From this slight hint, we can surmise that Archives File 0274 likely refers to a different mission—another pivotal moment in Overwatch's history, probably from before the Uprising mission, based on the Archive number—that this year's Uprising event will let us play through. Just as we predicted last year.
Original story: The Overwatch Uprising brawl will return on April 10, Blizzard announced today, taking players back to "a pivotal moment in Overwatch history" when the team fought against rampaging Omnics in the city of London.
The King's Row Uprising took place seven years before present-day Overwatch, when an extremist group of Omnics calling itself Null Sector launched an insurgency in an upscale neighborhood of London. Casualties and destruction ran high before the Overwatch team—prior to its dissolution—got involved. When it was finally over the whole thing was buried deep in Overwatch archives.
We opined shortly after it went live that Uprising was "the best case for an Overwatch campaign yet," because "it's a story that genuinely matters. ... We get to hear Soldier: 76 before he lost everything, and get reminded that Reaper was at one point not only a good guy, but a rank above Morrison. It puts into action and gameplay so much of the world-building that has only been passive until this point."
Alas, there's still no sign of that happening, but Blizzard said the event will reveal stories and secrets from the past, although whether there will be anything new to it, or just a rehash of what we learned last time around, isn't clear. Either way, the event will feature more than 100 Loot Box items, and a co-op brawl telling the tale of Tracer's first mission.
We'll let you know more when we know more. Until then, you can get a taste of what's coming in the King's Row Uprising Origin Story trailer below.
