That Overwatch mobile game is real, and it's yet another win for Blizzard's hero shooter

It's safe to say that Overwatch is on a bit of a roll at the moment. Having ditched the '2' from the name (I always found it to be a painful reminder of the PvE content we never got), Blizzard's seminal FPS game has shot back up the Steam charts, rising from around 37k concurrent players to a new peak of 165,651. Hundreds of thousands of fans are flocking back to the fray every day, and they're liking what they see. With the team confirming that it's planning to drop a new hero per season, while simultaneously reworking or adding new maps, the game's future feels bright again: and things have just gotten even better. After plenty of speculation about the existence of an Overwatch mobile game, it's finally happening - Blizzard has just revealed Overwatch Rush.

Not content with revamping Overwatch, Blizzard has recreated its iconic FPS as a top-down mobile game. Plenty of other big multiplayer juggernauts have tried coming to mobile, with mixed results. Digital Extremes' foray into phone gaming with Warframe appears to have been successful, but we've seen industry giants like Apex Legends and Dead by Daylight struggle to stick the landing, so I've got my fingers crossed for Blizzard on this one.

Overwatch Rush, however, is not just a port of the gameplay you know and love. With its top-down perspective that gives it more of a MOBA flavor, it may actually be interesting and individual enough for PC and console Overwatch players to jump across and give it a try.

There's no word on the full lineup of game modes yet, but the reveal trailer (which is described as an "early development gameplay preview" by Blizzard) does show a few minutes of Control.

In terms of which Overwatch characters will feature, there's again no confirmation as to whether the full roster will be recreated in Rush, but we do see plenty of fan favorites in the trailer. The likes of Mercy, Reinhardt, Tracer, and Lucio can all be spotted in the footage.

Clearly anticipating some backlash from Overwatch players who feel Rush will be a distraction, Blizzard has quickly eased those potential concerns. "Overwatch Rush is being developed by a dedicated team at Blizzard, separate from Team 4, all of whom have deep mobile experience," an announce post reads. "Team 4 remains fully focused on Overwatch, which will continue to bring exciting and fresh new experiences for PC and console players in its recently launched Season 1 and beyond!"

There's currently no release window or date for Overwatch Rush, but Blizzard says it's preparing for playtesting in select regions. It invites those interested in the game to join its new Discord server.

As someone who has rediscovered her love for Overwatch, this is genuinely really exciting. Maybe I'll now have to learn how to land top-down Widowmaker trickshots using a touchpad (I can barely do it with a mouse and keyboard, so wish me luck), and I'm intrigued to see how Rush is eventually received. In the meantime, though, I'll keep racking up those hours in actual Overwatch's competitive mode: maybe one day I'll make it back to the top.