A listing for a new Overwatch novel briefly went live on the Amazon France marketplace, revealing that the next official Overwatch novel will be written by Lyndsay Ely and will feature Ashe and McCree back when they were working together as part of the Deadlock Gang.
Although the listing has since been taken down, a representative from Activision Blizzard told Polygon that the listing was accurate and that the novel is set for release in 2021.
“In the years after the Omnic Crisis, the American Southwest is ruled by vultures looking to profit off the chaos,” the leaked synopsis of the book reads. “The West is ripe for the taking, and Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe intends to write her name across it. When Ashe is arrested yet again on the morning of her high school graduation, her aloof, old-money parents decide to disinherit her from the family fortune. To steal back what’s rightfully hers, Ashe teams up with her omnic butler, B.O.B., and local ruffian Jesse McCree for a series of heists, catapulting the trio into a game of fast money and dangerous alliances. Along the way, Ashe discovers that family isn’t just about blood. It’s about the people who’ve got your back when your back’s against the wall.”
While McCree is one of the original members of the Overwatch cast, Ashe is a newer addition to the team. She was announced at BlizzCon in 2018 with an introductory short that depicted her as the head of the deadlock gang, waylaying McCree years after he left the criminal enterprise to join Overwatch. That film also introduced Echo for the first time.
The new novel will be the follow up to the first official Overwatch novel, The Hero of Numbani, which was written by Nicky Drayden and released in 2020. The Hero of Numbani explored the backstory behind Orisa and her creator, Edi Oldadele.
Blizzard has also published a number of different comic books that detail the backstories of various characters in the Overwatch world. Most recently, Blizzard started publishing a new comic book series dedicated to Tracer and created by artists Babs Tarr and Mariko Tamaki. The first issue of the new comic series is entitled London Calling and is available to read for free right now.
Fans should expect to learn more information about the next Overwatch novel as its expected release date draws closer.
