Official Overwatch Novel to Release Soon

The first official Overwatch novel, The Hero of Numbani, appears to be set to release next week on June 2nd. When it was first revealed last year, the expected release was May, but it seems like that has since slipped. Given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and everything, it is certainly not the only release or event to shift or cancel. Blizzard Entertainment even formally announced this week that it was cancelling BlizzCon 2020. The novel from author Nicky Drayden (The Prey of Gods) stars inventor Efi Oladele as well as several characters that Overwatch players should be familiar with like Orisa and Doomfist.

In terms of actual content, The Hero of Numbani looks like it follows Oladele as she creates Orisa, the robotic guardian of the African city of Numbani, to protect the people from the machinations of the villainous Doomfist. As expected, the store listing notes that this is an all-new, original story from the Overwatch game team and Drayden.

Here is the novel's cover:

The Hero of Numbani is available to pre-order right here for $9.99 as a paperback or $5.99 for Kindle. Overwatch is currently available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Overwatch 2, the upcoming sequel, does not yet have an exact release you. You can check out all of our previous coverage of Overwatch right here.

Here is the full official description of the upcoming book:

"In the technologically advanced African city of Numbani, in the not-so-distant future, humans live in harmony with humanoid robots known as omnics. But when a terrorist tries to shatter that unity, a hero named Efi Oladele rises!

"Efi has been making robots since she was little -- machines to better her community and improve people's lives. But after she witnesses Doomfist's catastrophic attack on the city's OR15 security bots, Efi feels the call to build something greater: a true guardian of Numbani.

"While Doomfist sows discord between humans and omnics, Efi engineers an intelligent and compassionate robot, Orisa, named after the powerful spirits who guide her people. Orisa has a lot to learn before she's ready to defeat Doomfist, but Efi has some learning to do, too, especially when it comes to building -- and being -- a hero. With Doomfist rallying his forces, and the military powerless to stop him, can Efi mold Orisa into the hero of Numbani before it's too late?"

Are you interested in picking up the first official Overwatch novel? What other novels would you like to see about the franchise? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

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