Overwatch: What is Blackwatch?
Overwatch is Blizzard's hallmark shooter. Despite being character-driven, the game actually contains very little in-game lore.
Instead, the universe of Overwatch is explored through external forms of media such as animated shorts and comics.
As a result, there is a whole plethora of fans and players out there who may not know about various parts of the expansive universe, despite having heard the name.
Blackwatch is an example of this. There are Blackwatch skins in the game, so players may be left wondering just what exactly Blackwatch is.
Blackwatch was effectively the covert ops section of Overwatch. It was the dark underbelly to the proud hero organization.
While Overwatch was a proud, public organization, Blackwatch remained in the shadows and carried out some of Overwatch's necessary shady activities.
These activities included the likes of torture, assassination, as well as other morally ambiguous activities.
As the Overwatch organization fell in popularity, Blackwatch was banned from certain countries. Despite this, undercover Blackwatch agents were still sent to these regions on recon missions.
Where Soldier 76 was in command of the Overwatch group, Blackwatch remained under the command of Reaper from the group's inception until it's eventual destruction.
Blackwatch had many operatives, however many of them remain shrouded in darkness. Who we do know were members, however, are McCree and Genji.
Upon giving a choice to join up or spend life in prison, McCree joined the organization. Genji served the group in exchange for them saving his life after his bitter duel with brother Hanzo.
Eventually, Blackwatch would end up being Overwatch's undoing. After some time the existence, and subsequent exploits, of the group became known to the public and governments. This got the two organizations banned from certain countries and culminated in the United Nations voting to disband the organization.
The tension was naturally growing between the two. This tension came to a head when the leaders of the two organizations, the then Reyes and Morrison, clashed in an explosive firefight, which left most believing they were dead before they reemerged as Soldier 76 and Reaper.
After this, Reaper joined the terrorist organization Talon, in order to continue his nefarious activities. Under this group, he would spearhead various operations, such as trying to steal Doomfist's gauntlet, an attempted assassination on the CEO of Volsakya Industries, and the theft of Winston's list of Overwatch agents.
Despite his role, Reaper does not hold a position of power in Talon. Instead, he merely acts as a contractor for the group alongside Widowmaker and Sombra.
So that's the Blackwatch story so far. Overwatch 2 is around the corner, so one has to hope that Blizzard continues to expand on the lore of the game as time continues.
Of course, they are still actively releasing alternative media for the world, comics, animations, and the like. Maybe one day, we can get a Blackwatch series.