This is a timeline for the events within the world of Overwatch, working backwards from the game's present day.
When Overwatch Takes Place
Overwatch takes place roughly sixty years in the future, likely somewhere around the year 2075.[1][2] Team 4 wanted a setting that would be far enough in the future to allow futuristic technology, but near enough that it would still have recognizable landmarks and cities, allowing players to connect to the world.[2]
The Omnic Crisis was one of the greatest threats to humanity's survival since the Cold War of the 20th century.[3]
Timeline
Before Overwatch
61 years ago:
- Reinhardt Wilhelm is born.[story 1]
60 years ago:
57 years ago:
- Torbjörn Lindholm is born.[story 3]
More than 50 years ago:
- Gabriel Reyes is born.[3] why?
Between ~57 to 49 years ago:
- Jack Morrison is born.[note 1]
48 years ago:
- Mako "Roadhog" Rutledge is born.[story 4]
Between 40 to 39 years ago:
- Mei-Ling Zhou is born.[story 5][4][5] why?
38 years ago:
- Hanzo Shimada is born.[story 6]
37 years ago:
- Jesse McCree is born.[story 7]
- Angela "Mercy" Ziegler is born.[story 8]
35 years ago:
- Genji Shimada is born.[story 9]
The Omnic Crisis
Between 34 and 31 years ago:
- The Omnic Crisis began. [citation needed]
Between 34 and 31 years ago:
33 years ago:
- Amélie "Widowmaker" Lacroix is born.[story 10] (Maiden name unknown, if different.)
32 years ago:
- Fareeha "Pharah" Amari is born.[story 11]
30 years ago:
- Bastion is made.[story 12]
- ░░░░░░ is born.[story 13]
Between 30 to 25 years ago:
- Sombra's parents are killed.[story 13]
- Omnic Crisis ends.[story 12][note 2]
- Overwatch makes global stability their mission over the next 20+ years.[note 2]
After the Omnic Crisis
29 years ago:
- Winston is born.[story 14]
28 years ago:
- Satya "Symmetra" Vaswani is born.[story 15]
- Aleksandra Zaryanova is born.[story 16]
26 years ago:
- Lúcio Correia dos Santos is born.[story 17]
- Lena "Tracer" Oxton is born.[story 18][6]
25 years ago:
- Jamison "Junkrat" Fawkes is born.[story 19]
Between 23 and 19 years ago:
- Sombra is taken in by Los Muertos.[7] why?
20 or more years ago:
- "The Reaper" starts appearing.[story 20]
20 years ago:
- Tekhartha Zenyatta is either made or gets consciousness.[story 21] (Don't know how omnics work.)
- South Korea is attacked by omnic monstrosity from the sea.[story 22]
- This photo is taken.[8]
Less than 20 years ago:
- Mercy joins Overwatch.[6]
19 years ago:
- Hana "D.Va" Song is born.[story 22]
Less than 16 years ago:
- A polar storm hits Ecopoint: Antarctica and Mei and her team are forced into cryostasis.[5]
Less than 10 years ago:
Between 10 to 5 years ago:
- Allegations against Overwatch are made.[3]
Between 10 to 5 years ago:
- Blackwatch revealed to the public.[10] (Possibly 10 to 6? "In the final years of Overwatch's existence, a top secret division called "Blackwatch" was revealed.")
6 years ago:
- Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes are caught in the explosion at the Switzerland Overwatch headquarters, presumed dead.[3]
Between 6 and 5 years ago:
- Overwatch is shut down.[10]
Post-Overwatch
Less than 6 years ago:
- Mei is discovered in cryostasis.
- Mei saves a nest of endangered arctic wildlife.[10]
- Lúcio leads an uprising that drives Vishkar Corporation out of the Rio de Janeiro favelas.[10] Vishkar has not developed anywhere since.[11]
3 years ago:
1 or less years ago:
Current Day
The following sections are not necessarily in chronological order. Lists within sections are chronological to the best of the editors' knowledge.
Soldier: 76's attacks:
- Soldier: 76 makes his first attack on a former Overwatch base, and attacks at least one other base within a week.[13]
- A Monday at 4am: Soldier: 76 steals a heavy pulse rifle from Watchpoint: Grand Mesa, roughly a week after his first attack.[13]
- (not chronological) Soldier: 76 attacks former Overwatch base in Colorado and breaks into an Overwatch armory.[3] Soldier: 76's last attack before being sighted in Dorado was in the USA.[14]
- Soldier: 76 is sighted in Dorado, likely around the time of Hero.[14]
- LumériCo finishes its nuclear plant located in Dorado.[14]
Volskaya Industries:
- Before November 2:[15] Volskaya Industries is breached and an assassination attempt is made on Katya Volskaya by Widowmaker.[16]
- At some point afterward, Zarya meets with Katya Volskaya.[16]
LumériCo scandal:
- LumériCo plans to begin service in Dorado on November 1 and host an event to commemorate the completion of their network across Mexico.[17]
- Roughly October 19 (or earlier):[15] Sombra leaks documents about LumériCo's CEO, Guillermo Portero. A protest is organized for November 1.[11] why?
- November 1: LumériCo's grand opening of its Dorado plant is met with unprecedented protests and widespread civil unrest.[15]
- November 2: Guillermo Portero temporarily steps down as CEO of LumériCo.[15]
Day that Overwatch is recalled:
- Winston films Are You With Us?.
After Overwatch's Reformation:
Notes
- ↑ Morrison's age:
Morrison joined the army when he was eighteen years old, and before long was put in the soldier enhancement program. Shortly after that, the Omnic Crisis started. Morrison was one of the founding members of Overwatch over thirty years ago. Thus, Morrison must be at bare minimum 49 (18 + time between joining and Crisis starting + time between Crisis starting and formation of Overwatch + 31).
Sources:- "At eighteen, Morrison packed his bags and joined the military. [...] Before long, he earned a coveted position in the government's controversial and still-classified (but widely acknowledged) "soldier enhancement program." [...] Morrison and his fellow augmented soldiers would soon put their abilities to use with the advent of the Omnic Crisis." Fading Glory: On the Trail of Jack Morrison
- "Over thirty years ago, Overwatch was founded to counter the threat of the robot uprisings around the world." Reinhardt's story
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Global stability and the end of the Omnic Crisis:
Bastion participated in the Omnic Crisis, meaning it have ended sometime after Bastion's manufacturing 30 years ago. After the Omnic Crisis came to an end, Overwatch made global stability their mission for "decades" -- which must have started at least 25 years ago, when accounting for Overwatch's shutdown.
Sources:- "One unique Bastion unit, severely damaged in the final battles of the war[...]" Bastion's story
- "For decades, as Overwatch grew, they made global stability their mission." Overwatch is Back: Uncertainty and Hope After UN Confirms Vigilante Activity
- "In the final years of Overwatch's existence, a top secret division called "Blackwatch" was revealed." Overwatch is Back: Uncertainty and Hope After UN Confirms Vigilante Activity
- "When [Jack Morrison] died under mysterious circumstances six years ago[...]" Fading Glory: On the Trail of Jack Morrison
- "I led Overwatch for twenty years." Soldier: 76 Origin Story
- "One unique Bastion unit, severely damaged in the final battles of the war[...]" Bastion's story
References
General References:
- ↑ 2016-08-17, "The game takes place around 60 years in the future. The Omnic Crisis was about 25 years before that. (Give or take a few years.)" Michael Chu, Overwatch Forums.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2014-10-07, BlizzCon 2014 - Overwatch Unveiled Panel, Youtube.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 2015-07-06, Fading Glory: On the Trail of Jack Morrison, Olympia Shaw from Atlas News, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ "Mei's age on the website (31) is her apparent/biological age, not chronological. It does not include the amount of time she spent in cryostasis." Michael Chu, Overwatch Forums.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 2016-11-07, "Bundle up for a journey to Ecopoint: Antarctica, the former Overwatch installation where climatologist Mei-Ling Zhou was once stationed. While researching severe weather anomalies in the region, the station was hit by an intense polar storm. Running out of options and low on supplies, the team decided to cryogenically freeze themselves until the storm passed. They believed that it would only be for a few months, but Mei awoke nearly a decade later." Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 2016-08-17, Confirmation that Mercy and Tracer age, and that Mercy was not an Overwatch member when she was 17, Michael Chu, Overwatch Forums.
- ↑ 2016-11-04, Sombra Origin Story, Youtube.
- ↑ "The photo was taken 20 years from when the game takes place", Tumblr.
- ↑ Ana: Legacy, comic.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 2016-05-27, Overwatch is Back: Uncertainty and Hope After UN Confirms Vigilante Activity, Olympia Shaw from Atlas News, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 LumériCo Revelations: CEO Guillermo Portero Under Fire, Atlas News, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 D.Va’s Starcraft player profile, Battle.net.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Experimental Weapon Stolen from Watchpoint: Grand Mesa, Atlas News, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 2016-05-18, LumériCo Vision for Mexico Unveiled, but Threats to Safety and Security Remain, Atlas News, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 2016-11-03, LUMÉRICO CEO STEPS DOWN, Atlas News, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Infiltration, animated short.
- ↑ LumériCo News, lumerico.mx.
- ↑ Recall, animated short.
- ↑ Alive, animated short.
- ↑ Dragons, animated short.
Character Biography Pages:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Reinhardt's story
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ana's story
- ↑ Torbjörn's story
- ↑ Roadhog's story
- ↑ Mei's story
- ↑ Hanzo's story
- ↑ McCree's story
- ↑ Mercy's story
- ↑ Genji's story
- ↑ Widowmaker's story
- ↑ Pharah's story
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Bastion's story
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Sombra's story
- ↑ Winston's story
- ↑ Symmetra's story
- ↑ Zarya's story
- ↑ Lúcio's story
- ↑ Tracer's story
- ↑ Junkrat's story
- ↑ Reaper's story
- ↑ Zenyatta's story
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 D.Va's story