Recall

Recall
Season	1
Episode	1
Publisher	Blizzard Entertainment
Release date	March 21, 2016
Link	Youtube
Transcript	Transcript
Length	8:01
Next short	Alive

For Tracer's ability, see Tracer#Recall.

Recall is the first animated short for Overwatch. It features Winston and Reaper.

Description

"Imagination is the essence of discovery..."

Will Winston call back the agents of Overwatch when they're needed most?

Recall tells the story of Winston — a genetically engineered gorilla and brilliant scientist who longs for the days of heroism to return. We explore Winston’s thoughts and memories as he wrestles with the decision to recall the agents of Overwatch, all while the forces of Talon stage an attack on his laboratory in the abandoned Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

Featured Characters

• Winston
• Athena
• Talon operatives
  • Reaper
• Dr Harold Winston (flashback)
• Overwatch agents
  • Tracer (off-screen)
  • Ana (pictured)
  • Genji (pictured)
  • Kimiko (pictured)
  • McCree (pictured)
  • Mercy (pictured)
  • Mirembe (pictured)
  • Reinhardt (pictured)
  • Sojourn (pictured)
  • Torbjörn (pictured)
  • Wildebeest (pictured)

Featured Locations

• Watchpoint: Gibraltar
• Horizon Lunar Colony

Trivia

• Amongst the heroes seen recalled are a number of scrapped and unused concepts for Overwatch heroes, including a male hero with black hair and a blue visor named Helio, and a large red robot named Wildebeest, which was one of the early iterations of Reinhardt, as well as artwork of the Juggernaut class from the cancelled Project Titan.

• The respective timing of this short varies between sources. In the short itself, background lines indicate that it takes place shortly before Alive. In Tracer—London Calling Issue 4 however, the events of Recall take place days after Alive.

• The line "Never accept the world as appears to be. Dare to see it for what it could be" was created during a brainstorming session meant to evoke the game's theme of a future worth fighting for. The image of both of the Winstons and the quote are displayed at various locations on Blizzard's campus.

• The line was conceptualized before its execution. Chris Metzen suggested that Winston and Harold look at Earth rather than the stars. The image of the pair looking at Earth was designed to force the view to asker whether the pair are looking at Earth because it's ruined, and they're sad they're leaving it, or are they looking at Earth because they're protecting it, and the world is hopeful?

• Harold giving Winston his glasses was designed to be symbolic—the older generation handing the world off to the next one, saying "You can create whatever you want."
• The Short takes place in the attacker spawn on Watchpoint: Gibraltar.
• The short also features 2 heroes who debuted first before they became in game heroes: Ana and Sojourn.
  • Ana is the first release hero after Overwatch base game is released.
  • Sojourn is the second hero at Overwatch 2 announcement.
• This is the first time we see a defective Overwatch Item. (Shield Generator)
• The way Winston takes down Reaper is a reference to the Roll Highlight Intro.