Almost 40,000 Watch Overwatch Director Sit Motionless In Front Of A Christmas Fire, Then Mic Drop
Way back in 2015 (remember it?), Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman sat in front of a fireplace for a solid 45 minutes, sipping Lagavulin scotch. At the time, opinions differed on whether the pseudo advertisement was creative, effective, or just outright dull. It left a mark, regardless, and it seems Blizzard is more than happy to try to replicate that magic.
Out of nowhere, Blizzard's Overwatch Twitch stream started up yesterday, presenting a simple fireplace scene. Many began to wonder what was going on, but before long, the game's lead director, Jeff Kaplan, took a seat. You can see where this was going.
Sitting next to a plate of cookies, a bottle of milk, and an Overwatch mug, Kaplan sat still for a long time, with very little going on throughout. At one point, a boom mic came down from the ceiling and smacked him right in the face, knocking his glasses off. In another moment, he decides to open a gift.
As many were watching this scene of essentially nothing, the thoughts that ran through Overwatch fan minds must've been intense. "What could this stream be about?" "What is Blizzard about to announce?" Ultimately, it looked like it existed for no reason at all - except to perhaps to trick people into this gag and have a little fun in the holiday season.
Ultimately, the stream went on for at least eight hours, but some noted that some of the scenes loop very subtly, so it's clear that Kaplan didn't actually have to endure such a ridiculously single-take effort. That said, we wonder how many others endured the stream, hoping something significant would happen - only for it to end without much fanfare.
Will this stream make people run out and buy Overwatch as Offerman's did for Lugavulin scotch whiskey? It's hard to say, but hey - we're talking about it, and we're sure that was Blizzard's intent from the get-go.