The year is 2026 and LEGO Overwatch is a thing again
It’s 2026 and LEGO Overwatch has emerged from purgatory thanks to Fortnite – so what does this mean for the future of the LEGO Group’s partnership with Activision Blizzard?
Fortnite’s latest update introduces LEGO styles for multiple Overwatch character skins, including Mercy, Tracer, Genji and D.Va. This is the first time we’ve seen any sort of collaboration between the two brands since 2022, when the LEGO Group postponed the launch of 76980 Titan in the wake of a lawsuit served to Overwatch publisher Activision Blizzard.
The suit alleged (among other things) that management encouraged sexual misconduct against its female employees, which stopped the one and only LEGO set revealed for Overwatch 2 from ever hitting wide release. Images of 76980 Titan first popped up online in late 2021, following an initial wave of LEGO Overwatch sets based on the first game that arrived on shelves in 2019.
“We are currently reviewing our partnership with Activision Blizzard, given concerns about the progress being made to address continuing allegations regarding workplace culture, especially the treatment of female colleagues and creating a diverse and inclusive environment,” the LEGO Group said at the time.
“While we complete the review, we will pause the release of a LEGO Overwatch 2 product which was due to go on sale on February 1, 2022.”
That pause has effectively become indefinite, and while a handful of copies of 76980 Titan did find their way into the wild – unsurprisingly given how close it was to release – it feels unlikely that it’ll ever launch as planned four years later. The fact that the LEGO Group has signed off on Fortnite’s LEGO styles for its Overwatch skins at all, however, suggests that change may be in the air.
Activision Blizzard settled the lawsuit in December 2023 to the tune of $54m, the majority of which was placed in a fund to compensate workers affected by the company’s alleged breach of California’s Equal Pay Act and Fair Employment and Housing Act. No admission of widespread harassment within Activision Blizzard was ever made, though the company did settle a separate sexual harassment case for $18m in 2021.
Will we ever see more physical LEGO Overwatch sets, or other products based on Activision Blizzard’s gaming franchises (which include Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Call of Duty, Diablo and World of Warcraft)? The jury is still out, but the door feels slightly further open than it was this time last week.
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