Games developer and publisher Blizzard has revealed a sequel to its hit 2016 team shooter Overwatch.

At its annual Blizzcon event, the games firm announced Overwatch 2, which appears to be more expansion and fully-fledged sequel, with users able to carry over all skins, items and progress to the new release.

This new iteration also introduces co-op PvE missions against Ai combatants, with new story missions and hero missions fleshing out Overwatch's historically PvP-centric gameplay.

Furthermore, Blizzard has announced that more than 50m people have played Overwatch since its release in 2016.

Overwatch 2's reveal follows news of the game's existence leaking ahead of Blizzcon. 

“With Overwatch 2, we’re building the cooperative, narrative-driven game experience that players have been asking for since the original—and that we’ve wanted to make for a long time,” Blizzard president J. Allen Brack said.

"We’re looking forward to telling the next chapter of this epic story in-game, and we’re excited to give players a whole new kind of co-op experience built around progressing and customising their favourite heroes—all while providing even more of everything they love about Overwatch today.”

Here is the announcement trailer from Blizzcon: