Blizzard pumps the breaks on eating Marvel Rivals' lunch with attractive Overwatch 2 heroes, says the team still "loves oddballs" like Bastion and Winston

Wuyang smiles at the camera and poses in a screenshot from Overwatch 2.
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Overwatch 2's newest hero is Wuyang, a science-based water bender who looks like the most aggressive support character the evergreen shooter has seen in years. He's also pretty hot, continuing a recent Overwatch trend that's seen conventionally attractive skin-sellers like Juno and Kiriko and Lifeweaver come to the game back-to-back, though the team's apparently still committed to the oddballs, too.

Lead hero designer Alec Dawson responded to some online misreporting in a new livestream, explaining that the "roster is comprised of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities." The latter isn't going anywhere, either. "Heroes like Winston and Bastion are really important to our universe. They're what makes Overwatch Overwatch. They're the special sauce that makes our universe unique."

Wuyang | New Hero Gameplay Trailer | Overwatch 2 - YouTube Wuyang | New Hero Gameplay Trailer | Overwatch 2 - YouTube
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Dawson also teased that there's at least one "oddity" in development. "We're not gonna be talking about that today, but stay tuned in the coming months, and I cannot wait to talk about some of those heroes coming up," he added.

"Y'all I promise you the team loves oddballs and oddities," senior designer Dylan Snyder chimed in via a tweet. "Trust."

In another recent group interview with press, esports.gg reports that lead character designer Daryl Tan also sounded similarly excited about adding more characters made with the same sauce as the robo monk or the genius hamster who pilots a rolling, weaponized ball.

"In terms of maybe doing more - I'm going to personally describe this like maybe oddball characters like Wrecking Ball - we do still want to tackle these heroes for sure, and we'll sprinkle them in," Tan promised. "I can't say too much more about that, but I think there's exciting stuff coming down the road."

Hero producer Kenny Hudson simply explained that adding in more off-the-wall heroes with unconventional silhouettes, like Ramattra, is hard because "how do you translate those kinds of rigs and models to interact with the abilities and the way that you're trying to portray them? And yeah, it's something that we're working on."

So, there we have it - freaks do still have a place in the freaky universe, even if Kiriko and Mercy and the like soak up most of the cosmetics in the game.

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Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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