Blizzard yields, new Overwatch hero Anran will be redesigned after players complained about everyone looking like Kiriko: "We agree she can be even better"

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The devs are working on making her more distinct

Anran in Overwatch 2
(Image credit: Blizzard)

There are big changes happening in Overwatch 2 – now simply known as Overwatch – with numerous new heroes joining the roster and the start of a new, multi-season narrative arc. One of the fresh additions, Anran, is being taken back to the drawing board by Blizzard, following a wave of criticism from fans.

Anran was originally shown off as part of a trailer for her younger brother, Wuyang, in August 2025. Between then and now, she's been altered, players believing she bears a strong resemblance to Kiriko, while her voice actor, the streamer Fareeha Anderson, states this Anran design leans into retrograde archetypes.

"There was an unspoken promise that said, 'We're going to challenge the beauty standards plaguing [and] ransacking media these days,' the Ozempic chic, the ‘contour your nose, you have no nose, the tiniest nose,'" Anderson says in a video posted to Twitter. "And I think because of that precedent people feel understandably let down."

Blizzard agrees, and game director Aaron Keller reveals Anran's getting another look from the team in a video of his own. "The team is currently discussing what it will take to make Anran look and feel more like the fierce older sister that we all envisioned her to be," he says.

"We're so proud of the work that our team has put into Anran and the rest of the five heroes launching in Season 1," Keller continues, "and we agree that she can be even better if we get this aspect of her right in-game."

The hope is to roll out the refreshed Anran in Season 1, but he doesn't have a timeline at the moment. "Our hero models are incredibly complicated and we really need to test out what we can do," he adds.

He goes on to champion the vision for Overwatch Season 1, and how it exemplifies the "dedication and tireless work" the developers put into the decade-old FPS. Anran's actor champions the response. "I love this game," they exclaim on Twitter. "Thank you devs for listening! Thank you Overwatch community for speaking up!"

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Anthony McGlynn
Anthony McGlynn
Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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