"Master Chief, mind telling me what you're doing in Overwatch?": Halo veterans find a home in Blizzard's new DPS hero, prompting fans to call for an official crossover

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Emre 117 is making quite the impression

New Overwatch hero Emre
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Part of Overwatch's enduring popularity lies in how it feels like you're playing a totally different shooter depending on which hero you choose. Soldier 76 is the straightforward FPS guy, for instance. Widowmaker is the traditional sniper. Lucio arguably has some parkouring Titanfall DNA. And in a big-brained move to appease 30-year-olds everywhere, one of Blizzard's newest heroes can be neatly summed up as the Halo guy.

Joining the roster as part of Overwatch 2's rebrand back into Overwatch, DPS hero Emre should be more than familiar to people who cut their teeth on classic Halo games. He has a three-round burst rifle that's an effective headshot popper at any range, two bouncing grenades that you can customize into sticky bombs, plus a temporary transformation that gives him a fast-firing pistol and a floaty jump. Not to mention the AI 'companion' attached to him - it's almost like Master Chief's in the room.

Countless online posts noticed the similarities, too, with some mentioning that Emre feels like home for veterans of Xbox's sci-fi franchise. "Very nice of them to add Halo guy to Overwatch," one fan says. "Hero Emre or should I call you by your real name, John-117 aka Master Chief," another writes.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who went 'this guy is Halo' when he has the pistol out, immediately reminded me of Halo. If Soldier is Call of Duty man, Emre is Halo man," a third fan says.

Master Chief, mind telling me what you're doing in Overwatch? from r/Overwatch

Some even took the opportunity to call for an official Halo crossover in the game, which seems likelier than ever with Emre's introduction and the fact that Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. Emre would or, at least, should put on Master Chief's iconic green armor, but fans had ideas for Halo's extended cast as well.

"I could see D.Va as a hunter or promethean [and] one of the support girlies as Cortana," one theorized. "As long as Torb gets a Grunt skin, I'll be happy." Another popular fancast imagined Reinhardt as one of Halo's bulky, hammer-wielding brutes, and I imagine that would make for another sick skin.

Overwatch more frequently crosses over with pop culture forces outside of gaming, like the current Hello Kitty collab or the event featuring K-pop group Le Sserafim, but it's no stranger to inviting gaming superstars into the fray, as it's done in the past with Persona 5 and Street Fighter. Heck, other Blizzard IP such as Diablo and World of Warcraft have also been represented - why not stuff from the wider Microsoft canon too?

"The mood all week" - After a year of Marvel Rivals taking its lunch, Blizzard is just happy you're playing Overwatch again

Kaan Serin
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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