For the most part, Summer Game Fest 2021’s Kickoff Live event has remained surprisingly lowkey. That’s when halfway through Aaron Keller, Blizzard’s new director forOverwatch 2, walked out on the stage. Keller had a special reveal for excitedOverwatchfans, though nothing so substantial is the recent 5v5 PvP announcement. Instead, Keller shared a look at two ofOverwatch 2’s new designs for characters previously available inOverwatch.
The first character redesign reveal came for Baptiste.Baptiste wasOverwatch’s 30th characterintroduced to the team-based shooter, a support character with healing gunfire and an immortality field. Like with previous character redesign reveals, Blizzard has prioritized retaining Baptiste’s general design. However, they now have an impressive new level of detail. Baptiste’s new high-top fade is much cleaner, his armor more futuristic, and there’s much clearer evidence of him being a medic.
RELATED:Blizzard Explains How It’s Improving Overwatch 2’s Environments and Weather Effects
Blizzard’s second character redesign revealed at the Summer Game Fest Kickoff Live event isSombra. Keller says that Sombra’s look was especially difficult to update, since she has an asymmetrical design and many layers in her hair and gear. Sombra’s tights now have circuitry running up her legs, going up through her jacket and even into the shaved side of her head. The purples in her outfit also pop, with much finer detail and color gradients throughout each piece of gear.
Baptiste and Sombra join a growing list ofOverwatchcharacters who have had theirredesigns revealed forOverwatch 2. Other redesigns that have been revealed include Lucio, Mercy, Reinhardt, Winston, Tracer, Genji, Mei, Widow, Reaper, Pharah, McCree, and Torbjorn. Blizzard isn’t reinventing the wheel, however. These characters will retain the general shape of theirOverwatchmodel since Blizzard has previously said it’s planning to bring over cosmetics to the new game.
One important area that Blizzard has only begin to delve into so far is howOverwatch’s characters will be changing in terms of abilities. A shift to5v5 PvP, as well as other changes, means everyone inOverwatchcould change dramatically. No details have been shared regarding how Baptiste and Sombra will be changing yet. The fact that they’re not tanks could mean they won’t change too much, but Baptiste being a Support could lead to new offensive or self-sustaining talents.
It was just the two new character redesigns that Blizzard had to share at theSummer Game Fest Kickoff Live event. Still,Overwatch 2fans will appreciate any new information Blizzard is willing to share. Keller did say to expect more news regardingOverwatch 2later this year.
Overwatch 2is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
MORE:E3 2021 - Schedule, Where To Watch, Everything Announced, & More
