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 for Overwatch 2, walked out on the stage. Keller had a special reveal for excited Overwatch fans, though nothing so substantial is the recent 5v5 PvP announcement. Instead, Keller shared a look at two of Overwatch 2's new designs for characters previously available in Overwatch.
The first character redesign reveal came for Baptiste. Baptiste was Overwatch's 30th character introduced 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.
Blizzard's second character redesign revealed at the Summer Game Fest Kickoff Live event is Sombra. 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 of Overwatch characters who have had their redesigns revealed for Overwatch 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 their Overwatch model 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 how Overwatch's characters will be changing in terms of abilities. A shift to 5v5 PvP, as well as other changes, means everyone in Overwatch could 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 the Summer Game Fest Kickoff Live event. Still, Overwatch 2 fans will appreciate any new information Blizzard is willing to share. Keller did say to expect more news regarding Overwatch 2 later this year.
Overwatch 2 is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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