Here is what the Overwatch 2 team had to say about “oddball” heroes. We also go over the game’s hero design philosophy.
In a livestream, the Overwatch 2 team just addressed a concern about the game's design philosophy. The concern stemmed from a false report claiming that the team is moving away from "oddball" heroes such as Wrecking Ball and Ramattra.
Overwatch 2 to get new oddball hero
In the livestream, associate game director Alec Dawson stated that Overwatch 2's roster has lots of characters, including Winston and Bastion, who are key to the game's identity. He also revealed that an "oddity" hero is in development and folks can look forward to more information in the future. The clip from the livesteam can be watched below as well, courtesy of ZenofyMedia on X.
"So the Overwatch roster is comprised of soldiers, scientists, adventures, and oddities," Dawson said during the livestream. "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. And while looking at the heroes currently in development, there is an oddity. 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."
Dylan Snyder, the game's senior designer for Stadium, also commented on the matter. On X, he assured fans that the Overwatch 2 team has a genuine love for oddballs and oddities.
"Y'all I promise you the team loves oddballs and oddities," he wrote. "Trust."
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Addressing Overwatch 2's oddballs and attractive characters
During a group interview, a publication asked if Overwatch 2 had shifted toward creating more conventionally attractive human heroes instead of characters like Wrecking Ball, Winston, and Ramattra. In response, the Overwatch 2 team did not say they're moving away from these types of characters. Reports suggesting otherwise are false.
The Overwatch 2 team said that heroes are always designed to be aspirational and oddball characters are still part of their plans. They added that these heroes can be more challenging to develop due to their rigs and models. However, exciting ones are in the works. This lines up with Dawson's statement in today's livestream.
"In terms of how we always want to sell our Overwatch heroes and how we want to push them forward, they're always aspirational in some sense, right? So that's how we always will approach making Overwatch heroes," lead character designer Daryl Tan said in the group interview. "So they're aspirational in their physique, in their expertise at what they do, and just being really cool heroes that we can look up to. So that's how we're always approaching that."
He continued, "And 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. I can't say too much more about that, but I think there's exciting stuff coming down the road."
Hero producer Kenny Hudson added to this, explaining that hero development in Overwatch 2 can start from the narrative, art, or gameplay design side of things. Heroes like Ramattra and Wrecking Ball have unique challenges because of their complex rigs and models, but the team continues to work on such characters regardless.
"Sometimes, we'll start from the narrative side. Sometimes we'll start from the art side. A lot of times, we'll start from the kit side," Hudson said. "And one of the challenges with heroes like Ramattra and Wrecking Ball [is] 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."
What is Overwatch 2's hero design philosophy?
In a past interview with esports.gg, Dawson said that the core goal for every Overwatch 2 hero is to make them feel like the main character of their own game. Each hero is also designed with a mastery curve to keep players engaged for hundreds of hours. For more context, this interview was conducted at DreamHack Stockholm during the weekend of Hazard's playtest.
Esports.gg: "We know that from Ramattra to Lifeweaver to now Hazard, the Overwatch team has been involved in designing these iconic heroes and their fantasies. What would you say has been your guiding principle in creating heroes that resonate with players and make them say, 'I want to play them'?"
Dawson: "The main guiding thing we always talk about, whether it be the characters' looks or abilities, is they are the main character in their own video game. That's how we treat our heroes. So any individual hero we make, it's something that you can just play forever, right? It's somebody can play hundreds and hundreds of hours on and there's a ton of mastery curve there that you can keep learning, keep learning, until you really lock it down. Because that's what we always try for. Basically, characters of their own video game even though they're in the roster of Overwatch."
Hudson also shared his thoughts, stating that the guiding principle is about constant learning.
Hudson: "For me, it's kind of hard to just nail down just one. Like every hero that we make, we take lessons learned, good or bad, and apply them to the next hero. And because of the way that we stack our heroes, we always start one before we finish with the class a little bit. It's really easy to integrate that in those lessons in real time into the next one. So I mean, for me, the guiding principle would just be keep learning, keep pushing."
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news and updates.
