Blizzard Entertainment is celebrating the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft with a crossover event in Overwatch 2. As part of this collaboration, iconic characters from Azeroth will be brought to life as new skins for Overwatch 2 heroes. The two beloved Blizzard franchises will collide on September 17, letting players choose Horde or Alliance once more.
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World of Warcraft remains Blizzard’s most popular IP and has stood the test of time since its release 20 years ago. The MMORPG lets players traverse the world of Azeroth, which has received nine major expansions, including the most recent The War Within. World of Warcraft continues to shape the genre as it remains the most played MMORPG, with a strong player base thanks to extensive content updates, rich lore, and iconic characters.
The collaboration between two of Blizzard’s popular IPs brings four such characters into the popular hero shooter; Sylvanas Windrunner Widowmaker, Lich King Reinhardt, Diamond Magni Torbjorn, and Thrall Zenyatta.
Sylvanas Windrunner, known as the Banshee Queen and a former leader of the Horde, will be represented by Widowmaker. Reinhardt will take on the role of the Lich King, once the powerful and malevolent ruler of the Scourge, and Torbjorn takes on the persona of Magni Bronzebeard, a key figure within the Alliance and leader of the dwarves. Another former Horde Warchief will be part of the Overwatch 2 roster as Zenyatta will embody legendary shaman Thrall.
All of these iconic heroes perfectly align with their Overwatch counterparts and Blizzard is finding new ways to let players choose between Horde and Alliance.
This isn’t the first time that Blizzard has brought characters from its other IPs to the hero shooter, as Overwatch 2 has seen collaborations with Diablo and StarCraft. Last October, Overwatch 2 players saw a successful Diablo 4 crossover which turned Moira into Lilith, Pharah into Inarius, Reinhardt into Imperius, and Wrecking Ball into Azmodan.
Furthermore, players have already seen WoW-themed skins reach Overwatch. In a previous collaboration, Doomfist was turned into Orc warchief Blackhand, then there was the Illidan Stormrage skin for Genji, and two skins for Symetra (one turning her into a Blood Elf, another transforming her into Night Elf leader Tyrande Whisperwind).
The teaser trailer for the latest collaboration and World of Warcraft‘s 20th birthday party also showed a glimpse of a WoW-themed world. Unfortunately, there are no more details on what more the collaboration brings to the table, but if it goes by previous efforts, players can expect new voice lines, new sprays, and emotes.
