‘Overwatch 2’ Cutting Down On “Oddball” Designs, New Heroes Will Now Be “Aspirational In Some Sense”
In a move likely made at least partly in response to Marvel Rivals‘ wildfire popularity, Activision Blizzard’s Joshi Zhang has confirmed that the Overwatch 2 team will be moving away from their usual “oddball” character designs in favor of a more “aspirational” aesthetic.
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Zhang, who currently serves as Overwatch 2‘s Senior Narrative Designer, provided this studio update while speaking to members of the press during a recent roundtable held in promotion of the game’s next character, the Chinese-born hydro-kinetic teenager Wuyang.
In kicking off the discussion, per a recap provided by Polygon‘s Josh Broadwell, the designer explained that the launchpad for Wuyang’s creation was the concept of Wuxing, a Chinese philosophical system which interprets the world as a series of interactions between the physical and metaphysical aspects of five elements, Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, and Wood.
“We wanted to represent this side of Chinese culture because [Wuxing] is a concept that dates all the way back to the Han Dynasty. It’s present in things like music, astrology, martial arts, military strategy, traditional Chinese medicine. We already have Mei on a sort of global adventure, so we wanted to really take that traditional route this time when we were exploring like what it means to have to represent China as a country.
Turning his attention to Wuyang’s character, Zhang revealed that the hero’s narrative will touch upon that age-old Asian child struggle of ‘not living up to the insanely high educational standards of his parents’, who in his case are not only a pair of Omnic War veterans, but also some of his current Wuxing University’s most academically distinguished alumni:
“There’s a lot of pressure for young students in that area to like live up to that legacy, and so his story is he’s trying to find his own path, He’s really struggling with these feelings like he let his parents down because they worked so hard to defend his country and train him up. And instead he wasn’t able to live up to that. So the story touches on themes that I think would be very poignant to a lot of our players, but also especially our East Asian players.”
“This was a really, really personal hero for me. When I was writing the story, I drew on a lot of very deep personal experiences about confronting my own feelings of wanting to give back to my family, the shame and guilt that comes with that, and exploring what it means when you fall short of your parents’ dreams and how you pick yourself up from that. I think it’s something that people don’t talk about a lot.”
Notably more ‘standard’ looking than most of Overwatch 2‘s more recent roster additions like the aggressively-androgynous Venture and the flamboyant Lifeweaver, Campbell also learned that Wuyang was, in their own words, “part of a more recent trend where the narrative team goes beyond just letting people see themselves in characters and tries speaking to their experiences as well,” itself a component of “a more focused design philosophy Blizzard developed after Overwatch 2‘s launch, one that prioritizes heroes people can make deeper connections with.”
Speaking to the hero shooter’s new direction, Lead Concept Artist Billy told the press that going forward, “We always will approach making Overwatch heroes… aspirational in some sense.”
“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.”
In adding a final note to his event summary, Campbell relayed how “Tan said this aspirational design is why the team moved away from ‘1oddball’ characters like Wrecking Ball and, more recently, the giant daddy omnic Ramattra in favor of more conventional — and conventionally attractive — characters. However, he also said the design team is eager to ‘sprinkle’ these non-human heroes in over time and teased ‘exciting stuff down the road’ in that regard.”
For those interested in taking the water-wielder for a spin, Wuyang goes live today, August 14th, for a brief trial weekend ahead of his full debut on August 26th.
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