Blizzard caught reusing Tracer’s highlight for OW2 x Street Fighter collab

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Fans have found the collaboration between Overwatch 2 and Street Fighter for a specific hero disappointing, primarily because of one aesthetical aspect.

The collaboration between Overwatch 2 and Street Fighter might be more extensive than some fans initially anticipated. As Blizzard unveiled through their official trailer, this crossover is larger in scale than most we’ve seen before. For the first time ever, eight characters are included together in a single release wave, making it an impressive expansion to the game.

Similar to past collaborations, it’s typically anticipated that Kiriko will have a unique skin of her own. In this case, the support character has been given a complete transformation inspired by Juri, who is a well-known character from the renowned fighting game series.

Although it’s not entirely unexpected that she got a new look, what has truly taken people aback and left some feeling let down is the way she introduced herself – specifically, her opening highlight.

Overwatch 2 fans slam Kiriko’s Street Fighter highlight intro

In Kiriko’s collection, there’s an opening sequence called “Time to Play,” featuring her deftly riding a motorcycle and performing slide maneuvers, reminiscent of the iconic scene from the Akira anime. However, it appears that this specific intro was previously assigned to Tracer.

If you’ve got the Juri skin on, you might notice that the ending animation changes slightly. Interestingly, it was pointed out in a Reddit post that Kiriko seems to perform the same animation as Tracer’s highlight introduction when using other skins instead.

Blizzard reused a Tracer Highlight intro for the Kiriko SF6 Collab
byu/Dzudio inOverwatch

Additionally, it’s not making things better that the general theme and bicycle mechanics seem remarkably similar, causing some fans to voice their discontent to a degree where they’re labeling it as a simple “reskinning” or “copy-paste” of previous work, which is often pejoratively referred to as an “asset flip.

As I stared at the screen, a sense of deja vu washed over me. If these guys think this routine task is their new normal, they’ve got another thing coming.

Someone noted: “The logos on the bike weren’t even changed from the Tracer design, let alone customized to match Juri’s black and pink bike as shown in the SF6 cutscene. It seems they simply reused the existing Tracer asset without any effort or embarrassment to modify it, which is the main concern.

It seems she’s riding someone else’s bike first! Ha-ha,” alluding to Kiriko’s in-game voice line where she promises: “Just wait until you see me on my own bike.

It’s not a new occurrence that players have noticed similarities between hero introduction highlights, such as Tracer’s Lion Dance being previously assigned to both Mei and Lucio.

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2025-05-21 08:18