Overwatch devs explain surprising reason heroes have been getting hotter

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Recently, new characters added to Overwatch have generally been designed to be traditionally good-looking. There’s actually a specific reason for this, and it relates to how they create cosmetic items for the game.

After three years, Overwatch 2 is now simply Overwatch again. The developers are rolling back to the original name and have announced a massive seasonal update – their biggest yet – featuring five new playable characters. They’re also promising a huge year of content for the game.

Overwatch has seen a recent surge in popularity, largely thanks to five new characters: Domina, Emre, Mizuki, Anran, and Jetpack Cat. Jetpack Cat is undeniably cute, while the others are generally considered good-looking in a traditional sense.

It’s become common for new characters in the game to look realistic and attractive, but that seems odd considering characters like Junkrat are still around. The reason for this shift actually comes down to the game’s cosmetic skins.

Why are Overwatch characters getting hotter?

During a recent interview with GameSpot about the content coming in Season 1 – launching February 10th – Senior Producer Kenny Hudson was asked about the attractive designs of many of the new characters.

When developing our characters, we focus on making them stand out while also ensuring their abilities are balanced and fitting for the game,” Hudson said.

Basically, the character designs are like a blank canvas for awesome skins they can release later. It’s cool to remember that these characters aren’t going anywhere – Tracer has been around for twelve years already! So, new skins have to look good on the base character model, you know? That’s why the developers have been trying to create designs that will work well with future skins, but still keep things looking appealing to most players.

Giving our character models longer limbs, taller legs, and larger bodies makes it simpler for our artists to add new details and shapes. That’s essentially why these changes improve the final result.

Surprisingly, the release of Wrecking Ball in 2018 caused a bit of a panic among the developers, who had to quickly find a way to create new skins for the hero.

They took what they learned from that experience and are now confident enough to try more unique designs again. That’s why we have Jetpack Cat.

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2026-02-05 03:48