Those looking forward to Overwatch 2 had a reason to tune in to the 2021 Summer Game Fest; Game Director Aaron Keller took the stage to show off the slick new redesigns of Baptiste and Sombra, both of which have been visually updated in the best of ways! Overwatch 2 will still retain the same visual language of the original, but it will bring numerous graphical improvements, and, frankly, they’re quite visible even at this stage of development. 

“The team is so passionate about updating the look and feel of the world of Overwatch, and one aspect of that is creating entirely new models for Overwatch 2 for all of our heroes,” said Aaron Keller moments before unveiling the Baptiste and Sombra redesigns. The former will sport a much more streamlined look along with a glowing cape and gloves that should give him more of a high-tech medic vibe. As for Sombra, she’ll feature an asymmetrical design, along with numerous layers of hair and clothing, with circuitry and nodes embedded right into her garb.

In other words: they look great! Aaron also highlighted the inclusion of brand-new “shader tech” that has made Baptise and Sombra’s hairdos all the more realistic. It’s not anything worth writing home about. However, it’s still a welcome reminder of the lengths developers go to improve and update the most nuanced (and often imperceptible) aspects of their games. 

Overwatch 2 still doesn’t have a firm release date, but Blizzard has been giving us a lot more information lately which signals one thing and one thing only: it’ll probably see the light of day sooner than any of us expect! A 2021 release is probably unrealistic, but something like Q1 2022 is definitely within the realm of possibility! 

In any case, these small updates and interesting tidbits might not be all that interesting, but they’re still a good way of keeping Overwatch fans engaged until the sequel is officially released.