Overwatch

Let’s Talk About Lucio’s New Overwatch Skin, Which Is Bad

Lucio’s new legendary skin for the Overwatch one year anniversary is causing me physical pain. Lucio, unfortunately, has a history of questionable skins. If you’re a Lucio player, you have the exciting potential of being a soccer player, a hockey player, a DJ in a frog mask, or a DJ in a golden frog mask.…

Once Again, Overwatch Isn’t Very Good At Picking Kanji Characters

Last year, a short Overwatch animation featured some iffy kanji choices. It seems the latest Hanzo skin does, too. Japanese has a rather complex writing system that features kanji characters from China. There are also native writing systems called hiragana and katakana that are used along with kanji in written Japanese. The latest Hanzo skin…

Overwatch Anniversary Event Brings Some Killer Dances

Overwatch’s one-year anniversary event is live—that means tons of new Legendary skins, three new arena maps and a slew of new bringing-me-to-tears adorable dancing emotes. Happy birthday, Overwatch, and may each year bring a new iteration of Sombra doing the Shuffle. First, let’s take a look at some Legendary skins: And my favorite…. The new…

If Overwatch Was A Turn-Based Tactics Game

A modder has brought a little Overwatch to the excellent Invisible Inc., adding two new agents—Sombra and Widowmaker—to the stealth title’s roster of thieves, hackers and spies. The mod, made by Saltrain, may as well be an official and blessed addition. Both agents look great, having had their designs modified to fit Invisible Inc’s art…

Pro Overwatch Gets An Official Minor League

There’s been quite a bit of discussion around Blizzard’s official Overwatch League and accessibility, given that reports say a slot in the big show could cost between $15 and $25 million. Turns out, that’s not the only Overwatch esports league Blizzard is launching. Today Blizzard announced Overwatch Contenders, which they’re calling “a development league for…

Overwatch Player Drops Genji’s Dragon Blade Ultimate Within 15 Seconds Of The Match Starting

Dragon Blade is Genji’s ultimate. It grants the cyborg ninja 1.17 swings per second, 120 damage per swing, an eight meter per second movement speed and lasts just six seconds. Player KingFluffy was able to fill up the ultimate meter in scarcely twice that time to unleash a brutal onslaught that left the other team…

We Talk About Some Very Weird Ways to Play Overwatch

On the latest episode of our Overwatch show, Cecilia, Heather, and I talk about some very particular ways of playing. First, we dig deeper into Cecilia’s experience of paying women to be her in-game BFFs, then we discuss the plight of that reviled creature, the Hanzo main, and finally we talk about esports and Overwatch…

Blizzard May Have Clarified Pharah’s Controversial Background In Overwatch [Correction]

Early in its now year-long life, Overwatch’s Egyptian hero Pharah’s Native American-styled skins sparked wide controversy over cultural appropriation. We spoke to Blizzard about Pharah’s backstory, and while they wouldn’t fully confirm her heritage, Blizzard offered some insight on their controversial design decision. Since Overwatch’s release, Pharah’s heritage has been a point of contention. Two…

First Look At Four New Overwatch Skins

There’s a whole bunch of new stuff coming to Overwatch as part of the game’s first birthday celebrations, among them these four new skins. Via the official Chinese Facebook page for the game (and the Korean Twitter account), below you can see a new look for Bastion, Pharah, Soldier 76 and best of the bunch,…

Blizzard Says Overwatch Wasn’t Meant To Be Political, But It’s Not That Simple

At yesterday’s New York Overwatch event, in a rented-out space in midtown Manhattan, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan stood in front of a slide showcasing an old Egyptian woman, an autistic Indian woman, a bodybuilding Russian woman, a plump Chinese woman and a Mexican hacker woman. “One thing that we did with the game that…

Overwatch Director Says Balancing D.Va Was His ‘Low Point’ Of The Year

It’s no secret that Overwatch players are precious about the game’s balance changes. On the internet, fans act as armchair game devs, flooding the Overwatch forums with strongly-worded opinions whenever there’s an unpopular or surprising change. Most recently, the forums overflowed with salt after the popular tank hero D.va received a brutal nerf, making her…

Overwatch will hold an anniversary event starting May 23, Blizzard said today, though the developers didn’t offer any details. At least they made this highlight trailer to… remind you of all the other Overwatch events?

D.Va Walks Out Of Overwatch, Into YouTube Video

Here’s a cosplay team from Korea (AZA and ACROWN) who, instead of just making an Overwatch gallery, decided to shoot a little short movie about D.Va instead. This is one of the best D.Va costumes I’ve seen, since it goes way beyond simply buying a suit, as it also involves making sure all the little…

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

When they’re not saving the galaxy and throwing ninja stars at cartoon characters, Master Chief and Genji like to unwind like tiny little children. Cosplay by Shagohod Cosplay (MC) and Rider Break Cosplay (Genji), photos by Lock.VII Projects

Guy Gets His Dad To Reenact Overwatch Emotes

It’s Friday. Finally! Obviously, it’s time to unwind the same way you do every Friday: by watching a video of somebody’s dad. Nick Luciano got his dad to reenact a bunch of emotes from Overwatch. His dedication to accuracy is surpassed only by the sheer will he’s forced to conjure to stifle his laughter. The…

Survey: 42 Percent Of Esports Viewers Don’t Play The Games They Watch

Not everyone who watches the Super Bowl plays football, and it turns out the same is true for the League of Legends World Championship. According to research done by analytics firm Newzoo, 42 percent of esports viewers surveyed do not actually play the games they watch. Specifically, Newzoo studied the esports viewing habits of people…

I Paid Women To Play Overwatch With Me, And It Was Fantastic

Earlier this week, on Fiverr.com, I selected Biu’s “Basic” package which, in exchange for $5, granted me her company for five Overwatch games. In her profile’s image, a helicopter selfie, Biu is wearing a t-shirt with Zelda’s Link and sticking out her tongue. “If you want a good healer,” her gig page reads, “I’m a…

Blizzard Responds To Controversial Rumors Of $20 Million Overwatch League Buy-In Fee

Blizzard’s official Overwatch League is supposed to be the thing that catapults Overwatch esports to the next level. This week, though, it’s become an ominous cloud hanging over the scene. In the past nine days, nine days, no less than five esports organizations have dropped their Overwatch teams. Why so many? And why now? A…

Overwatch Sky Fight Is Some Dragon Ball Z Shit

People might tell you that Overwatch revolves around pithy things like “team compositions” and “the payload,” but they’re wrong. Hideously wrong. Only one thing matters in Overwatch: airborne superiority. This clip is short, but I think I speak for everyone who’s spent their life with the cold shackles of gravity wrapped tight around their ankles…

Overwatch Incest ‘Shipping Tests The Limits Of What’s Permissible In Fandom

While it’s possible to play Overwatch and not pay attention to its lore, there’s a part of that game’s fandom that loves it for its lore. These fans theorize about character backgrounds, make fan art, and often obsess over the possible romantic pairing in the game, known as “shipping.” They imagine former friends Reaper and…