To kick off the revival of Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment showed its ambition by unveiling no fewer than ten new heroes, five of which will be available in Season 1. Unfortunately, one of these avatars sparked controversy even before being added to the game.
A heroine named Anran had already been briefly introduced last August in a video dedicated to the main character, Wuyang. Anran is now playable, but her appearance has been heavily modified since her first appearance. She looks much younger, and her “mature” side has almost completely disappeared.
Many were quick to express their dissatisfaction on social media. Streamer Fareeha, who voices Anran, also weighed in with her criticism, stating that she simply does not like the new look.
In response to the scale of the phenomenon, Overwatch director Aaron Keller posted a video announcing that the character’s appearance would be reworked.
“The team is currently discussing what it will take to make Anran look and feel more like the fierce older sister that we all envision her to be.”
“We’re so proud of the work that the team has put into Anran and the rest of the five heroes launching in Season 1, and we agree that she can be even better if we get this aspect of her right in-game.”
“We mentioned the possibility of talking to you about this last week, but we wanted to wait until we had confirmation of exactly what we could do. We’re hoping to make this update in Season 1, but I don’t have specifics to share just yet. Our hero models are incredibly complicated and we really need to test out what we can do.”
In addition to Anran, Overwatch players will have access to Domina, Emre, Mizuki, and Jetpack Cat starting today, February 10.
