A major overhaul to Overwatch drops later today but one thing it won’t include is a redesign for one of its new playable characters.
It’s been nearly four years since Blizzard Entertainment shut down the original Overwatch and replaced it with Overwatch 2. After a contentious launch, cancelled PvE plans, and a return to the 6v6 format, Blizzard seems to have recognised that it’s barely a sequel at this point and will be dropping the 2 from its name.
This isn’t the only change, though. Last week, Blizzard announced a sizeable revamp for Overwatch, starting with a new narrative arc that’s adding five new playable characters at once.
In the past week, though, one of those new characters has been met with fan complaints about her design and after the character’s own voice actor waded in on the matter, Blizzard has said that it intends to address those concerns.
The character in question is Anran, the older sister of fellow Overwatch character Wuyang, who previously appeared in an animated trailer last year, as well as a tie-in comic.
Following the announcement that she would be made playable, fans quickly noted that her in-game model looked much younger than how she had been portrayed previously and her facial features are much rounder and softer, complete with a smaller nose.
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This prompted complaints across social media of her looking identical to other characters (itself a long running criticism of Overwatch’s female designs, within the community) as well as fan edits that offered alternative redesigns.
Things reached their zenith when Anran’s own voice actor, Fareeha Andersen, posted a video on X over the weekend where she admitted even she agreed with the complaints.
‘I think in her comic and the cinematic, there was a precedent set by [her design],’ said Andersen, ‘There was an unspoken promise that said, ‘We’re going to challenge the beauty standards that are plaguing and ransacking media these days.’ … And I think because of that precedent, people feel understandably let down.’
Andersen added that she shared her thoughts with the Overwatch team and encouraged fans to keep voicing theirs since ‘This is a hill worth dying on. It’s worth speaking on, because I believe the more we speak up about the things that truly matter to us, the more we’ll see ourselves reflected in the world around us.’
Clearly, all these complaints got through because today, ahead of the new season’s launch and Anran’s addition to the game, Overwatch game director Aaron Keller said she will see an official redesign.
That doesn’t mean her inclusion is being delayed, but the goal is to update her design before the end of the new season. It currently lacks an end date but Overwatch seasons typically last roughly two months.
‘The team is currently discussing what it will take to make Anran look and feel more like the fierce older sister that we all envisioned her to be,’ said Keller on X, while inferring that this decision had already been made shortly after Anran’s reveal.
‘We discussed sharing this with all of you last week, but wanted to wait until we had confirmation of exactly what we can do. We’re hoping to make this update in season one 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.’
The new season of Overwatch starts this evening at 7pm GMT and aside from the name change and five new characters, it adds a new gameplay event, new sub-roles for every character, and other updates. A full breakdown is available on the Overwatch website.
Blizzard is also resetting the season count back to season one, with 2026 marking a new story arc called Reign of Talon. This will last for six seasons, with another five characters to be added throughout the next year, before a new story arc begins in 2027.
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