Upcoming Overwatch 2 Hero Seemingly Hinted in Esperanča Reveal
One eagle-eyed Overwatch 2 fan has seemingly discovered a trail of clues left by Blizzard Entertainment in its Esperanča map reveal regarding who the next Hero could be.
Right at launch, Season 1 of Overwatch 2 is set to feature the three new Heroes that have been revealed in full so far: Sojurn, Junker Queen and Kiriko. Additionally, it's already been revealed that nine weeks after that, Season 2 will bring with it a new Tank Hero.
Thanks to this latest set of Esperanča screenshots, it appears the upcoming Tank Hero for OW2 could be one that utilizes shield technology seen in the Portuguese town.
As part of Esperanca's official reveal, Blizzard uploaded a press kit for the map to their website. One of the photos contains hints as to what I think is a new faction, and potentially a new hero.🧵 pic.twitter.com/DrYPGKou41
— Laurence @ Kiriko Loving Hours 💙 (@volskayadottxt) September 23, 2022
The theory was constructed and published by @volskayadottxt on Twitter Thursday, who put the pieces together exclusively by sifting through the newly released Esperanča screenshots.
"Much of Portugal is on the seafront," @volskayadottxt's Twitter thread reads, "and this carries over to the map. Not only can we see a harbor, but what looks to be some sort of sea wall. The wall is made up of hexagons. Which, conveniently can be seen in more detail in the 'mystery room.' Presumably, whatever we see in the room is tied to the wall and perhaps we can speculate on its purpose. These hexagons actually have a name — 'durovidro' — which I believe translates literally to 'duraglass.'
We don't have much information now, and likely won't have more until the map is playable, but I have some ideas. I think they're some sort of international organization, likely an NGO, based on their name (and usage of English on a Portuguese map).
— Laurence @ Kiriko Loving Hours 💙 (@volskayadottxt) September 23, 2022
"On the display, the name 'The Collective' can faintly be read under said logo. I'm confident this is the new faction. ... I think The Collective is an organization that seeks to do the kind of crisis-management or avoidance work Overwatch used to do, using technology. And that a new hero could come from this organization, wielding some of their technology (like the glass)."
Ultimately, it will certainly be interesting to see if the fruits of @volskayadottxt's labor come to fruition, with The Collective and its linked shield Hero perhaps playing major roles in the OW2 lore moving forward.
Overwatch 2 is set to release worldwide for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC (via Battle.net) on Oct. 4, 2022.