Following a spate of teasers earlier this year hinting at who Overwatch‘s 24th hero would be, the final reveal, which we now know ended up being the quadruped robot Orisa, probably wasn’t what everyone was expecting. Doomfist, a character frequently referenced both in-game and in other Overwatch-related media, was who many had suspected the next hero following Sombra would be, not least because of various teasers involving actor Terry Crews.
Alas, it was never meant to be, but according to recent comments made by game director Jeff Kaplan, Blizzard is already hard at work on hero No.25, with the mystery individual already “very far along in development.” When prodded for a status update on the next combatant to join Overwatch‘s cast, Kaplan told IBTimes:
Yes! I absolutely know who the next hero is going to be. The next hero is very far along in development, so we’re at the point where we’re doing art for that hero, we’re doing a lot of aggressive play-testing. We know what that hero, what the abilities are and how they interact, so we’re at that point.
How exactly the current development cycle for Overwatch‘s 25th hero correlates with Blizzard’s usual round of teasers leading up to a new character release isn’t clear, but it certainly sounds as if it’s fast approaching a period where it’s ready to do so.
In other news, Blizzard rolled out a fresh teaser for Overwatch on the shooter’s Twitter page earlier this week that makes reference to a conflict that occurred in King’s Row seven years ago. Aprill 11 is mentioned as the date in which fans can expect to hear more, so we’ll just have to wait until then to find out exactly what Blizzard has planned, although Kaplan recently confirmed to PCGamesN that a playable element will be included as part of the so-called ‘King’s Row Uprising.’ Stay tuned.