Overwatch 2’s first nonbinary hero brings some Splatoon to Blizzard’s shooter

Overwatch 2’s first nonbinary hero brings some Splatoon to Blizzard’s shooter

Time Stamp: November 6, 2023 12:24 PM

The Overwatch team did something unprecedented at this weekend’s BlizzCon. Not only did they reveal new tank hero Mauga (and made him immediately playable for everyone during a weekend trial), developers showed off two more heroes coming to Overwatch 2 in 2024. They even teased a third, another tank, who won’t come to the game until season 14.

After Mauga, the next hero destined to join the Overwatch roster is Venture, a damage-class character who will be the game’s first nonbinary hero. At the Overwatch 2 – What’s Next panel at BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard described Venture as a Canadian “swashbuckling archeologist” who wields a drill so massive it rivals Zarya’s Particle Cannon — though it is not as large as Mauga’s chainguns, each of which are taller than Overwatch hero Tracer.

Venture’s drill lets them burrow underground, where they’re invulnerable, letting them dig through map floors to attack the opposing team from beneath. After dipping into the floor like a Splatoon squid kid, Venture can burst upward and do damage to anyone in their exit path. That drill also fires an explosive projectile and powers Venture’s dash move.

You can see a snippet of Venture’s in-development gameplay in the Twitch clip below.

Blizzard says it’s keeping Venture’s ultimate ability under wraps for now — developers said they won’t reveal it until season 10, which should start sometime around April 2024.

The Overwatch team also teased the next support hero, currently codenamed Space Ranger, who will join the roster in season 12 of Overwatch 2. Space Ranger will be the game’s first Martian — in that she hails from the Mars colony — and is described as a “highly mobile support hero who has quite a bit of vertical mobility,” thanks to numerous thrusters on her suit and boots.

Finally, Overwatch 2’s 10th tank was teased during the What’s Next panel, but only in icon form. The unnamed tank can be seen to the right of Overwatch game director Aaron Keller’s shoulder and to the left of Winston in the screenshot below.

A still of the Overwatch 2 - What’s Next panel from BlizzCon 2023, showing the development team in front of a game screenshot that teases the 10th tank hero Image: Blizzard Entertainment

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