Blizzard has been teasing the next hero that would be coming to massively popular multiplayer shooter Overwatch, and speculations on the identity of the 24th hero are now running wild.
A new hint released by Blizzard has ramped up fan theories even more, and could possibly mean that the addition of the new Overwatch hero is just around the corner.
Numbani Airport Destroyed
On the Overwatch Twitter account, a report by Atlas News, the media outlet in the Overwatch universe, revealed that there was an attack in the Numbani Airport.
"OR15 defense units destroyed in confrontation with unidentified assailant at Numbani airport," the report said, adding that there were no civilian casualties reported.
The accompanying image showed three smashed robots, with one pinned to a crater made on a wall. Upon closer inspection, the lower right part of the image shows that the picture was taken by Efi Oladele, the 11-year-old Numbani native that was at the center of the previous hint that Blizzard released for the next Overwatch hero as a robotics prodigy.
Connection With The Previous Hint For New 'Overwatch' Hero
In addition to Oladele being the photographer of the image of a destroyed Numbani Airport, the OR15 defense units in the Atlas News report were also mentioned in the previous hint released by Blizzard that was in the form of an interview with Oladele.
"I want to create things that make our lives better. And someday, my dream is to build something that can keep us safe, like the new OR15s! I think that would be great," Oladele said, though it seems that with the Numbani Airport picture, the robots were not enough to protect against whoever, or whatever, caused the damage.
Numbani Map On PTR Updated
Continuing the tease on the next Overwatch hero, Blizzard has rolled out a new update for the public test region for the game that featured changes on the Numbani map.
The destroyed portion of the Numbani Airport, as shown in the Atlas News report, is now reflected in the game. The airport is the starting point for the attacking team on the map, and PTR players can now see the three smashed robots and the wall crater if they look around.
In addition, and perhaps more importantly, the Doomfist gauntlet that is the payload that needs to be escorted in the Numbani map is now missing, confirming the discovery made two weeks ago.
Who Is The Next 'Overwatch' Character?
When the file of the missing gauntlet was discovered, players thought that Doomfist was sure to be the next hero that will be coming to Overwatch. There has been clamor for the mysterious character to finally make an appearance in the game, and with the gauntlet now missing on the PTR, it seems that someone has taken up the mantle as the next Doomfist.
However, game director Jeff Kaplan previously said that the new Overwatch character is "not who you think it is," possibly referring to Doomfist. It was also confirmed that it Oladele is not the new hero, but she will play a role in the story of the upcoming character.
There have been speculations that the next Overwatch hero is an omnic spider tank named Anchora, according to a leak that was released way back before the Year of the Rooster event. With the OR15 robots that she admires smashed, possibly by whoever now wields the Doomfist gauntlet, Oladele may have started working on a tougher robot that will take on Doomfist.
Of course, all of this is just speculation until Blizzard officially revealed the next Overwatch hero. When that would be, however, is anybody's guess.
