Xbox Wire can exclusively reveal one of them surveillance 2‘s upcoming skins for the One-Punch Man collaboration – support heroine Kiriko in the form of Terrible Tornado. The Legendary skin is part of a wider collaboration between surveillance 2 and One-Punch Man, which already has Doomfist revealed in a skin based on the superhero of the same name himself, Saitama.
The Legendary Terrible Tornado – Kiriko skin will be released as part of a bundle available for 2,100 coins surveillance 2 Store in game. The bundle includes the Legendary Skin, the Terrible Impressive Victory Pose, and the Terrible Tornado Namecard. The skin – and the rest of the One Punch Man collaboration – will be available from March 7th to April 6th.
It’s the first major collaboration in the game for over watch Since a LEGO-inspired bastion Skin in 2019, and I caught up with Art Director Dion Rogers to find out how this unexpected partnership came about:
“We’ve wanted to do this for a while,” he begins. “You know, over watchThe art style of is kind of a marriage of west-meets-east aesthetics and values - there’s a bit of an anime look over watch. Since we are anime fans, so we were looking for a partner to work with. And we looked at different studios, and then when One-Punch Man came along, it was surprising how many people on the team knew the anime, they loved it, they watched it. Aaron Keller, our game director, knows all the characters and things backwards and forwards.
“So it was quite surprising. We thought that was great because the team would be really excited about this idea – because the team knew the anime so well and they were so excited, it really felt like the right thing to do at that point.”
Rogers wasn’t wrong. He says the studio collaboration was so popular that the character artist for the Saitama – Doomfist skin started drawing designs at the very first team meeting about it while the call and announced it soon after. If you’re wondering how much the Overwatch team likes One Punch Man, consider the fact that Doomfist had a voiceline referring to the show – “One punch is all I need” – for years before this crossover came together . “Yes, we were inspired,” laughs Rogers when I ask about it.
So what’s special about Kiriko’s costume? An incredibly powerful psychic in the world of One-Punch Man, Terrible Tornado has a personality all her own. What made Kiriko put on her costume?
“Part of the challenge of bringing in some of the heroes is basically [because of] a silhouette change. So gameplay-wise we have to be careful. For example Doomfist: As Saitama he gets a cape. Doomfist, we never give him a cape, in any of the skins, so that his silhouette – the shape that players are used to – is preserved. So we were very careful when using it.
“Kiriko – in addition to needing more skins because she’s a newer hero in the game – she fits the silhouette of [Terrible Tornado] pretty good. So it felt like a natural choice – we could do her hairdo, but a lot of Kiriko’s basic silhouette comes from her skirt, the little angled parts of her clothes. This allowed us to keep that look while shooting [Terrible Tornado] in kind of cosplay form.”
Rogers brings up an interesting point about this collaboration – in most games you would assume that the heroes were meant to be May be a version of the One-Punch Man characters, but in surveillance 2They are cosplay as.
“Our heroes basically know the anime and are fans too. And they play as heroes.”
“That’s our approach; that our heroes basically know the anime and are also fans. And they play as heroes. So if you see Doomfist in the Saitama outfit, he’s a fan too.”
It begs the question – is this a one off thing or could we see more cosplay-like collaborations? surveillance 2 in the future?
“We definitely want to do more collaborations over time, but with the right opportunity [because] it took us a long time to get here – hopefully it won’t take us so long for the next one. But our goal is to do more. It was great fun for the team. It’s surprising, I think our approach overlaps with over watch very good.”
“And what I like about the new game is that it’s seasonal, we have the seasonal rhythm of things now. It’s going to allow us to track more of those things because we have specific seasons that we can tie those things into.”
I can’t let Rogers go without asking the obvious follow-up question: What would his dream collaboration be once One Punch Man is done? “Oh yes. Dragon Ball – that’s one of them. Actually, street fighterwith which I like to combine street fighter someday.” We’re hoping that one (or both!) will happen someday soon.
surveillance 2 is available now for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. The Overwatch Collaboration Event, including the Legendary Terrible Tornado – Kiriko skin, begins on March 7th and runs through April 6th.
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Overwatch 2 is an always-available and ever-evolving free-to-play team-based action game set in an optimistic future where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield battle. Team up with friends and immerse yourself in the reimagined PvP experience as a time-jumping freedom fighter, a groovy battlefield DJ, or one of over 30 other unique heroes as you battle across the globe. CONSTANTLY EVOLVING HEROES, NEW CARDS, NEW WAYS TO PLAY, AND UNIQUE COSMETICS! Lead the charge, ambush your enemies, or aid your allies as one of Overwatch’s signature heroes. Lead them into battle across 24 futuristic maps inspired by real-world locations and master multiple unique game modes. SEASON THREE IS NOW LIVE New heroes, maps, and game modes are added every nine weeks in seasonal updates. Jump into Season 3 to explore new terrain on the newest map ANTARCTICA and over 20 levels with completely free rewards in the Battle Pass. Purchase the Premium Battle Pass to unlock an additional 60 tiers of cosmetic rewards, including the all-new Mythic Kiriko skin, Legendary skins, sprays, voice lines, weapon charms, and more! A cell phone number must be associated with your Battle.net account to play Overwatch.
