It looks like a new 'Overwatch' hero is on the way, complete with biotic rifle

By Gabe Gurwin July 7, 2016

overwatch new support hero overwatchhanzo — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Overwatch launched in May with 21 heroes, giving players plenty of options across the offense, defense, tank, and support classes, but the characters were not split evenly. While offense and defense each have six options to choose from, support, primarily focused on healing and boosting teammates, only launched with four. A declassified communications record between two of the game’s characters suggests that this will soon change.

A tweet from the official Overwatch account, spotted by Polygon, shows correspondence between the characters Torbjörn and Mercy as they discuss the development of a new biotic rifle.

“As discussed, this is the proposed rifle that could be equipped by medics in the field,” Torbjörn says. “Despite what my esteemed colleague will surely suggest, the application of her biotic technology is only intended for healing.”

The message refers to Mercy as his “esteemed colleague” because it was sent to two other members of the Overwatch team, as well: Jack Morrison, who is now known as Soldier: 76, and Gabriel Reyes — he’s now known as Reaper, as well as “Ready To Die,” “I Destroy The Weak,” and “I Love Chicken Parm.”

“While Torbjörn has, as ever, put forth a very clever design for his latest weapon, I would like to remind everyone that my intention when agreeing to the development of different biotic delivery mechanisms was to save the lives of Overwatch agents and others in need of medical aid,” Mercy responds. With this latest proposal, it is clear to me that we are on the slippery slope to modifications that will inevitably result in a weaponized version of this technology.”

Just how exactly a healing rifle could be weaponized is anyone’s guess, but a long-range healer could completely change the flow of the game on certain maps. Right now, Zenyatta is the only character who has a real chance of healing an ally from far away, and a new class to get people interested in playing a support role is always welcome.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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