Blizzard yields, new Overwatch hero Anran will be redesigned after players complained about everyone looking like Kiriko: "We agree she can be even better"
10.7k
Anthony McGlynn
2026-02-10
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands
Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands
Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
There are big changes happening in Overwatch 2 – now simply known as Overwatch – with numerous new heroes joining the roster and the start of a new, multi-season narrative arc. One of the fresh additions, Anran, is being taken back to the drawing board by Blizzard, following a wave of criticism from fans.
Anran was originally shown off as part of a trailer for her younger brother, Wuyang, in August 2025. Between then and now, she's been altered, players believing she bears a strong resemblance to Kiriko, while her voice actor, the streamer Fareeha Anderson, states this Anran design leans into retrograde archetypes.
"There was an unspoken promise that said, 'We're going to challenge the beauty standards plaguing [and] ransacking media these days,' the Ozempic chic, the ‘contour your nose, you have no nose, the tiniest nose,'" Anderson says in a video posted to Twitter. "And I think because of that precedent people feel understandably let down."
New Overwatch actor addresses the "elephant in the room," says she had to "mourn" her character's redesign
Blizzard says Overwatch's sexier heroes are more down to "technical hurdles" than a desire to make everyone hotter
Blizzard insists its Overwatch rebrand isn't "us trying to admit there was a failure"
Overwatch Spotlight reception and an Anran update from Game Director Aaron Keller pic.twitter.com/mxh0C0IpIjFebruary 10, 2026
Overwatch Spotlight reception and an Anran update from Game Director Aaron Keller pic.twitter.com/mxh0C0IpIjFebruary 10, 2026
Overwatch Spotlight reception and an Anran update from Game Director Aaron Keller pic.twitter.com/mxh0C0IpIjFebruary 10, 2026
Blizzard agrees, and game director Aaron Keller reveals Anran's getting another look from the team in a video of his own. "The team is currently discussing what it will take to make Anran look and feel more like the fierce older sister that we all envisioned her to be," he says.
"We're so proud of the work that our team has put into Anran and the rest of the five heroes launching in Season 1," Keller continues, "and we agree that she can be even better if we get this aspect of her right in-game."
The hope is to roll out the refreshed Anran in Season 1, but he doesn't have a timeline at the moment. "Our hero models are incredibly complicated and we really need to test out what we can do," he adds.
He goes on to champion the vision for Overwatch Season 1, and how it exemplifies the "dedication and tireless work" the developers put into the decade-old FPS. Anran's actor champions the response. "I love this game," they exclaim on Twitter. "Thank you devs for listening! Thank you Overwatch community for speaking up!"
Overwatch's Steam reviews are still in the gutter, but hype for new update revives the hero shooter's player count as it surges past Call of Duty and Battlefield 6
wifi_witchcraft
Feb 10, 06:11 PM
Bad UI. A bit overrated maybe.
overthink.exe
Feb 10, 04:01 PM
wb [Error 404: Comment not found] Really bad. nailed it
toasterDreams
Feb 10, 01:51 PM
i'm hooked, can't stop.
Recent Articles