Last summer, Blizzard revealed and released thenew tank hero SigmainOverwatch, and since then, no new characters have been released. It’s been a significant stretch of time between new heroes, andOverwatchfans are growing restless. Now Blizzard is potentially teasing the release of new hero Athena, who will potentially be coming to the hero-shooter before the launch of the long-awaitedOverwatch 2.
Blizzard teased the new Athena character in a post showing the “personal log of Dr. Mina Liao.” The post talks about the “Athena project” being approved bySoldier: 76. The purpose of the project is to help change public perception of Omnics, especially as violence against Omnics is rising in the world ofOverwatch. Considering this, it seems likely that Athena is an Omnic, though it remains to be seen what kind of class she will be in the game.
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It will also be interesting to see if the Athena referenced in the file is the same as the Athena AI that’s already made an appearance inOverwatchlore. Athena is the AI system that Winston uses to recall the titular Overwatch agents, and has been featured in variousOverwatchmedia and lore since the beginning. This new post seems to imply that Athena will be getting some kind of apparatus to become a playable hero, though there are a couple of other possibilities as well.
It’s possible that Dr. Mina Liao, Athena’s creator, is the new playable character instead. Alternatively, this could in fact be a tease for thealready-revealed new playable hero Echo. Fans have long speculated that Athena and Echo are somehow related, so maybe it will be revealed that Echo is the Athena AI in an Omnic body. Whatever the case may be, it’s clear thatOverwatchfans will have to wait for more information from Blizzard to be sure.
If Blizzard is teasing Echo, it seems a bit premature as the character isn’t expected to join the roster until thelaunch ofOverwatch 2. However, it’s possible that Blizzard is releasing Echo early, giving fans a new hero to play while they wait for more information on the upcoming sequel.
Besides Echo, there is another new playable character that has already been confirmed. Thatnew hero is Sojourn, who was revealed alongsideOverwatch 2and is expected to be playable in the game come the sequel’s launch or some point shortly after. Just like with the Athena tease, fans will have to hang tight for more info.
Overwatchis out now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
