Blizzard Officially Responds to Disappointed Overwatch Fans Over Hero 55

Hero 55 was supposed to bring some Omnic aura to the Support roster; things have changed

Blizzard Entertainment is about to make good on the promise of delivering 10 new heroes to Overwatch in 2026, with the final addition arriving in December. The 10th new hero coming to Overwatch in 2026 is an Omnic detective named Hudson, and he'll arrive alongside the launch of season 6. Hudson was officially revealed on Thursday, but many Overwatch fans aren't pleased with a key aspect of his character.

Originally pitched as a new Support hero for Overwatch, Hudson will instead be part of the hero shooter's Damage (DPS) roster.

Overwatch game director Aaron Keller and associate director Alec Dawson discussed the new hero — the game's 55th overall — during a video interview with creators Emongg and Flats, where the two revealed the character's name and role change. Keller called the role switch a late-in-development "pivot."

"As the hero developed, as we look at the mechanics, how they match with the aesthetic, how they match with who the hero is supposed to be, how they’re supposed to be represented in our game, season 6’s hero will be a DPS," Dawson explained. "He's really fun."

Dawson added, "During development, we iterated a lot, we playtested a lot, and the core mechanic and the thing that we were really falling in love with on this hero didn’t really match with being a support. We kind of leaned into the things we loved the most about the hero, and it definitely fit DPS a lot better. So we’re really excited for him pretty soon."

Overwatch players who wanted a new Support hero were less excited to learn that they weren't getting the cool Omnic detective they were promised. Some called it a "bait and switch." Overwatch currently has 23 damage heroes. Hudson will be the 24th.

On Friday, Keller responded to backlash about Hudson's place on the Overwatch roster, offering more context on the decision to "help players understand it, even as some of them are disappointed."

"When we started work on the detective, he was a Support," Keller said in a thread on X. "But as time went on and the kit continued development we realized that it wasn’t working. Once we tested Hudson as a DPS, the turn around in our feelings for him was instantaneous and dramatic.

"This decision ultimately wasn't whether we release a DPS or a Support hero, it was whether we release a great character or one we didn't believe in. Building Heroes for OW is as much of an art form as a technical challenge. Game dev isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes we need to adapt to create the best version of something. The team is incredibly proud of this Hero. I hope you all feel the same way when he launches in Season 6."

Overwatch season 6 is expected to arrive on Tuesday, Dec. 8.