Blizzard has revealed the third Overwatch 2 skin coming as part of its major collaboration with One Punch Man, this time featuring Kiriko as Terrible Tornado. Players can purchase the legendary skin alongside a new victory pose and name card from March 7 until April 6.The Overwatch games have had several collaborations between different franchises in the past. However, this marks the first major collaboration with an anime and manga franchise, which has already seen Mumen Rider Soldier 76 and Doomfist released as legendary skins. The ever-popular shooter game will expand its collaboration with another skin in the form of cosplay. Kiriko will descend on the battlefield as Terrible Tornado, who will be part of a bundle costing 2,100 coins. The bundle also includes a victory pose and name card, Blizzard announced in an Xbox Wire post.
Overwatch 2's approach to integrating One Punch Man characters into the game is cosplay, as stated by art director Dion Rogers. He claimed that the team's art style is kind of a combination of West and East aesthetics and values, saying: "We felt like that’s a great one because the team would be very excited by this idea – because the team knew the anime so well, and they were so excited, it’s at that point that it really felt like the right fit. The collab is something we’ve been wanting to do for a while."
Dion also touched on the challenges of bringing Terrible Tornado into the game, saying that silhouette changes are the most tricky part of the development. Kiriko must have fit the silhouette of Tornado pretty well. The team decided to capture the character in a kind of cosplay form not to deviate completely from her original concept. "We could do her hairstyle, but a lot of Kiriko’s base silhouette comes from her skirt, the little kind of angled parts on her clothing. So we could keep that look while capturing [Terrible Tornado] in kind of cosplay form.” Dion added.
This is the first major collaboration for the Overwatch franchise since a Bastion skin was released in the form of LEGO back in 2019. In other Overwatch 2 news, director Aaron Keller has stated that new hero balance changes should not arrive until the mid-season patch.