Overwatch 2 teams up with the world-renowned anime One-Punch Man to bring a set of cosmetic collectibles to the game, available for a limited time from March 7th to April 6th! Overwatch 2 Associate Director Aimee Dennet and Art Director Dion Rogers share their thoughts ahead of the groundbreaking collaboration that marks a first for Overwatch 2 and paves the way for more exciting potential IP crossovers for the game in the future. The team is excited to unveil the collaborative Genos Genji skin here on PlayStation Blog for the first time today.
What led to the idea of purposefully bringing One-Punch Man into the world of Overwatch?
[Aimee Dennett, Associate Director, Overwatch 2] We on the Overwatch team are obsessed with anime! Much like our player base, we enjoy thinking about crossovers and similarities between characters from our favorite shows. Doomfist and Saitama fit our minds very naturally given their abilities. They are both bald too. It doesn’t hurt that our game director, Aaron Keller, is also a huge One-Punch Man fan.
Both Genos and Genji share tragic backstories. Can you discuss whether those shared experiences led to a perfect crossover, as well as any other inspiration that led to the Genos Genji character?
[Aimee] The similarities between Genos’ and Genji’s backstories were certainly an inspiration. They are both humans who have been pushed to the brink of death, only to be rescued from their respective universes and turned into cyborgs by doctors. We also liked the fact that both Genji and Genos have strong relationships with their mentors. In fact, there was an idea that Zenyatta would make an excellent Saitama given that relationship (he’s bald too!), but Doomfist was always the clear choice for us.
What aspects of Genos’ aesthetic and abilities were most important to capture in the world of Overwatch?
[Dion Rogers, Art Director, Overwatch 2] Genos was a perfect match for Genji. The two characters are essentially cyborgs, and both have a very serious and intense attitude. We wanted to make sure players realized that our characters essentially represent the OPM heroes. Genos’ spiky blonde hair was an interesting challenge, the more we matched the style the more we lost Genji in the process. Our concept artists took care to combine the main aesthetics of the two heroes without losing either character.
What was the thinking behind developing a hybridized Genos-Genji crossover skin instead of trying to create a full 1:1 Genos skin?
[Aimee] Blizzard games have very detailed lore and universes, and Overwatch is no exception. From a canon perspective, Overwatch takes place on Earth. One-Punch Man is an anime that exists on Earth, so seeing One-Punch Man’s existence in the game isn’t an immersion. For our first major collaboration, we wanted to be extra thoughtful and sensitive with this piece and felt that our heroes’ approach to cosplaying characters would be a good fit. There’s also something funny about the idea that Canon Genji is a fan of One-Punch Man, sees himself specifically in Genos, and would cosplay as that character. That said, we’re also exploring non-canon options in the future, like the Overwatch dating simulator we ran for Valentine’s Day.
Are there specific details you want to make sure One-Punch Man fans notice about this crossover?
[Aimee] Yes! We’re sure fans of One-Punch Man will find some fun Easter eggs. I’m particularly curious about the reactions in the game lobby during the event.
What were the most rewarding aspects of the creative development of this crossover?
[Aimee] It’s probably not surprising that there are a lot of geeks working on Overwatch 2, and we all have our own personal pieces of pop culture that we’re passionate about. It was very rewarding to see people who have always loved One-Punch Man thinking about bringing their favorite anime into what they work on every day. It’s also very rewarding to see the reactions of players who also love One-Punch Man! It feels like a conversation we have with our players about how as a team we share the same passions as they do.
Can we look forward to more exciting Overwatch 2 x One-Punch Man crossovers in the future?
[Aimee] We will see! It was a lot of fun working on this collaboration and we hope our players enjoy it!
