As a competitive game, Overwatch 2 is in the best state it’s ever been, but its story and hero selection are in a much more tenuous place. Blizzard is finally moving the hero shooter’s narrative along and teasing heroes fans have been waiting to learn more about for years, but it’s still mostly just gesturing at forward momentum rather than making significant leaps. Now, the team is teasing the next hero coming to the game, and the character in question is arguably emblematic of the rut Overwatch 2’s found itself in.
Anran, a fire-wielding hero and the older sister of Wuyang, has been teased already as an upcoming hero, but it seems now she might be imminent. Blizzard released a short audio drama of gorilla scientist Winston sending out invitations to join the Overwatch team while looking at footage of Anran and Wuyang fighting Omnic soldiers.
If that wasn’t enough confirmation, fans have datamined voice files of Echo, a hero who can transform into other characters, replicating what seems to be Anran’s Ultimate voice line.
❗ Anran ultimate voicelines are ALREADY in #Overwatch2 game files
You can find them among Echo phrases (her imitating other heroes ultimates). Fun fact: in non-English versions of the game these lines were voiced by a new voice, potentially voice of Anran in the corresponding… pic.twitter.com/OeIpxCVa44
— OverFire / Overwatch (@overfire_news) January 14, 2026
Anran could be a great hero, but her moving this quickly up the hero queue means a few things. First, it likely means that Overwatch 2 is once again passing up a chance to add a new tank hero. We’ve seen Anran in action in Wuyang’s promo trailer, and she seems very light on her feet and offense based, unlike the usually bulky, brawling, defensive tanks in the game. 2025 came and went without a new tank being added to the roster, with Blizzard opting to release one support character in Wuyang and two damage heroes in Freja and Vendetta, so tank mains are feeling a little burned right now.
Second, Overwatch 2 fans have criticized the game for what they perceive to be characters “made for skin sales,” which usually means young, conventionally attractive characters who aren’t quite part of the main story, and who some feel get skins churned out for them but little other attention from the devs. Some also have called out that Overwatch 2, a game often celebrated for its diversity, has been showing favoritism to its east Asian heroes when it comes to skins, and Anran would be another character who falls into that category.
Not everyone is upset, mind you, but Blizzard has said a few questionable things about upcoming heroes that have fans worried about the future of the game’s hero designs. Though the team did walk it back, there was a brief controversy last year about the game moving away from “oddball” heroes like Winston and the robot-piloting hamster Wrecking Ball in favor of “aspirational” characters. Fans took this to pretty much mean “young and hot,” and Blizzard quickly responded saying that “oddities” were still important to the game, and that a character who matches that description is in the works. We’re still waiting on them, though. I guess we’ll see them sometime after Anran, who all evidence points to being the next new hero joining in a future season.
