Overwatch’s latest hero named Echo isn’t available on live servers just yet, but when she’s released out of the PTR, she’ll be the last hero to join the Overwatch roster until Overwatch 2 releases. Blizzard Entertainment‘s Jeff Kaplan, the lead designer for Overwatch, confirmed as much during an interview where he talked about the plans for Echo and the eventual release of Overwatch 2. There’s still no release date yet for the next Overwatch game, but Kaplan said Blizzard doesn’t expect it to take years until it’s out seeing how that’d be a long drought for Overwatch to not get a new hero.
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Kaplan spoke to IGN Nordic in an interview about Echo, the new DPS hero who just had her abilities revealed as she arrived on the PTR for testing. He closed out the discussion by giving Overwatch players hope for Overwatch 2’s release date coming sooner rather than later when he implied it shouldn’t take too long of a time for the game to be out and another hero to be announced.
“We don’t know yet when Overwatch 2 will release, but since Echo will be the last hero for the base Overwatch game, we don’t expect it will take years until the game sees the light of day,” Kaplan said.
One of the most exciting parts of Echo’s kit is her ultimate, an ability called “Duplicate.” It’s a move that allows her to copy another hero and use their abilities for a short time, and people are already pretty sure that the move is busted.
Overwatch’s heroes will be making appearances in Overwatch 2 as well, so you can expect to see Echo and the other characters players have grown accustomed to in the new game whenever it releases. These characters will feature updated looks, however, with seven of those characters’ new appearances already revealed by Blizzard. Entirely new heroes will also be joining the roster as well with Blizzard planning for “a lot” of characters in addition to Sojourn, the first new character who’s already been revealed.
Until Overwatch 2’s release date is eventually announced, Overwatch players can go ahead and start familiarizing themselves with Echo and her abilities now that she’s available for testing. She’ll be released on live servers at a later date, likely with some changes to her kit based on the feedback from players.
