Earlier this year, the Overwatch 2 team confirmed that they would be reuniting with K-Pop group LE SSERAFIM for an all-new collab that will bring brand new skins into the game. Now, the first look at the new collab has been revealed, and it’s just around the corner. Previously players could pick up six new Overwatch 2 skins with the LE SSERAFIM collab (five paid, one free in game) but this next batch will offer players ten new skins in total (five brand new skins, plus five recolors of the previous wave), not to mention brand new choreography emotes for you to synchronize while stalling the point on Busan (this time themed around the dance from the “Crazy” music video).
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ComicBook had the opportunity sit down with some of the devs behind Overwatch 2 to break down not only the brand new skins that players will be able to grab when the collab goes live on Tuesday, March 18th, but what they learned from the first version of the collaboration.
According to Aimee Dennett, the Associate Director of Product Management for Overwatch 2, the prospect of doing a second LE SSERAFIM collab with the game was “pretty immediate.” Dennett noted that while watching LE SSERAFIM perform at BlizzCon 2023 and seeing the energy in the room, it became clear that it wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when.” LE SSERAFIM’s newest album, HOT, offered them the exact right moment to proceed.
“I think the first time around we were getting our footing, and K-Pop had been around gaming for a long time, but we hadn’t yet done something in K-Pop, so the first collaboration was exploring what does [that] look like in the Overwatch universe,” Dennett added. “This time around, we had that strong base to build off of, so we were able to go a lot deeper in terms of the level of integration and references on the skins themselves. We already had a common language, so this was a really natural jumping point.”
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For Overwatch 2 Art Director Dion Rogers, the first LE SSERAFIM collab revealed that the player base for the game likes seeing their favorite characters in a more relaxed style.
“A lot of our skins up until that point, they’re still battle-ready, or they have a level of armor on them,” Rogers said. “But getting a glimpse of the heroes, just what would they wear before they go to a concert? Or if they were into latest fashion trends, what does that look like for a lot of our heroes?”
For the second LE SSERAFIM collab, Overwatch 2 will introduce five brand new legendary skins for Mercy, Juno, Ashe, Illari, and D.Va. Rogers revealed that the Blizzard Korea Studio art team once again had a major hand in developing the new skins. Having previously done a deep dive into K-Pop looks and South Korean culture for the first LE SSERAFIM collab, the art team went even deeper for the next batch. This meant not only looking into current trends within the K-Pop subculture, but all of LE SSERAFIM’s old vlogs and their old music videos, plus the style of the new album, all of which had an influence on the new skins.
“After the first collaboration, it was so fun to see players’ excitement about seeing the heroes in a context they don’t usually see them [in], them just sort of in their day-to-day having fun,” Dennett said. “And I think that it’s fun to think about these characters we see in normally the same context in a different side of them. So that’s definitely something we wanted to build on.”
For the five new skins that will be part of the second LE SSERAFIM collab, one that came together very quickly was Ashe. Players may recall that her cohort BOB was previously featured in the “Perfect Night” music video that was part of the first LE SSERAFIM event. With the character already included as a bouncer for a concert, it was easy to proceed forward and make that part of Ashe’s look for the new collab.
Overwatch 2 players will notice that some of the characters getting LE SSERAFIM skins don’t feature some of the iconic pieces of their regular skins. Illari, for instance, doesn’t have her cape, and Juno ditches her space helmet. Maintaining consistency across character silhouettes has always been important for the Overwatch 2 team, but Rogers noted that with their IP collabs, this is a rule they’re willing to break.
“We try to be more transformative than we usually would with a general collab,” Rogers added. “There’s some heroes that are harder than others, especially when you want to put them in the casual wear. If Illari has to have her cape, that’s tough. It makes it difficult. Or you could see with Juno, her helmet’s not there. Is she stuck as a space ranger always? But we usually reserve this for not often, but just where we want to be a little bit more transformative so we can sell the fantasy of the skin as well as possible.”
One Overwatch 2 skin that might surprise players a bit with the new LE SSERAFIM collab is Mercy. In the context of Overwatch 2‘s lore, Mercy has always been a bit of a more straight-laced character, not exactly the kind you might think would go out for a night to a concert in the same way Kiriko, Brigitte, or Tracer might fit into that mold.
“That’s always the challenge, keeping the identity of our hero while merging with the collab,” Rogers said. “Mercy, she’s kind of sophisticated and has this elegant image about her. So the Korea team was actually inspired by a lot of LE SSERAFIM’s music video for a song called ‘Easy.’ And they used this kind of LED and neon sign elements on her costume. We did key in on a bit of that, if Mercy’s a fan, what would she do? Maybe she’s a little shy, but she pushes herself out of this. She’s a little bit more bold with the outfit she would choose or the colors she would wear or her hairstyle….It feels authentically like Mercy, but she’s also celebrating that she enjoys this music too.”
LE SSERAFIM fans should also take note that the plushy character hanging from Mercy’s belt in her new skin was actually designed by Sakura herself (check it out for yourself above).
Overwatch 2 players will, of course, immediately note that D.Va is the only character that got a skin in the first LE SSERAFIM collab who is also getting a brand new one in the second wave. One reason, of course, is baked into her identity, as D.Va is the only Korean playable hero in the game.
“You know D.Va’s a huge fan of K-pop,” Rogers said with a laugh. “She can’t miss this one.”
D.Va’s skin also came to completion just in time, as Aimee Dennett noted the Overwatch 2 team were still waiting on some finished assets from LE SSERAFIM’s new album to finalize before they could complete their skins.
“The new album’s called HOT and there’s some cool iconography on D.Va’s mech from HOT,” Dennett said. “We actually were working pretty late in the game to get that on since they were still developing all of the material for their album. So we’re pretty excited about the level of integration there.”
In addition to the five new skins for the LE SSERAFIM collab, recolors of the five original skins will also be returning. The recolored skin will be under the umbrella of “Blue Flame,” featuring a level of detail that goes beyond what Overwatch 2 players may think when they hear a skin described in that way. Plus, as Rogers noted, recolors are harder than they look, so they had to make them worth it.
“Sometimes the player base may think it’s like, this is blue and we’re done,” Rogers said. “We actually take a lot of time doing the recolors, probably more time than we should, but creating the right color palette scheme is one.”
Rogers noted that LE SSERAFIM actually helped with the idea behind recoloring the previous skins, including adding a level of detail that would “speak to the culture of LE SSERAFIM as a band.”
“We landed on these colors based on a lot of very kind of nerdy or fun conversations that we have about what it means to just recolor these guys,” Rogers added. “They’re not just a pure recolor. There was a ton of thought that went into them.”
The first batch of LE SSERAFIM Overwatch 2 skins have appeared in the item shop two times now (the second was to mark the “Perfect Night” Overwatch 2 music video getting over 100 million views). We asked the team if they considered those skins to be gone for good or if they’ll ever return. The good news is, that the answer isn’t a firm no.
“It’s sort of on a case-by-case basis with each collaboration,” Dennett said about collab skins returning after their initial availability window. “While we don’t have it in the works right now, it’s not in the plans, never say never, especially if there’s another fun milestone to celebrate.”
One character that the Overwatch 2 team really wanted to give a skin in the new LE SSERAFIM collab, which the player base might be devastated to learn isn’t happening, was Roadhog. Rogers revealed that the team wanted a Roadhog LE SSERAFIM skin to go along with the Junkrat one that was a part of the first wave, but in the end, Roadhog’s own musical preferences won out.
“We really get into it when we think about what skin suits a character,” Rogers said. “We actually think about what the actual character would do. And maybe Roadhog is not as into [K-Pop music] as we might think. But it was a funny thought that came by during this process, because since we had done one from Junkrat. But ultimately… we’re not sure what music he’s into yet, but maybe it’s not this.”
Dennett confirmed that players who missed out on the Junkrat skin from the first LE SSERAFIM collab, which was tied to the game mode “Concert Clash,” will have an opportunity to grab him once again. As a result, there won’t be a new free skin for the event.
“We didn’t bring the game mode back,” Dennett said. “But we did bring the [Junkrat] skin back because we wanted to give folks who didn’t have the time or the opportunity to get it the first time around a time this time.”
Though Overwatch 2 has done collabs with Transformers and Cowboy Bebop so far, this new LE SSERAFIM collab marks the first time the game has returned to one of their previous partners with all-new material. Fans may assume that this collab getting another set of skins certainly sets the stage for all of the others to return too, but should they?
“I would say that we ourselves are fans on the team and when there’s so much excitement both on the team and from our players, it’s hard to not do another round,” Dennett said about the potential for other collabs to return. “So it’s definitely a possibility and this is a really fun way for us to build off that first collaboration. That said, we don’t want to make any promises or get any hopes up for all of these. We’re hoping to do more and more [collabs] and doing double, triple of all those gets a little daunting.”
Finally, Overwatch 2 players may recall that the first LE SSERAFIM collab offered a frustrating issue for streamers as the main menu for the game would lead to songs from the group playing almost in full. As a result, streamers had to rush to mute the game when returning to the menu, or else be hit with a copyright strike.
“I know as soon as I say it, we’ll end up messing up and it’ll happen,” Dennett said. “But we were very aware of that issue and hopefully we’ve solved it this time.”
The new Overwatch 2 x LE SSERAFIM collab arrives in game on Tuesday, March 18th.
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