Overwatch's Next Character, Sombra, Officially Revealed [UPDATE]

Update 2: During Friday's Overwatch panel, further details were shared regarding the design of Sombra and the way she plays. While it doesn't do a ton of damage, her machine pistol has a large magazine. In addition to her Hack ability affecting other players (preventing them from using abilities) and health packs (making them unusable for enemies), she can hack Torbjorn's turrets. This doesn't damage or take control of them, but it does shut them down for a while, making it easier to destroy them. She also has a passive, Opportunist, that allows her to see enemies who are below 50 percent health through walls. While using her Thermoptic Camo, she is completely invisible to enemies--there's no shimmer to give her away.

Blizzard also discussed how Sombra was a character they were working on quite some time ago. Some of the ideas for her ended up being used for Hanzo and Genji, the latter of which was originally envisioned as a slow-moving stealth character who would backstab enemies. At the time, Sombra had a double jump, throwing knives, and a dagger she could throw that would reveal nearby enemies, which is obviously something that Hanzo ended up with. Later on, her hooded look (pictured above) was deemed to have too similar a silhouette to that of Ana, who was also being worked on at the time. That resulted in the final, cyberpunk-style look that Sombra ended up with.

Along with some concept art, Blizzard shared images of two Legendary skins Sombra has. You can see those in the gallery above.

Update: Sombra's page on the Overwatch website is live, detailing her abilities and weapon, which is a short-range machine pistol. Her abilities are a lot like what's seen in the trailer. Hack can be used on enemies to stop them from using abilities, or on health packs to make them unusable by enemies. Thermoptic Camo lets her go invisible, gaining movement speed; this effect ends by attacking, using abilities, or taking damage. Translocator tosses out a beacon that she can teleport to, even while it's still moving. Finally, EMP lets out a blast around her, destroying barriers and shields, and hacking nearby enemies.

Original Story: Blizzard at long last confirmed the hacker-centric Overwatch character Sombra today.

During BlizzCon's opening ceremony, the company began to roll a video recapping the launch of Overwatch. The video seemingly began to have technical issues, only for it to serve as an introduction to Sombra in a short film featuring her, Widowmaker, and Reaper infiltrating some kind of top-secret facility. You can watch it above.

As of yet, her in-game abilities haven't been shared. The video shows her going invisible, hacking things, and teleporting, which may offer some hints as to what she'll be like. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime described her as a "stealthy, offensive" character who is able to hack enemy abilities, but he didn't share more than that.

There are also new maps on the way, including Oasis, which is pictured above. There's also a new mode called Arcade on the way that will host "new game modes, new rulesets, and exclusive maps." One of these maps is Echo Point Antarctica. It's designed for Arcade's 1v1 and 3v3 Arena game modes, which are just two of the modes coming.

Sombra, the Arcade, and Echo Point Antarctica will arrive on the Public Test Realm next week, with Oasis coming to the PTR in December.

More details will be revealed during the Overwatch panel later today. We'll report back then with more.

For more on the big BlizzCon news so far, check out the stories below.

• Diablo 3 Necromancer Class Confirmed
• Diablo 3 Adding a Retro, Diablo 1-Style Mode
• Next Heroes of the Storm Playable Characters Revealed
• Blizzard Setting Up Its Own Overwatch Competitive League
• Hearthstone's Next Expansion Revealed, Alongside Several New Cards