Some Overwatch 2 heroes may never get collab skins and there’s a good reason why

Overwatch 2 has revealed its latest collab, a second team-up with Kpop group Le Sserafim and while some heroes are getting love, don’t expect every hero to be in line for a special skin.

The latest batch of skins, featuring Ashe, Illari, D.Va, Mercy, and Juno, are set to arrive on March 18, but for fans expecting other characters to get the collab treatment, there’s a reason why Blizzard went for those heroes instead.

In fact, players might be waiting a long time for certain heroes to ever get a collab skin.

Speaking with PC Gamer, Overwatch 2 Art Director Dion Rogers revealed the difficulties designing skins for certain heroes when it comes to collabs and it sounds like Le Sserafim was one of the easier collabs in comparison to One Punch Man or Cowboy Bebop.

Overwatch 2 dev explains why some heroes don’t have collab skins

According to Rogers, one of the problems the art team faces is being able to make sure a hero maintains their silhouette so it doesn’t make the gameplay confusing for everyone in a match.

“Some characters are easier than others to create a casual outfit for,” he stated. “A lot of characters have a base skin with a lot of armor and weaponry, and so we need to maintain their silhouette and the read for gameplay reasons. So, there are many characters that are harder than others to bring down to a more casual outfit. Reinhardt, for example, is a very difficult character. What’s a normal day for Reinhardt?”

He further noted that heroes like Roadhog and Mercy are especially challenging, albeit for different reasons.

“Roadhog is also pretty hard. Sometimes, the character’s lack of armor also makes it difficult. Having some kind of starting point just makes it a lot easier to maintain their silhouettes and their gameplay reads while, you know, putting on a new outfit,” the Art Director added.

With Mercy, her wings are actually what make her a challenge, especially because removing them, or other features associated with her kit, would hurt the gameplay experience.

“So sometimes, if we talk to a collaborator and they’re like, ‘Oh, can we remove the wings?’ We’re like, ‘Oh, no.’”

However, with Le Sserafim and this being the second collab with them, these skins were more about the fashion on display and not so much the “technical aspects” that we’ve seen from other collaborations.