Upcoming Overwatch Patch May Include a Long-Awaited New Hero and a Returning Mode

New character Doomfist might soon be coming to Blizzard’s Overwatch along with Summer Games, a playable game mode from summer 2016. As was spotted by fans on Reddit and the Overwatch forums, the most recent update to Overwatch’s public test realm has seemingly been dubbed “1.13.0.0 Doomfist / Summer Games” by Blizzard.

Fans combed through update 1.13’s crash logs to discover the references hidden many, many thousands of lines deep within the code. Blizzard, who has not ever actually announced either that Doomfist would become a playable character, has deleted the reference since its discovery.

Overwatch players have been waiting for Doomfist’s release for what probably feels like an eternity. Doomfist was first referenced in Overwatch’s debut trailer in 2014; he has a background presence in the Numbani map that launched with the game in May 2016; and he popped up again during Sombra’s announcement video in September 2017.

But this isn’t the first time Doomfist’s release seemed imminent. Fans have interpreted various information since Overwatch’s launch as indicative of his arrival only to be disappointed each time.

All the while, actor Terry Crews has been lobbying Blizzard to allow him to voice Doomfist. Crews visited Blizzard headquarters in December 2016 and has even recorded himself voicing lines he made up for the character.

As mentioned, Blizzard has never officially stated that it planned to release Doomfist as a playable character. It has, however, been open to the idea of Summer Games, which first ran during August 2016, returning. Game Director Jeff Kaplan has previously stated that instead of releasing new events in Overwatch’s second year, the developer planned to refine previous events. Specifically, Kaplan told fans that Lucioball, a part of last year’s Summer Games, could make a return.

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