Overwatch fans all say the same thing as they demand new hero is changed
Blizzard shocked the Overwatch audience earlier this week when it announced a mammoth update to the game, bringing not one but
new heroes in a rebooted Season 1 starting on February 10, 2026.
The two support, two damage and single new tank characters are all unique in their own ways, taking the already impressive Overwatch roster from 45 up to a nice round 50. However, while all of the new characters are differentiated from the rest of the line-up, there’s one that’s catching a bit of flack from the community.
Anran is one of the upcoming damage heroes who uses fire to take down her opponents. She’s armed with a fan, throwing out fireballs before quite literally ‘fanning the flames’ to set opponents alight.
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It’s a cool mechanic, and one that players are already sinking their teeth into. Anran is currently available to try out in Quick Play and Arcade modes in the run up to next week’s season.
But it’s not Anran’s gameplay that players are taking issue with - it’s her appearance.
Right now, the Overwatch subreddit is filled with gamers accusing Blizzard of falling foul of ‘same face syndrome’ with Anran’s facial features appearing strikingly similar to some of Overwatch’s other heroes.
One Reddit user overlays Juno’s face with Anran’s, and the similarities are fairly striking. They both feature almost the same facial structure with their features falling almost exactly in the same place.
This isn’t a huge deal during gameplay - we’re hardly looking into our opponents eyes while trying to take them down in a team-fight - but the Overwatch community appears to be rattled given how different Anran’s design appears to be from her concept art.
Blizzard is taking a big story approach to Overwatch this year with arcs telling a narrative with each passing season. These will be told through both cinematics and accompanying comic books with the first ones already available to peruse now.
In one copy, we see a version of Anran that looks pretty drastically different to the Pixar-ification that’s in the final game.
As a result, plenty of players are taking to ‘fixing’ Anran’s face with a plethora of edited versions making their way onto the site. Some are fairly tame adjustments, while others are clearly taking the mick.
“If the internet bullied a huge movie studio into changing a character's face, then we can do the same for Overwatch,” writes one gamer on the Overwatch subreddit. This is in reference to when Paramount decided to overhaul the design of Sonic the Hedgehog after everyone unanimously decided that the initial trailer was cursed.
Blizzard has made indication that it’s going to change Anran’s appearance based on the current feedback.
In terms of how she actually
Another player adds, “Anran's Fire Dash feels so right and her Chain Reaction ability is super dope! Even though I barely understand it.”
Adding five new heroes at once is going to be a big task for Blizzard, especially when it comes to balancing the game so all 50 heroes coalesce in a way that keeps the game feeling fun to play.
We’ll find out next week if Blizzard has nailed the landing. Overwatch Season 1 starts on February 10, 2026.