Just a few days ago the wide world of the internet was lit aflame with the speculation whirls of a leak. The image in question was an account stats screen from an Overwatch testing account named JumpyWizard. In the “Time Played” section of the stats screen is a new name, and a new hero portrait. The 31st Hero coming to Overwatch shortly seems to be named Sigma.
Obviously, due to the leak, Blizzard had to step out of their hero-design cave and maybe say something brief to the fans to quell some of the confusion.
Is Sigma real, or was this leak just a well-crafted ruse by a fan?
In this quick Developer Update, Game Director Jeff Kaplan goes into detail about the upcoming…
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) July 20, 2019
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Well, we know now that Sigma is going to be the next Hero added to the Overwatch roster. Where, when, and who are still up in the air, though that doesn’t stop fans from speculating.
The only bits we know for sure are that Sigma is the hero’s name, they have some sort of mathematical background, and that there may or may not be an ability in the champions kit that acts as some sort of warp. The clip with Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan shows a Zayra-like Grav ball landing mid-screen and sucking up the feed from Kaplan, an obvious hint at one of Sigma’s abilities.
Tundra, on Twitter, mentioned that they believe Sigma could be one of the remaining unsung faces from the “Original Overwatch Team” photo that appears in the Ana Origins video.
I bet Sigma is Mohawk guy from the original Overwatch members pic.twitter.com/CzcuQIx5Ln
— Bailey (@TundraOW) July 18, 2019
Another fan, who is obviously a little versed in advanced mechanics and mathematics noted that one of the equations shown in the Kaplan teaser has to do with gravity, while another is the direct formula for centripetal acceleration.
“A centripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path. Its direction is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the instantaneous center of curvature of the path.” reads the Wikipedia entry.
This Hero tease may just be Blizzard’s most vague one yet, and the entire Overwatch community is buzzing right now, especially as the hushed murmurs are that Sigma is a new Tank.
With both the Overwatch League, and the casual game getting a 2-2-2 Role Lock, there is a whole new pressure on the Overwatch Hero design team to provide stability for a precariously balanced pvp experience.
Who do you think Sigma is? What role will they play within the Overwatch dynamic?
