Overwatch 2’s first IP collaboration is coming in Season 3, and it’s with a property couple of might’ve forecasted. Blizzard is adding One-Punch Man skins to the game this next season with Doom fist leading the charge in his Santana attire total with the signature red and yellow outfit the overpowered One-Punch Male hero wears.

While we do not yet understand who else will be getting One-Punch Male skins beyond Doom fist, did speak to Overwatch 2’s industrial lead and VP Jon Spector and art director Dion Rogers to read more about the work that entered into this crossover as well as how the Overwatch 2 group will approach future collabs. You can check out our full, special Q&A with the designers listed below:

I observed in the sneak peek of the skin that he’s carrying a bag of groceries. Is that an emote? What is that?

Dion Rogers: Yeah, I believe when we initially announced it, one of the artists began sketching Santana as Doom fist literally prior to the meeting was finished. So we had a lot of fans on the team. It was surprising to discover how numerous individuals on the team enjoyed the program, and they were really excited that being our very first IP collab with One-Punch Guy.

And Jon, I understand you mentioned in 2015 that you had an interest in this sort of collaborations like this. When did One-Punch Man enter this conversation? Was it going to be One-Punch Man from the start, or as extension of that, was it constantly going to be an anime?

Jon: So, we started with a pretty broad look, and I think we got to anime truly quickly due to the fact that from– simply again, what did we think is cool– a lot of us like a few of these shows, however then likewise, as we’ve done a few of the research study with our players and inquired about ‘What are your favorite interests outside Overwatch?’ Like, anime is at the top of that list each and every single time for what our gamers have an interest in and what they believe is cool. We zeroed in on beginning there pretty rapidly. The interview I believe that you’re referencing in 2015, at that time, we were not 100% on this particular thing, however we were really close. And so, we had a sense then of what we were looking to do and how this might come to life in the game. And we were truly thrilled about it, but undoubtedly have not really been able to talk about it till now as we get closer to the launch.

Dion: Well, the majority of the characters we imagine they’re cos playing the heroes– they’re fans of One-Punch. And Doom fist, you undoubtedly, you might have heard among his lines is ‘One punch is all I require.’ This is undoubtedly an inspired line from the program. So, we see our characters as cosplay and the heroes from, One-Punch Male. Santana being the best fit for Doom fist, especially, one of the artists right away drew an extremely rough sketch of what he might look like. And basically, the scale of the heroes and the scale of Santana fits Overwatch. It feels like we needed to do something that we made certain our hero is still there. Doom fist is still there, however we’re celebrating the look of Santana in Overwatch.

Dion: Yeah, we did a great deal of sketches. There was some that were pretty spot-on. You can feel that with Santana. You’re right, it’s collective. We’re always dealing with gameplay, and we’ll push it too far, pull it back, find that sweet area so that you still recognize Doom fist, you understand, how to strategize against it. His silhouette hasn’t changed so greatly that you don’t know what methods you need to take in the video game. Therefore, this is where we landed on the more cosplay aspect of the intro of if we were to do more, that’s how we would approach it in the future.

Dion: There are some other cosmetics related to the occasions that we’ll go into more, I believe, later on. However yeah, there are fans of the program, so we pulled things that we thought were funny or that we just kept in mind from the program. And there’s a scene where Santana undoubtedly has groceries that he reclaims to his home. So, you’ll discover that’s included in this occasion too.

I guess let’s begin there. Inform me, why One-Punch Guy? Why did that fit for this first collab?

Jon Spector: So, we actually started seriously checking out these types of opportunities last year as we were prepping for the launch of Overwatch 2, and as we were sort of setting out to go find the best first collab. Like, we had a number of tests that we thought of. The very first was actually fundamental. It was like, ‘Is this cool?’ Which was talking with our entire group about it, but also, you know, attempting to put the lens on of Overwatch players and stating like, ‘Do we believe our players will think this is cool?’ And after that beyond that, we likewise began thinking of like which kinds of programs or places that we might collab with, had an art style that felt right for the video game, and where we believed the characters would be cool to bring to life in the Overwatch universe. And so, as we were talking to Banzai NAMC and examining a few of the choices, One-Punch Male type of immediately leapt to the top as simply this super enjoyable world that they’ve created with these fantastic iconic characters. And we liked– I believe Dion can talk more about this– even as we just started strategizing what it could appear like to bring One-Punch Guy to life in Overwatch, we all just got so excited that we had to do it.

I think of with these type of collaborations that you’re doing now there’s a fine line between making them appear like the characters are supposed to look like, while also preserving clarity. You require knowing that it’s Doom fist or Ana, whoever, you require understanding it’s that person when you’re happening the corner, and you find them. What was it like navigating that kind of balance in between that?

Undoubtedly the very first skin that we have here is Santana Doom fist. It makes perfect sense for a One-Punch Guy cooperation.

Are voice lines an element in this?

Dion: Extremely much.

Since Doom fist is getting this, would you consider this the primary skin from the occasion?

And if you’re gonna lead with Doom fist Santana, then that obviously means that Doom fist needs to get a buff, right? ‘Cause you want individuals to desire that skin.

Jon: You should have seen the very first test when we said, ‘Well, he, he needs to eliminate everything with one punch.’ That’s a joke, just to be very clear. But yeah, there ‘s’s this fun. I believe among the things that personally I like about the One-Punch Guy series… I’ve enjoyed a fair quantity of various Shōnen programs. They constantly have the arc of the heroes getting more powerful with time, and they start too weak to really affect the world, and you open in One-Punch Man with the most OP hero that’s ever existed. So, I think that’s always been an enjoyable element of the program. It’s something I’ve liked as a fan. Undoubtedly in the Overwatch universe, it’s the team’s job to keep things feeling well-balanced. I, I believe Doom Fest, uh, killing everyone with one punch would not make for fantastic gameplay.

And we joke about the balance, however seriously, I understand that Doom fist is not the most popular hero, not the most popular tank. Do win rates and choose rates aspect into this conversation at all?

Jon: Given Santana’s centrality in the One-Punch Male story, we believed that this was the very best one to lead with to show gamers what it implies to us to bring One-Punch Guy to life in Overwatch 2. We’ve– and I say we– the art, the other teams have done this incredible job of bringing several other characters to life too. And so, I think as we get closer to the occasion in March and can reveal the full lineup of what gamers can anticipate, you’ll see that it’s like Santana was, we believe the right skin to lead with and the ideal hero to reveal off. But personally, I enjoy whatever else that the group has actually built and can’t wait to be able to show more of that, too.

Jon: You suggest in terms of, like how we’re believing about the skins and the collab?

And can you speak at all about the circulation plans for these skins and these cosmetics? Certainly Overwatch 2 has a battle pass system now. Will these show up in the store, are they gonna remain in the battle pass, or a mix of those?

I understand you stated that you wanted them to look like they were cos playing the heroes, basically. Or if not, what do you believe was most crucial to get right about these?

Jon: We have in Season 3– I believe this will come out quickly. As we’re flaunting more of Season 3– like One-Punch Male for us is an occasion within this season, but it’s not like the seasonal style. And so, we have a various type of Asian mythology and Asian goddesses and gods style, for Season 3 cosmetics more broadly. Like our mythic skin is along that line and is in the battle pass, and there are a number of other skins in that way too.

Dion: I believe the most crucial part was to commemorate both IPs. You know, we want na make sure Overwatch is still there, but we’re teaming up with a various partner, we want na make sure they’re satisfied with the outcome too. And so, the end balance eventually resulted in the cosplay perception, however we believe we caught– you can see in the picture behind you– we selected our what’s those crucial colors that make Santana who he is, you understand, entire red that he uses, where would that be placed on our Overwatch hero?

Some other video games, in some cases they’ll put it as a level 100 reward in the fight pass, something like that. Why not put it in the battle pass?

Jon: So, we’re planning to put the skins generally in the shop when we’re running the event, and after that we’ve chosen one of the legendary skins for the event and made that the reward for the challenges throughout the One-Punch Man event. That all the players have the capability to go in and earn one of the significant skins from the collab, and then the others will be offered in the shop.

Jon: Yeah. For us, this was like very artistically led the whole method of ‘We have this fantastic chance to deal with One-Punch Man. What are the coolest things that we can do to bring that to life?’ And, therefore I think Santana is a remarkable example of that. Yeah, there was never a ‘Hey, we need to figure out how to get, you understand, the most popular hero in this.’ That’s not one of the requirements we looked at.

Like you stated, you’re leading with the Doom fist skin, but Doom fist is not the most popular hero. Is that a discussion that ever took location while you guys were talking about this?

Dion: No, it has to be Doom fist Santana.

Have video game modes went into the conversation with this at all? Is a One-Punch Male game mode on the table?

Dion: We’re trying a bunch of things. You simply… perhaps remain tuned.

Speaking broadly about these sorts of crossovers, why is this sort of thing even required? What does it give Overwatch 2?

Dion: I would like to, however we haven’t talked much about it.

And so, at least my own viewpoint is, I believe we require waiting and see a bit of how this very first one goes. I believe we’re going to experiment with various things, see what sticks and works. I believe there’s really plainly some point at which you have actually gone too far there.

Furthermore, I’m glad you discussed Diablo, Diablo 4 is coming up. Has that gotten in any of the discussions at all?

And how regularly do you see these sorts of things occurring? Do we need one every season, or do you think that would type of dull the anticipation for it?

My Twitter mentions were full for a very long time with, you understand, everybody’s preferred anime show or other types of ideas. I expect this as part of that process. Yeah, our gamers are gonna be all trying to bring to life or recommend other cool ideas.

Dion: Oh, we, we like our own video games too. It’s super enjoyable to do the internal like, Diablo skin or Star Craft skin. Yeah, we’d definitely enjoy doing more of those.

Jon: Yeah, I’d say for where we’re at now– like this is the very first time that we’re actually attempting something of this scale as you kept in mind. We have actually done the LEGO skin, we’ve done other Blizzard IP in the Overwatch universe before. So, this actually for us is kind of a beginning point. And our hope is that we’ll do more things like this, perhaps some things that are smaller scale. However, in every instance, it’s sort of a ‘do we believe this is cool and do we expect our players will?’ And, you know, does it feel as we’re sketching things out, this fits well within the Overwatch universe. As long as I think we can stick to those concepts, there are probably a bunch of cool things that we can do over time, and the group is interested in looking at.

And that’s something that I believe is incredible about the Overwatch neighborhood. Like this is such an innovative and talented and passionate group of gamers that, even before we reveal One-Punch Male, we’ve seen loads of simply fun fan art or other inspired concepts. We love how enthusiastic and fired up our players are about things like this.

Dion: It’s really something artistically– especially the art team– we’ve been wishing to provide for a long time. You might have kept in mind the LEGO Bastion collab that we did a long time ago for Overwatch 1. Therefore, we have actually constantly desired to get back to that, however it still was necessary to the team [to see] what felt right, what was the group excited by, especially the art team, ’cause this would be a creative-driven thing. Undoubtedly the Overwatch scene, there are a lot of anime fans and, we have actually been thinking about what would fit and Overwatch, and then the chance for One-Punch came up, and the team just jumped at it. However, you know, the game was huge, and we kept going. We kept attempting to figure out what’s next. And it’s actually fascinating to finally do this. This is something we’ve been itching as an art group to do for a long time. And so, it simply felt like this is the correct time to do it together.

With this first kind of IP collab, you 2 both realize you’ve opened the door to another kind of request. Instead of people saying enthusiast or nerf Genii, now they’re gonna be on Twitter asking ‘Why aren’t we doing this collab next? I desire this next.’ Have you prepared for this sort of reactions? And how do you plan on factoring those type of tips into your equation when it comes to figuring out things like this?

Jon: I think that’s one of the reasons why, aside from, you know, whatever else that Dion’s talked about, why, at least from my point of view, I loved where the art team and the designers landed in terms of how we brought these characters to life in Overwatch 2. It’s, still Doom fist, and it’s not that now all of an abrupt in Overwatch 2, instead of playing Doom fist the tank, you can play Santana flying around eliminating everything in one punch. I would hope that for those gamers who were sort of worried about not desiring an enormous expansion of ‘not Overwatch heroes’ all over the game, I would hope that they see the approach that we have actually taken here and that it reassures them that this is Doom fist, and he’s cos playing as Santana, and it still plays and looks like Doom fist.

Dion: Considering that it’s our first one now, the team is, they’re interested now. It was truly fun to make this 1. Therefore now, I can see the interest on the group of, ‘Okay, let’s check out some other areas if we can,’ you understand? I think it… especially seeing the response from the players will… I’d love to do more if we can.

And then beyond that, we also started believing about like which types of programs or places that we could collab with, had an art style that felt right for the video game, and where we thought the characters would be cool to bring to life in the Overwatch universe. Jon: Offered Santana’s centrality in the One-Punch Male story, we thought that this was the finest one to lead with to show gamers what it implies to us to bring One-Punch Man to life in Overwatch 2. And so, I think as we get closer to the occasion in March and can reveal the complete lineup of what gamers can anticipate, you’ll see that it’s like Santana was, we think the right skin to lead with and the ideal hero to reveal off. Certainly the Overwatch scene, there are a lot of anime fans and, we have actually been thinking about what would fit and Overwatch, and then the opportunity for One-Punch came up, and the team just leapt at it. I think some people probably would state– perhaps Overwatch purists will say– they want to Overwatch to simply be Overwatch.

Jon: And we’ve also simply heard a lot from our players that this is the type of thing that they’re interested in seeing. And so, because this is the first time that we’re really doing something on this scale, we likewise sort of look at it as simply a chance to try something that we think is actually cool and to see how our gamers respond to it?

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Dion, you specifically pointed out the LEGO Bastion skin, and I understand that there are some in-house cooperations with different Blizzard video games. Are those examples still on the table or moving on? Does every crossover requirement to be something One-Punch Male scale, or can we anticipate smaller drops along the way?

I think some individuals most likely would say– maybe Overwatch purists will say– they desire Overwatch to simply be Overwatch. Having all these… I do not want to say ‘cartoon skins,’ however not their heroes that they’re familiar with.

Overwatch 2’s One-Punch Man occasion begins on March 7th.