Collin MacGregor
It’s been over three months since Blizzard released a new hero for their class based shooter Overwatch and fans are already clamoring for them to add another. Thankfully, our prayers may be answered shortly as the enigmatic Doomfist appears to be on the way. Teased since the game’s release, players have been able to see posters regarding this character in the Numbani map. This hero was also teased in the original Overwatch animated trailer that showed his legendary weapon, The Doomfist, on display at a museum. The weapon was believed to be so powerful that it could “…level a skyscraper,” and was featured in the Numbani payload.
Curiosities weren’t peaked until actor Terry Crews campaigned to be the voice of this character, going so far as to hold a mock audition with Yahoo Esports. Crews decided to also tease his fans earlier by releasing a picture of himself in front of the Overwatch logo at Blizzard’s studio in Irvine, California. However, that was the last we really heard of Doomfist until the build up to Blizzard’s 24th hero Orisa began.
In the newest character’s origin story, players learned that this robot’s creator, Efi Oladele was at an airport in Numbani when Doomfist attacked. This not only caused Efi to create her guardian Orisa, but changed some visual cues for the Numbani map itself in Overwatch. Players would now see all of the destroyed OR15 bots in the Attacker’s Spawn and the actual gauntlet was missing from the payload, indicating Doomfist had taken it back.
Until a few days ago we didn’t know where Doomfist had been hiding, but according to a story posted by Blizzard, Akande Ogundimu (Doomfist) was actually locked up in prison. However, he was eventually freed by the mercenary organization Talon lead by Reaper. After escaping prison, Akande resurfaced in Numbani where he ran into Efi and required his iconic weapon. This marked the first official tease of Doomfist by Blizzard, with many believing that he will appear in this year’s Summer Games event.
This was thanks to a crash log that was discovered and subsequently posted on the Blizzard forums stating:
————————————————– —————–
ERROR
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<Inspector.Summary:>
Overwatch – 1.13.0.0 Doomfist / Summer Games: Assertion failed: 0x454C339D “0x811C9DC5”
<: Inspector.Summary><Inspector.Assertion:>
Most recent assert: 0xF591566F (8520): Assertion failed: 0x454C339D “0x811C9DC5”
There has been no official comment on when or if Doomfist is actually coming, however, Reddit user ArielleSweetSugar put together an interesting timeline that shows when this hero could release. If Blizzard follows the same release schedule as Orisa it’s possible that users will see another teaser release on July 7, the third teaser on July 10, and the actual character going live on the PTR (Public Test Realm) on July 13.
This is of course speculation, but there has been a mountain of evidence to at least suggest that the Summer Games 2017 will be coming to Overwatch soon. Despite some believing that Doomfist would appear first at BlizzCon 2017, it appears we may be getting this villain sooner than we thought. Make sure to check back here as we update this story with any new information regarding Akande Ogundimu.
Update 1: July 6
An origin trailer and developer update have officially dropped for Doomfist confirming he is the next hero coming. Check it out and all its glory below.
His primary attack is a shotgun that’s built into the knuckles of his gun, while his secondary is a charge-up attack that can pass through barriers. His ultimate lets him launch into the air and then come crashing down, causing damage in a large radius around him. Doomfist is currently available in the PTR for testing so get out there and go punch your friends to death.