Overwatch 2 x Gundam Collab Was Almost Much Different

Summary

Overwatch 2 devs revealed scrapped Gundam Wing crossover skin ideas like Tallgeese Ana and Heavyarms Mauga.
The crossover event features new skins available until May 12.

Overwatch 2 just revealed several cut skin ideas from the upcoming Gundam Wing crossover event, including a pilot D.Va, Tallgeese Ana, and Heavyarms Mauga and Zarya. While these skins never made it past the concept design phase, they paint a different picture of what the Overwatch 2 x Gundam Wing collaboration could have looked like.

The crossover event between Overwatch 2 and Gundam Wing has officially been revealed, featuring Mercy as Wing Gundam Zero, Ramattra as Epyon, Soldier: 76 as Tallgeese, and Reaper as Deathscythe. Fans can pick up these skins for 2800 Overwatch Coins in individual bundles or all together for 5900 Overwatch Coins from April 29 through May 12.

overwatch 2 characters in a line in the stadium

Rumor: New Overwatch Game Could Be Something Unexpected

A new Overwatch game may be in development, and Blizzard is possibly taking big swings to bring a brand-new gameplay experience.

Posts

By Jackie Arias

That said, the Gundam Wing collaboration in Overwatch 2 almost featured a very different roster of characters. During interviews with Comicbook and GameSpot, Overwatch 2 associate director of product management Aimee Dennett and art director Dion Rogers revealed some of the skin ideas that were cut during the development stage, including Ana as Tallgeese, Mauga and Zarya as Heavyarms, and D.Va as one of the human pilots of Gundam Wing and their mech. “You always have in your head, 'Oh, these are obvious combinations,' but once you see it on paper, it's not,” Dennet said. Aspects of these skins, like Heavyarms Mauga’s weapons, looked “unbelievable,” but the complete concepts didn’t shine as much as the four who made the cut.

Overwatch 2 x Gundam Wing Unused Skin Ideas

Tallgeese Ana
Heavyarms Mauga
Heavyarms Zarya
D.Va as one of the human characters in Gundam Wing

This also made the Gundam Wing crossover the first to have four heroes who have already had skins in previous collaborations. Interestingly enough, Ana, who hasn’t been in a collab yet, was the original concept for Tallgeese, due to their similar weapons – but once compared to Soldier: 76, Overwatch 2 went with the latter. “We’ve been dying to give Ana a collaboration skin,” Dennett said, “but then when you looked at Soldier versus Ana side by side, it was really clear that Soldier was the way to go.” While Overwatch 2 isn’t against using past collab skin counts as a tiebreaker, Dennett explained that the successful execution of concept because of visual or thematic reasons trumps everything else when it comes to crossovers.

Of the chosen skins, Ramattra is the only robotic character in the collaboration, which seemed like an oversight to some players. However, according to Rogers, this was an intentional choice because “Omnic heroes are a little more difficult to be as transformative as we want it to be,” with regard to Gundam. Ramattra was an exception, both because rendering the villainous Epyon was a challenge because of the Overwatch 2 character’s twin forms, and because of his popularity. “I don’t think we could actually have chosen a different hero based on some of the fans,” Rogers mused.

This new philosophy is a departure from the team's previous approach to crossovers and has led to some of the most drastically transformative collaboration skins in Overwatch 2's history. "This is the first skin where we fully replaced Mercy," Rogers said. "You don’t actually see her skin, her face is gone." Even so, Overwatch 2 made sure to retain her silhouette with her animations, staff, and most importantly, her wings. "Her wings allow us to be that transformative with her because the wings are always there. As long as we keep the wings there, players will recognize the hero.”

"This is the first skin where we fully replaced Mercy. You don’t actually see her skin, her face is gone. Her wings allow us to be that transformative with her because the wings are always there. As long as we keep the wings there, players will recognize the hero.”

Despite the quality of these skins, these other concepts do make one wonder what it would have looked like with a different lineup. Luckily, as Overwatch 2’s second collaboration with LE SSERAFIM proved, players could always see more Gundam skins in Future Earth someday.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image

Display card tags widget

Shooter

Display card system widget

Systems

Display card community and brand rating widget Display card open critics widget

OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 65%

Display card main info widget

Released: August 10, 2023
ESRB: T For Teen // Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence
Developer(s): Blizzard
Publisher(s): Blizzard
Engine: Proprietary Engine
Multiplayer: Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start Display card media widget end

Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.