15 January 2026

Overwatch 2 Teases First New Hero of 2026

By newsgame

Overwatch 2 recently released a short story video that heavily suggested Anran might be coming to the game soon, and leaked ultimate voice lines might all but confirm she is. While there has not been any official word as to what heroes are coming to Overwatch 2 next, there is an extremely high chance Anran will be among them.

For most of Overwatch 2’s life, three new heroes have been added to the hero shooter each year. In 2025, those characters included Freja, Wuyang, and Vendetta, the latter of which had only just arrived in Overwatch 2 Season 20. As of right now, the new heroes for 2026 are shrouded in mystery, but players can assume there will be three more, arriving in Seasons 22, 24, and 26.

It’s Time to Admit that Overwatch 2 is Superior to the First Game, and is a Worthy Sequel

As a longtime Overwatch player, I can finally admit that Overwatch 2 has surpassed the original game over 4 years after its launch.

Overwatch 2 Hero 46 Is Probably Anran Ye

However, Overwatch 2 might have just teased who Season 22’s Hero 46 is going to be. “The Invitation” is a new short story narrated by Winston voice actor Crispin Freeman that Overwatch 2 recently released. The video is centered on his decision to send invitations to promising candidates for Overwatch – specifically Wuyang and Anran Ye, two members of Wuxing University in China. The former is an aquatic support hero released during Overwatch 2 Season 18, while the latter is his fiery elder sister, who appears in his backstory and cinematic trailer, where she was also invited to join Overwatch alongside her brother. While both appear in the new art revealed in “The Invitation,” the camera focuses more on Anran than Wuyang, which immediately caught the eye of fans, who believed it might be a teaser for the character’s debut as a playable hero.

Not long after, a leak all but confirmed these suspicions were almost certainly founded. Following tips from Portaloverwatch, OverFire discovered new voice lines in the game from Echo in Overwatch 2 in which she says “Scorch the sky!” in English and “Flaming feathers scorch the sky!” in Chinese, sharing them on Twitter. What’s more, these voice lines appear in multiple different localizations already, implying Anran might be decently far along in development.

This is far from the only teaser gamers have gotten for Anran in Overwatch 2 as well. Beyond the fact that she was directly invited to join the organization in Wuyang’s cinematic trailer, “Elemental Kin,” she could also be seen in an official post shared last Christmas, in which Anran is the only character present in the art that isn’t currently playable.

It is important to note that this doesn’t technically mean Anran is coming to Overwatch 2 in Season 22, or even later in 2026. It is possible this evidence was misinterpreted, or that Anran could arrive much later. However, with so much mounting evidence, it may be more surprising if Anran were not added to the roster soon than it would be if she were.

What Other Heroes Might Come to Overwatch 2 in 2026?

As for the other heroes players might see, there are a lot of different options that have been teased lately. Former Overwatch operative Emre Sarioglu briefly appeared in Freja’s cinematic trailer and backstory comic, and Omnic Talon executive Maximilien has been appearing a suspiciously large number of times since late 2024. Additionally, a recent Easter egg on Busan suggests new activity from MEKA Squad, which could imply that one of D.Va’s allies could finally join her in Overwatch 2.

Either way, Overwatch 2 fans won’t have to wait long to find out. A recent Weekly Recall blog implied Overwatch 2 has a packed schedule early this year, meaning gamers can expect to see some big news very soon. There are also four more empty slots in Overwatch 2’s in-game Story feature after “The Invitation,” so there will likely be more short stories, cinematics, or comics for players to enjoy in the near future.