Blizzard Entertainment released Doomfist on Overwatch‘s Public Test Region (PTR) just one day after hinting at the long-awaited brawler’s arrival to the first-person shooter.
Blizzard typically releases heroes on an extended timeline. First there are in-game teasers, then we get some extra information over the course of a week or so, and then the hero lands on the PTR, which is where you can test changes before they reach all Overwatch players. The company even came up with a (maddening) alternate reality game (appropriately abbreviated “ARG”) when it came time to release the hacker, Sombra, in November 2016.
Apparently, though, Blizzard thought Overwatch fans had been teased about Doomfist’s arrival too much already. Today we got his origin story, a new hero page outlining his abilities, and of course the ability to give the gauntlet-wielding melee hero a shot on the PTR.
Blizzard said on Doomfist’s hero page that he’s “a highly-mobile, powerful frontline fighter” who can “slam the ground, knock enemies into the air and off balance, or charge into the fray with his Rocket Punch.” (He also has a basic ranged attack, because this is an FPS, after all.) As you might expect from a gauntlet-wearing hero, Doomfist seems to be focused on getting in other players’ faces and punching them into submission.
Many in the Overwatch community have hoped that Doomfist would shake up the game’s current “dive” meta. Right now there’s very little variation in team composition, especially at the professional level, which limits Overwatch‘s viability as an esport and breeds toxicity amongst its player base. Anyone who mains Junkrat, Bastion, and other “off-meta” heroes knows just how quick other players can be to complain about hero choice.
Whether or not Doomfist will be the answer to the dive meta remains to be seen. If you want to see for yourself before everyone else, you can join the PTR by following these steps:
Step 1: Restart the Battle.net desktop app.
Step 2: Navigate to the Overwatch tab on the left-hand menu.
Step 3: Select “PTR: Overwatch” from the REGION/ACCOUNT drop-down menu.
Step 4: Click “Install” to begin the installation process.
Step 5: Once the PTR client is installed and updated, click “Play” to begin!
Note that Overwatch mentions the Battle.net desktop app even though it’s technically been rebranded as Blizzard.
