Blizzard reveals the new Overwatch character, and it's not Sombra

Blizzard has unveiled the newest addition to the Overwatch lineup, and it is in fact one of the founding members of the team: Ana Amari, a “battle-scarred veteran” who uses specialized weapons to provide long-range support to her teammates. 

Ana's primary weapon is the Biotic Rifle, which fires darts that can either heal allies or harm enemies. She also carries Biotic Grenades that will simultaneously heal and harm within an area of effect. The grenade gives affected allies a temporary boost to any additional healing, while affected enemies won't be able to heal at all. Her sidearm shoots a Sleep Dart that puts enemies down without killing them, adding yet another stun effect to the game. Finally, her ultimate is Nano Boost, which grants teammates increased speed, damage, and resistance to attacks.

What's interesting here is that it seemed all but certain that the new character would be named Sombra. There's a good breakdown as to why on NeoGAF, and some elements of that speculation were correct: She's a support sniper, she disappeared after the fall of Overwatch, and she is Pharah's mother. But beyond that, it looks like we got it wrong. Nicely played, Blizzard.

There's no word yet on when Ana will go live, but we'll let you know when we hear something. And now, enjoy an origin video and some screens. 

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.