Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Codes
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • Community guidelines
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
Subscribe now
Popular
  • Oct Prime Day Deals
  • Essential Hardware
  • Silksong
  • Battlefield 6
  • Quizzes
Don't miss these
a robot with bunny ears tends to some crops
Sim Farmbotic mashes up Stardew Valley and Satisfactory in a cross-platform farming sim where little robot buddies help grow your crops
a metalic samurai in front of a wall of fire
Action Don't lie: You've always wanted to be a djent-fueled shapeshifting robot samurai, and Morbid Metal's imminent playtest will finally deliver the goods
A close-up of Overwatch 2 heroes wearing skins from season 18. In the center is a shirtless Wuyang with blonde hair, a six pack of abs and swim shorts. On his left is Hanzo wearing a gold embroidered coat and dark pants. On the right is Lucio with white hair, a blue jacket, and grey techwear pants.
FPS Overwatch 2 dips its toes into the horny pool with swimsuit skins and a shirtless new healer for its next season
Genji dressed in his Loverwatch outfit
FPS Overwatch 2's new China-exclusive dating sim event looks so good that players say they've been 'robbed' of the experience
Deadlock's six new heroes: Mina, Billy, Paige, The Doorman, Victor, and Drifter.
Third Person Shooter Deadlock's latest character basically gets a portal gun, and his ult teleports enemies to a void hotel where they have to do a platforming challenge
Joker from Persona 5 in Overwatch 2.
FPS You've got approximately 12 months left to enjoy Overwatch 2 because it just got the Persona 5 collaboration kiss of death
Starcraft cosmetics in Diablo 4
RPG Diablo 4 is crossing the streams with Starcraft cosmetics, and honestly? A Terran marine makes a better Barbarian than I'd have expected
Junkrat screaming
FPS Overwatch 2 players are waking up to mountains of loot boxes and silver coins as part of Season 18's Progression 2.0 update
beavis and butthead in call of duty
Call of Duty Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 devs 'straight up turned down' skin deals with 'big, big brands' following Tactical Beavis backlash
Zoey, Rumi, and Mira in the Fortnite collaboration with K-Pop Demon Hunters.
Battle Royale Fortnite's collaboration with K-Pop Demon Hunters is the most excited I've been since Epic gave Hatsune Miku an AK-47
Overwatch 2 Season 18 release date roadmap: Sojourn looking to her left while holding her weapon in the Ultraviolet Sentinel skin in the practice range.
FPS Overwatch 2 Season 18 release date, mythic skin, and roadmap so far
A tank drifts while shooting.
Action Wargaming is making a new World of Tanks for the Overwatch generation: A tank-y hero shooter with 'heroic tank gameplay'
Deadlock's six new heroes: Mina, Billy, Paige, The Doorman, Victor, and Drifter.
MOBA Deadlock is drip-feeding 6 new heroes over the next couple of weeks, and is letting players decide which ones drop first
battlefield 6 portal
FPS 'It has to be grounded': Battlefield 6 devs say cosmetics won't be as goofy as Call of Duty, but that sounds almost too good to be true
Battlefield 6 Road to Battlefield 2042 event: Two soldiers walking away from an armed jeep in water on Iwo Jima beack, as planes fly overhead.
FPS As Call of Duty flips a U-turn on goofy skins, Battlefield 6 devs are making their stance clear from the start: 'We're not chasing trends. We're not chasing other products'
  1. Games
  2. FPS
  3. Overwatch

The alternate Overwatch skins of our dreams (and nightmares)

Features
By James Davenport published 4 July 2016

Take a look at a beer-chugging Roadhog, a terrifying candy-covered Torbjörn, and more.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

If Blizzard renamed Overwatch to Roadhog Fashion Party, I’d be a content man. That’s unlikely to ever happen, so we’ll have to settle with dreaming up our own pigman patterns, which the fervent Overwatch community has already taken to task many times over. In addition to knocking out loads of fan art, players have been sketching skin concepts for each and every hero.

While we may not see any of these skins make it into the game, they’re a fun exercise in speculation about what kind of skins Blizzard will think up for their characters next. They’ll have to be really good. I mean, I haven’t had a loot box craving in some time.

Here are some of the best alternative fan-created skins we could find. If you like them, be sure hit the link and let the creators know! 

Page 1 of 13
Page 1 of 13

SOURCE: Nightmare Candyman Torbjörn
For the record, if this ever becomes an official skin, I’m out. No person likes candy that much. Plus, the lore implications are a bit twisted.  

Page 2 of 13
Page 2 of 13

 SOURCE: Backwoods Roadhog
Hey look, it’s My Dad: The Roadhog Skin! But really, this skin makes me lament the lack of mod support in Overwatch. Maybe leave that kind of stuff out of Competitive Mode, but let me carry a sixer on my shoulder in quickplay… please?  

Page 3 of 13
Page 3 of 13

 SOURCE: Otaku Roadhog
OK, nevermind, I’m good without mod support. 

Page 4 of 13
Page 4 of 13

 SOURCE: Scuba D.Va
This skin could make it through Overwatch’s current ESRB rating for sure. I’m getting a major Street Sharks vibe too. Give me a Streex skin, and I’m on board.  

Page 5 of 13
Page 5 of 13

 SOURCE: Skeletor Reaper
This is Reaper at his most natural—a man truly comfortable in his skin. In his default outfit, Reaper wouldn’t sound as convincing saying very ‘cool’ things like, “I am the alpha and the omega. Death and rebirth. And, as you die, so will I be reborn,” and so on. I’d hesitate to laugh. In these new digs, it’d be instant. 

Page 6 of 13
Page 6 of 13

 SOURCE: Magician Mercy
This skin works as a jokey metaphor for what Mercy actually does, but she’s also wielding a massive wand. Look how silly it is. Give her some Zatanna voice lines and we’re set.  

Page 7 of 13
Page 7 of 13

 SOURCE: Pinyatta
Maybe the name and colorful design will actually incentivize teammates to attack the healer, but I have my doubts. I wonder if there’s candy inside.  

Page 8 of 13
Page 8 of 13

 SOURCE: Widowmaker Gearhead
This one shows a more relaxed side of Widowmaker. I like to imagine it’s her shop outfit, the one she wears while assembling all that cool spy gear. It’s also one of the few skins I could actually see Blizzard including in the game. She’s a character in need of dimension beyond her dour femme fatale personality, which this casual, scrappy look chips away at. 

Page 9 of 13
Page 9 of 13

 SOURCE: Sparkle Pharah
The artist’s accompanying Tweet says, “Justice shines and sparkles from above.” I’m sold. If Hanzo gets a wolf-themed ult, turn Pharah’s rocket barrage into rainbows and shooting stars, please and thank you.  

Page 10 of 13
Page 10 of 13

 SOURCE: Pandemonium Roadhog
This feels like a necessary evil. Blizzard’s done it before and they’ll do it again.  

Page 11 of 13
Page 11 of 13

 SOURCE: White and Black Knight Winston
These skins give Winston’s armor a thorough medieval tinge and let the player choose whether to walk the light or dark path. As a fairly regal sounding character, they fit the part.  

Page 12 of 13
Page 12 of 13

 SOURCE: Mad Hatter Junkrat
In my eyes, nothing about Junkrat is good. He’s a spindly, creepy man, so this (very well done) Mad Hatter skin makes perfect sense. I can see the dude throwing teacups willy-nilly and reciting the Jabberwocky from heart with ease. It’s also a bit less creepy than his Jester skin. To the trash with that one, yeah? 

Page 13 of 13
Page 13 of 13
James Davenport
James Davenport
Social Links Navigation

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles. 

Read more
A close-up of Overwatch 2 heroes wearing skins from season 18. In the center is a shirtless Wuyang with blonde hair, a six pack of abs and swim shorts. On his left is Hanzo wearing a gold embroidered coat and dark pants. On the right is Lucio with white hair, a blue jacket, and grey techwear pants.
Overwatch 2 dips its toes into the horny pool with swimsuit skins and a shirtless new healer for its next season
 
 
Genji dressed in his Loverwatch outfit
Overwatch 2's new China-exclusive dating sim event looks so good that players say they've been 'robbed' of the experience
 
 
Deadlock's six new heroes: Mina, Billy, Paige, The Doorman, Victor, and Drifter.
Deadlock's latest character basically gets a portal gun, and his ult teleports enemies to a void hotel where they have to do a platforming challenge
 
 
Joker from Persona 5 in Overwatch 2.
You've got approximately 12 months left to enjoy Overwatch 2 because it just got the Persona 5 collaboration kiss of death
 
 
Starcraft cosmetics in Diablo 4
Diablo 4 is crossing the streams with Starcraft cosmetics, and honestly? A Terran marine makes a better Barbarian than I'd have expected
 
 
Junkrat screaming
Overwatch 2 players are waking up to mountains of loot boxes and silver coins as part of Season 18's Progression 2.0 update
 
 
Latest in FPS
Battlefield 6 Destruction Receipts event: Soldiers running away from a collapsing building.
Battlefield 6 dev says its destruction tech is so delicious for one simple reason: 'The only magic trick is that we're not on the PS4 or Xbox One any more'
 
 
Images from Destiny 2's renegades expansion
As Destiny 2 hits its lowest ever daily peak for Steam concurrent players, Bungie U-turns on controversial plan to reset player power next season
 
 
hell let loose vietnam
Thank God: The new Hell Let Loose will only have 'historically authentic' frogs
 
 
A very stressed soldier fellow grimaces with intense combat emotion in Battlefield 6.
'We give players what they want': Battlefield 6 devs sing the praises of Battlefield Labs and chatty players, 'We believe in the power of tapping into the community'
 
 
Don't stop girlypop showing a loaded gun on a pink planet
As someone who actively avoids FPS games, the demo of Don't Stop Girlypop might be the answer to my prayers
 
 
call of duty black ops 7
Activision extends the Black Ops 7 beta to wrap up just 24 hours before Battlefield 6 launches
 
 
Latest in Features
A statue of two conductors in the first-class carriage.
Enginefall asks 'What if Snowpiercer was Rust and DayZ' in a game with great vision and so-so execution
 
 
The cast of Starfinder: Afterlight posed heroically for the game's key art.
Starfinder: Afterlight could become one of my favourite CRPGs—even if the studio's co-founders are 'more scared about huge success than a bit of failure' when it comes to their big Kickstarter debut
 
 
Secretlab InfinitePrecision Armrests on a Titan Evo NanoGen edition gaming chair
Secretlab's new InfinitePrecision pro-gamer armrests aren't what I thought they were going to be. Nor as precise as I expected
 
 
A gaming PC in the process of being built, using Radeon and Ryzen components and an Asus Pro Art PA401 PC case.
I build multiple gaming PCs a month and this is my favorite so far this year—here's what you'd need to build it yourself
 
 
Holding a plunger
Point and click horror game Endacopia is carrying on Petscop's legacy of serving up unnerving and confusing adventures
 
 
People of Note key art
After years of being criticized as old-fashioned, turn-based RPGs are absolutely crushing it with new ideas
 
 
  1. Don't compromise on power or portability with the best gaming laptops.
    1
    Best gaming laptop 2025: I've had my hands on the best laptops for gaming of this generation and these are the ones I recommend
  2. 2
    Best SSD for gaming in 2025: the fastest and the best value solid state drives to perk up your PC
  3. 3
    Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming
  4. 4
    Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC
  5. 5
    Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards
  1. The Havn BF 360 PC case in both black and white with panels removed.
    1
    Havn BF 360 PC case review
  2. 2
    Lenovo LOQ 15 Gen10 review
  3. 3
    HyperX SoloCast 2 USB microphone review
  4. 4
    EA Sports FC 26 review
  5. 5
    Hyte X50 PC case review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...