Just when you thought Overwatch 2's second beta would go like any other beta version, Blizzard just had to get the last laugh.
A handful of Overwatch 2 beta players reported sightings of hints and clues regarding the identity of the game's next hero, which may or may not appear in the game's third beta.
Overwatch 2's developer, Blizzard Entertainment, has scheduled the game's release on "early access" on October 4, per the development team's Reddit Ask Me Anything.
Overwatch 2 Upcoming Hero Clues And Hints
Some sharp-eyed Overwatch 2 players had noticed a mysterious message that appeared in the game's chatbox just before the game's second beta went offline, per PCGamesN.
The message, which appears as V2hhdCBkb2VzIHRoZSBmb3ggc2F5Pw==, is allegedly sent by Blizzard to every player who play-tested Overwatch 2 during its second beta.
One of these players, who goes by the Twitter handle @Hayzelet mentioned that the message was not a bunch of crudely typed set of characters, but rather a Base64-formatted message, making her the first Overwatch 2 player to have noticed it.
They then had the message decoded online through a third-party Base64 decoder. She was then given the decoded message, "What does the fox say." after entering the message Blizzard gave to players.
The Kanezaka fox as it appears on the Official Overwatch 2 Release Date Reveal Video
Although the message means almost nothing in the game's overall design, it makes sense when put into the proper context.
You may remember that in Overwatch 2's official release date reveal trailer back on June 13, and the Kanezaka map reveal video that a blue, ethereal fox was featured running alongside the playable characters in the game, per Dexerto.
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That and the fact that a Kanezaka fox girl was briefly previewed during the game's segment of the Xbox and Bethesda showcase in June, according to Games Radar, suggests that whoever this fox is, it may become playable once the game is launched.
Other Hints Of Additional New Heroes
Aside from the Kanezaka fox girl, Game Informer Editor Andrew Reiner said that he saw silhouettes of four unannounced heroes during a visit to Blizzard Entertainment in October 2019.
Although the original Game Informer article cannot be opened, Reiner said that game creator Jeff Kaplan showed him a PowerPoint presentation about the game's new content, per a separate Dexerto article.
According to his observations, three of the four silhouettes were female, but it is hard to discern anything more to confirm their gender as their garments made doing so difficult.
Meanwhile, Reiner said that the only male character had a crooked staff akin to a wizard, warlock, or voodoo priest and that the only silhouette that stood out to him appeared to be a female with short hair and a giant, four-sided melee weapon on hand.
He also saw an animal silhouette featured along with the short-haired female, but exactly how it would be used is unclear.
Aside from the silhouettes, Kaplan didn't give any more hints regarding the game's upcoming characters, with him providing a solid "no" to requests if he could reveal more about them.
As previously stated, these new heroes could make an appearance in the game's third beta test, which is scheduled to happen before the game launches in early access on October 4, per a Dexerto article.
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