This article is brought to you by StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool.
Overwatch’s newest short story, Bastet, is important for a few reasons: it implies that Soldier: 76 is Overwatch’s second queer character, informs fans of present-day activities, and potentially unveiled a new Ana skin.
The world believed Overwatch agent Ana was dead—long gone, like Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes. Ana takes on the Bastet identity in the Overwatch short story, to become a protector like Morrison, now called Soldier: 76. The black and gold mask is symbolic. Bastet is an Egyptian goddess that protected Pharoahs.
For Ana, it’s a fitting identity. She’s a protector. There’s been no confirmation that this skin will be added into Overwatch, but it seems pretty unlikely that Blizzard would tease fans with a mock-up without delivering. The skin is quite similar to Ana’s typical outfit, swapping out her sniper’s or Tal mask for the feline face and ears. Her outfit’s coloring has changed, swapping her blue palette for gold, white, purple, and green. Fans all over Twitter, Reddit, and the Overwatch forums have made it clear: They want the Bastet Ana skin in Overwatch.
Ana’s last new skin was Cabana Ana, released with the Summer Games 2018 seasonal event. It’s a stunning skin, to be sure—but it’s exciting to get another lore-based skin, one that’s an evolution of her young Ana outfit that’s been in-game for a while.
Bastet, the short story, was surprise released today, and Blizzard hasn’t said if or when it’ll add the aforementioned skin to the game.