Overwatch's Most Divisive Heroes Are Getting Game-Changing Reworks

Sep 12, 2026 - 22:14

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Overwatch's Most Divisive Heroes Are Getting Game-Changing Reworks

Published Sep 12, 2026, 2:08 PM EDT

Has Blizzard finally figured out how to fix Sombra?

Character art of Sombra holding a digital cube and her machine pistol in the bank vault area of Dorado from Overwatch 2

Over the past decade, only a handful of Overwatch heroes have divided the player base as much as Roadhog and Sombra. Roadhog's Chain Hook has been a massive source of frustration for players on the receiving end of it, as squishier Overwatch heroes face almost certain death if the attack connects. And over the years, Sombra has consistently been one of the most-banned heroes on the game's roster, thanks to her annoying stealth- and hack-based kit.

Blizzard announced at BlizzCon 2026 that it's addressing those two divisive heroes with dramatic reworks. That includes a role change for Sombra, who is moving from Overwatch's damage group to the support group.

Overwatch's latest re-reworks

Both Roadhog and Sombra have been overhauled before. In 2023, Blizzard attempted to rework Roadhog by adding a new trap ability called Pig Pen to his kit, but ultimately reverted the hero to a more simplified kit in 2025, removing Pig Pen altogether. Sombra's original suite of abilities and attack was also quite different from where the hero is today. Blizzard has tweaked how her invisibility and Hack mechanics have worked over time, and added a new ability, Virus, to her kit in 2023. But that rework has not landed well with many Overwatch players, who frequently ban Sombra from being played in many games.

So Blizzard is taking even more dramatic steps. Roadhog's rework will make him more of a team player, Blizzard says, and Sombra is joining the support group in a rare role change for Overwatch. To date, the only characters to switch roles in Blizzard's hero shooter have been Doomfist, who was originally a damage character and reworked into a tank, and Symmetra, who transitioned from support to damage (formerly defense) after a series of reworks.

Overwatch's latest hero updates arrive alongside another new hero, Doctrine. The vampiric-inspired support hero is coming to the hero shooter as part of season 5 of Overwatch. Doctrine is the ninth of 10 new heroes planned for Overwatch in 2026.

Overwatch is now available free-to-play on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.