Face Changer Sombra presented a unique challenge for Overwatch's designers, as it's the first skin to change mid-match. The team revealed the process of implementation in a blog post published Monday.
Blizzard based the Overwatch skin's design on the Sichuan opera of Bian Lian, in which performers swap out masks throughout the course of the performance. That sense of shifting identity struck a thematic chord with Sombra, a hacker constantly on the run and battling to keep her identity a secret.
So many masks, so little time.
Take a look behind the mask, uncovering the ancient tradition that inspired the Overwatch team to create Face Changer Sombra.
BOOP ?:
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) January 28, 2020
Lead character outsource supervisor John Gotch described the face-changing feature as the hardest thing to nail down with the skin.
"We had to figure out a way to have the ability to swap the masks in game, depending on when we wanted them to change," he said. "When we started to implement [the skin] into the engine, we only started with two masks. This was to test our tech and make sure the option we ended up with gave players the ability to see all the variations of the masks."
Those two eventually became six, each designed by concept artist Daryl Tan. Tan and the team worked to ensure the skin stayed true to its original cultural milieu.
"Visual integration was a matter of taking the striking graphics of the opera and giving it the [game’s] aesthetic treatment," he said. He worked with other Blizzard employees who are native to the culture in question to take input about the design.
"Many times, they’re just a Nerf dart away, as [Blizzard] itself is a huge culture hub. Then, with a better understanding of the theme and how it would work with our characters, we work in the Overwatch aesthetic. We then reach out again to our consultants and global partners for feedback to make sure we’re hitting the right notes."
Face Changer Sombra is available in Overwatch for the Lunar New Year event scheduled to end Feb. 5.
