While Overwatch 2 Season 3 lacked a new hero, Blizzard went out of its way to keep players engaged through multiple events. A Valentine’s Day event brought a special Hanzo game mode and hilarious dating sim called Loverwatch, a One-Punch Man crossover showed immense love for the property, and now the Pachimari mascot is being celebrated within the hero shooter. As part of the Pachimarchi event, a new seasonal brawl has been added called Catch-a-Mari, and it has one feature that is being met with a ton of praise.
While many players may be focused on getting wins in Catch-a-Mari to gather rewards like the special profile icons and the cute Roadhog skin, others may just love hearing Roadhog as the announcer. Between moments of catchy, cheerful music that serves as the mode’s theme song, Roadhog can be heard in place of Athena, the usual announcer for Overwatch 2. Though Athena’s voice feels natural and is more appropriate for regular play, Roadhog speaking over the mode’s gameplay is perfect. It is also not the first time Blizzard has pulled this trick, and hopefully it will not be the last.
Why Overwatch 2 Should Continue Releasing Content With Special Announcers
During each Catch-a-Mari match, players will get to hear Roadhog making some hilarious comments. His gruff, muffled voice instantly gives the mode some extra personality, and when combined with the unique theme music, it manages to have more charm than most Kill Confirmed clones do. Whether he is praising gamers for a Play of the Game or making a remark about how cute the Pachamari is - something that makes sense after watching his love for the toy in Overwatch 2’s Secret Friend emote - Roadhog’s presence is very welcome within the mode.
As previously mentioned, Blizzard has pulled this trick off once already in Overwatch 2, as the interesting Battle for Olympus mode featured Zeus Junker Queen as the announcer. Hearing her praise herself and make comments about the other “gods” was a ton of fun, allowing talented actor Leah de Niese to showcase more of Junker Queen’s distinct personality. Perhaps next time Battle for Olympus comes around, there will be a new announcer, giving the mode a different feel and letting another character shine.
Hearing different announcers does not improve gameplay or add any narrative significance; it is simply good fun. With how seriously most players take Overwatch 2’s competitive mode, relaxing with a casual mode like Catch-a-Mari is nice, and dialogue coming from a proper character like Roadhog can put a smile on the face of fans. Ultimately, that is what’s most important, as games are meant to be entertainment. Special announcers certainly deliver when it comes to entertaining the player base, and whenever a mode with ties to a specific character comes around, having them temporarily takeover for Athena makes perfect sense.
If it wanted to, Blizzard could use these announcers as the basis for a new shop item: announcer packs. Games like MultiVersus and Call of Duty have already featured this form of content, and while the former is struggling to keep players hooked, it is hard to argue that Kevin Conroy’s Batman being a potential announcer is a bad idea. Though some mode-specific lines would have to be removed, like Roadhog saying “multi-mari,” a lot of the groundwork has been done for these potential DLC packs. If players are attached to a hero like Tracer, Sombra, or Reaper, hearing them more often could be worth the investment.
Like custom Overwatch 2 menu screens, announcer packs are just a suggestion and may never become a proper form of content. Regardless, hopefully Blizzard has made note of the community’s positive response to the announcers. While some took issue with balance and time-consuming challenges in Battle for Olympus, and Pach-a-Mari is just a fun side mode instead of something deep, everyone has appreciated the extra effort to give both modes unique announcers. The cast of Overwatch 2 is beloved, and spending more time with them has been a great incentive to try out the recent brawls. Hopefully, the announcers continue to be varied going forward.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.