Overwatch 2 currently has no release date in sight, and new information about the game has been hard to come by since its BlizzCon 2019 announcement. One recent "leak" about the upcoming hero-shooter got fans' hopes up that they may have gotten some additional insight into what to expect from the story, but as it turns out, this particular Overwatch 2 story leak has been faked.

Reddit user DocterrificDoc found images of a slightly older version of Efi Oladele. Efi, for the uninitiated, is the 11 year old Numbani girl who built the tank hero Orisa in the game's lore. The images were watermarked with the words "internal use only," fueling speculation that they were indeed pulled from official Overwatch 2 sources, and a possible indication that Efi would play an expanded role in the Overwatch 2 story. However, these images weren't made by Blizzard at all.

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In the hours since these so-called Overwatch 2 leaked images made their way online, it's come to light that they are actually from a fan-made animation. A fan named Clemmie Palmer, who works professionally as a 3D animator on video games and movies, created the animation simply because he "always wanted to" make an Overwatch animation. "This was a challenge, and it's not completely perfect, but I'm happy with it," he added on Twitter.

While this particular Overwatch 2 leak turned out to be fake, there have been many leaks about the game in the past that were accurate. In fact, Overwatch 2's PvE-focus was leaked months before the game's reveal, and additional details about the game leaked in the weeks leading up to its BlizzCon 2019 announcement. Some of the leaks, like the claim that Overwatch 2 would completely replace Overwatch 1, were false, but many others were right on the money.

Considering this, it's hard to tell when fans can believe Overwatch 2 leaks and when they can't. A good rule of thumb is to treat any supposed Overwatch 2 leak with a grain of salt, and only fully trust information that comes from Blizzard itself. With that in mind, here's hoping we learn more details about Overwatch 2's story, characters, and more sooner rather than later.

Overwatch 2 is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

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