As Overwatch 2 kicks off its crossover with ’90s sci-fi anime Cowboy Bebop today (March 7), we caught up with Overwatch art director Dion Rogers to learn more about the combination.
Though this is Blizzard’s first Cowboy Bebop crossover, Rogers told NME that the team behind Overwatch are “huge fans” of the anime, and it inspired some of the game’s visuals during development.
“Cowboy Bebop has an amazing art style blending various artistic influences [including] film noir, westerns and science fiction,” shared Rogers. “The anime’s visuals mix futuristic technology with a world that feels lived-in and with stylized characters that have real human emotions.”
“Our game has a nice mix of east meets west art style, which helps fit the Cowboy Bebop aesthetics while maintaining the readability of our heroes,” they added. “The reduced number of lines of the anime made it easier to combine the two art styles.”
As part of this, Blizzard wanted the crossover to combine the “extra detail and tech” of Overwatch‘s playable heroes with the “iconic read of Cowboy Bebop characters”. To get this right, Rogers’ art team worked closely with Cowboy Bebop animation studio Sunrise, along with its owner Bandai Namco.
“We view Cowboy Bebop as a definitive work of anime, so working together on a legendary IP and studio has been a dream come true for our team,” they added.
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Rogers’ favourite part of the crossover is Wrecking Ball, an Overwatch hero who has been transformed into adorable corgi Ein. “Also, we created a great illustration for the Cowboy Bebop event in-game lobby, which also features ‘Tank!’, the opening music from the anime,” they added. “It’s one the coolest intros ever, and is great to hear within Overwatch 2.”
It’s the latest in a long line of crossovers within Overwatch 2. Back in October, Moira was turned into fellow Blizzard villain Lilith with a new Diablo 4 skin, which was followed by a collaboration with K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM.