This hint comes in the form of a news story posted to the game’s official blog by the fictional Atlas News Corporation. The news post revolves around the discovery of several communications between staff of the ill-fated Horizon Lunar Colony prior to its destruction. In the lore of Overwatch, the Horizon Lunar Colony was a moon-based station that, among other things, experimented with highly-intelligent gorillas. Among the products of these experiments is one of the game’s current playable heroes, Winston.
The communications featured in the fictional news post make note of a particularly rowdy group of gorillas, presumably the same group to later lead an uprising.
One gorilla in particular, however, is noted to have gone missing prior to the events that led to the space station’s downfall.
This gorilla, named Hammond, has previously gone unmentioned in Overwatch lore. This in itself is far from confirmation that Hammond will be the game’s next playable hero. However, the article concludes with the following image that pairs Hammond with the currently-playable Winston as the only two gorillas from the Horizon Lunar Colony that are still unaccounted for.
If Blizzard is, in fact, pointing to Hammond as Overwatch’s next playable hero, then that would make him the fourth character to be added to the game after launch. If made playable soon, Hammond would also fit into the trend of Blizzard releasing new heroes for the game every 3 to 4 months. It should also be noted that Overwatch’s latest new hero, Orisa, was teased in a similar manner prior to her official unveiling a few weeks later.
Clues as to what Hammond’s play style might be are scant, but his large-bodied nature as a gorilla could imply that he would fall into the tank category with his fellow primate, Winston. Personality-wise, it is also unknown where on the spectrum of heroes and villains Hammond exists, but based on the allusions to him in the communications, he seems to be on the more chaotic side of the global conflict.
If the escaped gorilla Hammond is, in fact, Overwatch’s next hero, then we will likely hear more about him from Blizzard in the coming weeks. Be sure to stay tuned to Gameskinny until then.
