Overwatch's New Hero Doomfist Will be Playable on July 27

The latest addition to the Overwatch roster of heroes, Doomfist will be playable for all from July 27. While you can play as Doomfist in Blizzard's PTR (public test realm/region) on PC, he's not available for the PS4 or Xbox One just yet. This will change on July 27.

Overwatch developer Blizzard announced this news in a video that showcased the thought process behind Doomfist's creation. It seems that he wasn't intended to be a new hero, receiving a passing mention in the game's reveal cinematic. However fan feedback prompted the studio to get to work to make him a reality.

In terms of design, Doomfist was inspired by classic 2D fighting games and his aesthetic has been chosen to portray power with liberal uses of red and gold.

As for the game's lore, Doomfist was defeated by an Overwatch strike team consisting of Winston, Tracer, and Genji and has been biding his time in prison until now. His arrival in the game should result in some interesting conversations with other characters like Reaper and Widowmaker - both of whom belong to the same organisation as him - Talon. Though he isn't voiced by actor Terry Crews, as some would have liked following Crews' lobbying for the role.

Prior to this, crashlogs for the game had hinted of Doomfist’s arrival to the game. There’s a mention of both - Doomfist and Summer Games. This was spotted on Reddit and the official Overwatch forums. They have since been deleted though you can check it out here.

With last year's Overwatch Summer Games event beginning on August 2, we won't be surprised to see it make a return around the same timeframe. Considering Doomfist is slated for July 27, this means we could see the Overwatch Summer Games event soon after.