'Overwatch' Sombra ARG update: Is the big reveal one day away?
Could a new Overwatch character be a few days away, or will Blizzard continue dangling the carrot for awhile longer? Here are the latest updates on the Overwatch Sombra ARG.
For months, the most technically savvy fans of Blizzard Entertainment's multiplayer shooter game Overwatch have been hunting for clues about a rumored new character named Sombra, the latest of which hint at something big happening Nov. 1.
Blizzard is orchestrating the whole thing, dropping cryptic hints — we're talking Mayan numeral-level cryptic — about her in various corners of the internet, or in single frames of videos it releases. If you ask someone at Blizzard about the alternate reality game directly, they'll say something coy, like "Sombra will let people know when she wants more to be known about her," which is what Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan told Kotaku.
However, some of Blizzard's plans for a grand reveal were seemingly foiled in early October when someone leaked details on Reddit about a forthcoming Overwatch Halloween Terror event and an image that appears to be of Sombra. The leaked information about the Halloween Terror event turned out to be totally accurate, so it's likely the image of Sombra is legit, too.
So, when will she be revealed? The latest clues in the ARG point to something big happening Nov. 1.
New evidence in the Sombra ARG
The latest stages of the Sombra ARG have set players loose on the website of a fictional energy corporation within Overwatch, known as LumériCo. In doing so, they've uncovered email correspondence between its employees and found evidence that LumériCo will unveil a new nuclear power plant in Dorado — the name of one of Overwatch's in-game maps — on Nov. 1.
It's a date that's been re-iterated several times, most recently by a post on Blizzard's blog, written as though it were a news article about the clues players have uncovered so far.
The fictional news article notes that the Overwatch gang Los Muertos — the bad guys in the Overwatch short film "Hero," who have recently been associated with Sombra — will disrupt LumériCo's event on Nov. 1. In doing so, Blizzard added more fuel to an already raging hype fire about Nov. 1 — one that some think could be the reveal of Sombra. Others — perhaps the more realistic ones — aren't ready to get their hopes up again after being burned by the last highly anticipated countdown.
There's still some evidence in the ARG that has yet to be solved, which might be a sign Nov. 1 will be just another development rather than a dramatic finale. For example, there's a hidden "Admin" page on lumérico.mx that displays various dials and graphs. The meaning of this page has yet to be fully uncovered.
BlizzCon 2016
Whatever happens in the Sombra ARG Nov. 1, something Sombra-related is also likely to happen at BlizzCon, which starts Nov. 4.
It's a big convention for all things Blizzard, where it could show off new trailers, reveal new expansions, and maybe talk about a brand-new Overwatch character named Sombra.
Mic will keep you in the loop as more develops.
