'Overwatch' Doomfist Release Date: Unity Day rumor gains traction among fans

The Overwatch fandom is doing its very best to will a new hero named Doomfist into existence. The latest development suggests that Blizzard could be planning to reveal the new character during an in-game holiday called Unity Day.

Doomfist has had a presence in Overwatch from the very beginning — for example, his gauntlet appears in the Overwatch cinematic trailer as the object its characters are fighting over, and it appears again in-game as the object inside the payload on Numbani — but the character himself has yet to actually appear.

However, a new rumor that's circulating in the Overwatch fandom theorizes that Doomfist might finally make his debut during Unity Day, which could take the form of an animated short or seasonal event — or both.

Overwatch Doomfist release date rumors: What is Unity Day?

According to the Overwatch wiki, Unity Day is a holiday in Numbani that celebrates the city's history as a place where humans and Omnics — the name for Overwatch's race of robots — live in harmony. In fact, the exhibit at the Numbani Heritage Museum featuring Doomfist's glove is all a part of this Unity Day celebration.

It's not clear exactly when Unity Day is within the Overwatch universe, but one date the Overwatch fandom has floated as a possibility is March 21 — but the reasoning is pretty thin. 

In the Winston-centric animated short "Recall," a news broadcast mentions in the ticker at the bottom of the screen that Unity Day celebrations have been postponed due to some kind of threat. "Recall" was published on March 21, 2016, so some in the Overwatch fandom — like YouTuber Unit Lost — think that the day on which the video was published corresponds to the in-universe date of Unity Day too.

Others think the Unity Day is May 23, the day Overwatch first came out.

The notion that the date of the animated short could be predicted is a bit iffy, especially since Blizzard is known for rolling things out only when they're totally ready — Does anyone else remember the months-long Sombra ARG? So, to put so much hope on one day of the year seems unwise.

Overwatch Doomfist release date: Rumors grow in recent weeks

That said, there have been several other hints the Overwatch fandom has uncovered that they think points to a Doomfist reveal on the horizon. 

For example, Reddit user Venxa said they found an alternate model for the Numbani payload in which the glass case holding Doomfist's glove has been shattered, which theoretically would be used after some sort of animated short reveals Doomfist to reflect the changing state of the Overwatch universe.

Additionally, the main menu music on the Overwatch public test realm has been changed. It's now the alternate version of the Overwatch theme that plays at the beginning of the aforementioned Overwatch cinematic trailer — the one in which characters fight over Doomfist's gauntlet. Some in the Overwatch fandom have dubbed this "Doomfist's theme music," but the alternate music only plays at the very beginning of the trailer, minutes before we even hear the name "Doomfist." So, there is a tenuous link, but to call it Doomfist's theme is a stretch.

And, of course, you can't take a single step without walking right into a new Terry Crews-related Doomfist rumor. For weeks, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor has been fueling the fandom's wishes that he'll voice Doomfist, most recently in the form of a mock audition he performed for Yahoo Esports.

If any more Doomfist hints pop up, Mic will let you know.

More Overwatch news and updates

For more on Overwatch, check out the rest of what Mic has to offer. Here is a list of our predictions for what seasonal events might appear in 2017, a look at a very funny, but naughty meme on the Overwatch subreddit, an interview with the creator of an awesome new Overwatch zine, the full patch notes for Overwatch version 2.03, a full explanation of the different types of health in Overwatch, our definitive ranking of every Overwatch hero, a roundup of awesome gender-bent Overwatch cosplay and a giant Overwatch FAQ for beginners.