Kotaku had a chance to interview Overwatch lead designer Jeff Kaplan on the creative direction the team has gone with some of the weirder heroes like Wrecking Ball aka “Hammond.” Apparently, Wrecking Ball has set something of a wackiness boundary in terms of how far the development team is willing to go with hero creation.
Regarding the weirdness of Wrecking Ball, Jeff Kaplan noted the following:
“Do we have ideas that are wackier than Hammond? Yes. Will they ever make it into the game? I don’t think so.”
Wrecking Ball actually caused a serious rift in the development team between those who supported the zaniness of the hero versus those who thought the absurdity of the character’s design didn’t fit well into the Overwatch universe.
“Hammond was very controversial on the team. Like, actual heated debates where we had to calm people down, where we were like, ‘We’re not gonna ruin Overwatch
by introducing this character.’ Some people literally felt like we might be. We took that very seriously.”Advertisement
In the end, the vast majority of the player base fully accepted the addition of a genius robot-piloting hamster to the Overwatch lineup. Despite this, Kaplan felt that there would need to be some time before the team could even begin to consider incorporating another super wacky hero to the game.
For now, Wrecking Ball aka Hammond is the craziest hero we’ll be seeing in Overwatch for the foreseeable future.
Featured Image Source: Naaju
