TheOverwatch 2community has inherited many of the best memes from the original game. Complaints about Genji needing healing are still prevalent, Cassidy’s High Noon is still laughed at, and Reaper can still be seen shrugging from time to time. ThoughOverwatch 2has produced some new jokes tied to trends like DPS Moira andKiriko’s bike riding, one meme that took off near the end of the first game’s life cycle has truly started to take off: Winton.
An intentional misspelling of theOverwatch 2Tank’s name, Winton has started to dominate in-game chats and online forums, and it only makes sense to pay homage to the trend in-game. After all, shrugging Reaper is a direct result of the community falling in love with a comic book panel of a pre-Reaper Gabriel Reyes striking the pose. Honoring that trend led to a stellar emote and spray, and Blizzard could recapture that magic by paying tribute to Winton through a handful of in-game items.
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Potential Winton Appearances in Overwatch 2
First and foremost, Blizzard can add a voice line forWinstonwhere he utters the slightly altered version of his name. This would undoubtedly get spammed like Doomfist’s “Chivalry” line and other popular bits of dialogue, but that would only add to the humor of it. Currently, many players will come together to spam Winton in chat at the start of a match when they see someone playing as the primate, which would only become funnier if the Tank could say it himself.
Though the Souvenirs have been one of the most divisive parts ofOverwatch 2’s battle passesand in-game store, as many feel like they are pointless and do not use them since they take up emote slots, a Winton plushie would be an exception. The visual for the Winton meme is usually a stuffed version of the character that only slightly resembles his in-game counterpart, and the silliness of the toy’s appearance would surely lead to a lot of laughter whenever a player pulls out the souvenir.
Overwatch 2’s spraysand name cards are two more areas where Winton can be represented. A spray could depict the aforementioned Winston stuffed animal, with a goofy little Winton able to be placed on walls at the start of a match or on the ground after players pull off an epic play. A name card would be another cool option to have, with a hand-drawn version of Winston present that looks intentionally silly.
To play into the idea that the Winton meme originated from a focus on winning and as a good luck chant,Blizzardcould add a new earnable player title based on getting wins as Winton. If players are able to rack up enough victories as the scientist, they could gain access to a title like Demigod or Cyberdemon. Considering how popular the meme has gotten in recent months, many would likely be interested in hunting down this title, with Winston becoming a lot more popular as players work to build up wins.
While the calls forMama Hong to be playable inOverwatch 2will likely never result in anything, as designing an entire hero because the community found the original concept funny is far too much work, Winton cosmetics are hardly an outrageous demand. Blizzard could either make these unlockable through anOverwatch 2hero challenge or add a Winton bundle to the shop, giving the developer a few options. Silly content like this may not be as exciting as newOverwatch 2maps or modes, but it can make pre-game and mid-match interactions even more fun than they already are.
Overwatch 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
