After a mountain of negative reactions in February, Blizzard announced that it would update new Monitoring the face of the hero Anran to look less like a clone of Kiriko or Juno and more like the version of the fire-wielding hero that appeared in comics and short stories before his arrival in the game. Now, the team has revealed the modified face model before it officially goes live in the game in Season 2.
Game director Aaron Keller posted a video on the game’s social media channels to share the updated version of his face, along with a message explaining some of the thoughts behind the redesign.
“We want our heroes to feel unique, but we also want their visuals to match their personality, and we feel like we didn’t quite nail that when Anran first released. We think she might look older and that her original version was too innocent and playful. Anran is confident, determined, fierce, and a born leader, and we want her in-game visuals to convey that personality.”
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-Monitoring (@PlayOverwatch) April 6, 2026
As Keller points out, the changes to her face also make her look more like Wuyang. The changes include a more defined jawline and cheekbones, and move the round “babyface” design away from its original design. The team also tweaked a few parts of his visual presentation, including giving him a more upright and “confident” pose in the hero select screen. The changes are subtle, but you can see the difference when looking at the two versions side by side. From this angle, however, it still doesn’t appear that his nose is as big as it was in early depictions of the character. Maybe it will be more obvious from different angles. We’ll see how fans react when it finally comes to the game at the start of Season 2, which begins on April 14.