Overwatch 2 is back with another anime crossover, and this time it’s one that is sure to be nostalgic for anime fans who grew up in the early 2000s: Gundam Wing.
For those who watched anime on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block back in the day, Gundam Wing was likely their first exposure to the sprawling mecha franchise. Despite middling ratings and reception when it originally aired in Japan, the anime found new life in North America several years later thanks to its after-school time slot. The show, with its dramatic mech-on-mech action and even more dramatic sci-fi melodrama, almost single-handedly established a foothold for the entire Gundam universe in the West. In the process, it created an entirely new generation of Gundam fans eager for more, helping to bring more Gundam shows overseas and creating a new market for the franchise’s popular Gunpla plastic model kits.
Flash forward to 2025, and Gundam Wing is celebrating its 30th anniversary in a number of ways, among them crossing over with Blizzard’s free-to-play shooter with four premium skins that pay homage to some of the show’s most popular Mobile Suit designs. Mercy takes on the starring role as Gundam Wing Zero, while Soldier: 76 transforms into the iconic Tallgeese piloted in the show by the masked Zechs Merquise. Ramattra, meanwhile, transforms into the fearsome Gundam Epyon. And, of course, Overwatch’s designated edgelord himself, Reaper, adopts the mantle of none other than Gundam Deathscythe.
GameSpot had the chance to talk with Overwatch 2 art director Dion Rogers and associate director of product management Aimee Dennett on how the crossover came to be, what it was like to work with Bandai, other Gundam Wing characters didn’t make the cut, and the role Gunpla model kits played in both the selection of which Mobile Suits to feature and in the actual look of the skins themselves.
Blizzard said it has long wanted to collaborate with Gundam, as it’s one of the most-requested IPs among the staff. When it reached out to IP-holder Bandai about a potential crossover, the pieces began to fall into place for Gundam Wing’s 30th anniversary.
Among the first decisions Blizzard had to make was which version of the Gundam Wing’s various Mobile Suit designs it wanted to use: those from the show, or ones from its sequel movie, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. Blizzard opted for the latter, though it wasn’t an easy decision.
“There was a big debate around do we use the Gundam Wing show designs, or do we use the Endless Waltz film designs?” Dennett said. “So that kind of doubled the amount of possibilities. We did a lot of the characters in both the film design and the show design. We wanted to pick one or the other. We didn’t want to do a mix, so we ended up liking the collection of the film.”
When deciding on which Overwatch characters would get skins, Rogers said it came down to a number of factors. First and foremost, the team narrowed down which characters would seem like a strong fit or ones who would seem odd not to include. The team then looked at factors like whether or not a particular character hadn’t received a skin in a while or which ones might surprise players to use. Some combinations were obvious for thematic reasons, like Reaper and Deathscythe, or for visual reasons, like Wing Zero and Mercy due to them both having wings.
Though Blizzard eventually landed on the four Mobile Suits and Overwatch heroes mentioned above for the collaboration, there were others that didn’t make the cut. Rogers said he really wanted to make something work for D.Va due to her already being a mech pilot and the opportunity to have her cosplay as one of the show’s human characters, but that Blizzard couldn’t quite make it work.
Ana, for example, was originally proposed for Tallgeese but didn’t come together. Gundam Heavyarms, a fan-favorite featured prominently in the show, was a shoe-in for the gatling-gun wielding Mauga that also didn’t pan out in the end, with Zarya being another potential candidate. Dennett said Mauga’s Heavyarms weapon looked “unbelievable,” but that overall, the skin just didn’t look right on the character.
“For Heavyarms, he was actually in the lineup,” Dennett said. “We tried him on Mauga just because their weaponry is so similar. It’s funny, you always have in your head, ‘Oh, these are obvious combinations,’ but once you see it on paper, it’s not. Some don’t look as great and some look absolutely amazing. We never planned Tallgeese on Soldier: 76, but once we saw the design, it was the opposite of Mauga Heavyarms. We were like, ‘Oh, that looks so cool.'”
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Deciding which Mobile Suits to ultimately feature as part of the collab was its own process, one Blizzard said was informed not only by fans of Gundam Wing on the Overwatch team but with help from Bandai. The company also collaborated with Blizzard on how each character should look.
Rogers said Overwatch crossover skins always take the approach of the game’s heroes “cosplaying” as their favorite characters. Blizzard initially worked hard on making each skin appear more Gundam and less Overwatch due to player feedback from previous collabs, while still trying to maintain each hero’s unique and recognizable silhouette. Bandai came back to Blizzard and instead wanted to see more of each Overwatch hero, like Ramattra, in the designs.
“Bandai felt like they didn’t want us just slapping Gundam Wing on top of Overwatch,” Rogers said. “They wanted to really feel super collaborative and they really leaned in on that idea that our characters are still there, but their IP.”
Bandai also had cold, hard data to help inform which Mobile Suits might be best to include for the collab–specifically, data related to Gunpla model kit sales. A Bandai artist who does artwork for Gunpla kits even contributed the collab’s in-game lobby artwork.
“They didn’t mandate we do anything,” Dennett said. “It was all suggestions, but they did share a ranking of Gunpla sales and that did factor into the equation…That’s not to say Gunpla sales were the factor, but it definitely helped us inform which were a pretty obvious choice and which ones weren’t.”
Gunpla played a role in the creation of the actual skins, too. Rogers said the team examined the actual Gunpla models for each Mobile Suit and looked to mimic their internal structure in their respective skin.
“On the actual models in-game, we tried to match pretty closely the skeletal work, within reason, the internal structure of the Gunpla, onto the actual hero,” Rogers said. “Obviously they’re human, so you can do only so much, but it’s pretty authentic.”
Overwatch 2’s Gundam Wing collab goes live April 29, with its four Mobile Suit-inspired skins joining the in-game shop alongside free Gundam-themed challenge rewards, including unique Pachimari weapon charm. Bundles for each skin (and corresponding items like sprays and Play of the Game animations) will cost 2,800 Overwatch Coins, with a mega bundle containing everything going for 5,900 coins.
